**4.2 Incorporating social justice into EC curriculum**

The most frequently cited resource on incorporating the aims of social justice in EC education programs is *Anti-Bias Education* [14]. A basic tenet of this approach is that bias is learned. From their earliest days of life, children receive messages about their own identity and the identities of others. These messages are often subtle and learned unconsciously—from family, friends, school and the media—but they can have a lasting impact on their self-image and worldview.

The *Anti-Bias Curriculum* is organized around a set of four core goals focusing on positive identities, human differences and connections, addressing unfairness, and action against discrimination. The four core goals are presented as child outcomes which begin with the phrase "*each child will…"* [14]. Below, those goals have been reorganized and reformatted as six questions that shift the focus from children to teachers, linking goals to teaching practices. These questions provide a starting point for teachers to investigate, reflect upon, and eventually identify/share specific practices aligned with LGBT+ social justice. Further, teacher educators are challenged to consider the specific practices their programs actually prepare preservice candidates to enact:


One of the ways in which EC educators have sought to translate anti-bias principles into action in preschool is through the enhancement of curriculum to emphasize social justice [15]. Essentially, this involves using an anti-bias lens to evaluate and adapt existing practice to reflect a particular conceptualization of social justice. Social justice curriculum has largely been applied to preschool (rather than birth to three) settings, within which curriculum is reconceptualized to adopt an inclusive view of human diversity, address injustice or unfairness in the classroom through problem-solving approaches to conflict, introduce conversations about similarities/ differences, exclusion, and support children in developing an understanding of empathy. These models address social responsibility, engagement with the surrounding community and problem-solving through integrated exploratory projects or units focusing on such topics as health issues or food scarcity [15]. They support the aim of inclusivity through incorporating inclusive language, open discussions

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*Foundations for Promoting LGBT+ Social Justice through Early Childhood Teacher Education*

about topics such as gender identity, and the empowerment of LGBT+-led families through welcoming practices, parent/caregiver support, and affinity groups.

With respect to gender diversity in early childhood, children have the right to:

• educational environments where it is safe to explore and talk about gender

• a variety of materials, activities, and supports for non-stereotypical play and

• protection from harm (e.g., shaming) for non-stereotypical behavior or choices

During infancy and toddlerhood, children already respond to cues and norms in their families and schools regarding gender and categorize people accordingly. Children often learn the gender roles of their caregiving context during these years; most of the time this consists of stereotypical roles for boys and girls in alignment with the societal patterns, cultural signals, and attitudes of others. By the time they reach kindergarten, these stereotypes are firmly entrenched and children begin to reject non-stereotypical play and materials, as well as those who choose to engage in them. Many children explore gender through their play and even take on opposite gender roles or personas, but do not grow up to identify as nonbinary or trans. For these children, the exploration has no effect on the constancy of the correlation between their assigned sex and their understanding of their own gender.

During preschool, children who identify as trans at some later point in life may display visible signs and choices that indicate their identification with a gender other than that presumed by adults. Research suggests that children who change their gender do so as a result of an awareness and understanding of their identity [16]. This contradicts the common misconception that children simply decide to change gender without fully understanding themselves, or have been influenced by others or the media. From preschool on, children who do not fit those stereotypes begin to pay a price for it – social, academic, and mental health issues that children later frequently experience are, for the most part, the result of their identity being suppressed or oppressed [7]. These children are largely ostracized, bullied, shamed,

and the challenges to their mental health and safety worsen as they get older.

that support these opportunities are indicated in **Table 2** below [17–19].

In EC, when children are encouraged to explore a variety of toys and materials without constant gender signifiers, supported as they do so (rather than chastised by adults for not fitting cultural stereotypes), and allowed to engage with presumed opposite gendered peers, they tend to behave less in accordance with harmful stereotypes than children who are not, regardless of their later gender identity. Contextual factors in the classroom can provide natural opportunities for children to explore gender in their own way and on their own terms; some of the practices

*4.3.1 Examples of supportive EC practices*

• positive practices that support their emerging awareness of gender

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96522*

• agency to declare their gender

learning

**4.3 Supporting gender identity and development**

• inclusive language regarding gender identity

about topics such as gender identity, and the empowerment of LGBT+-led families through welcoming practices, parent/caregiver support, and affinity groups.
