“If you ask me what is the most important thing that I have learned about being a Haudenosaunee, it’s the idea that we are connected to a community, but a community that transcends time… We inherit a duty, we inherit a responsibility. And that’s pretty well drummed into our heads. Don’t just come here expecting to benefit. You come here to work hard so that the future can enjoy that benefit.” – Rick Hill Sr. (Tuscarora), Chair, Haudenosaunee Standing Committee on NAGPRA
From infancy through high school, children’s educational outcomes are dependent on their early learning experiences. Quality early childhood education has been shown to have a significant positive effect on future success. Inequities in education start early with lifelong impacts on children and communities. This gap in access and opportunity is not due to individual actions, but rather on present social and economic conditions. Researchers and community members have been intentional in focusing on opportunity gaps, in addition to the more traditional focus on achievement gaps. This framing helps shine a light on the inequitable opportunities that lead to unequal outcomes. It seeks to address the root cause instead of focusing on downstream remediation to address unfair outcomes.
Did you know?
- High-quality childcare is costly – in Michigan, the average annual cost of childcare ranges from $8,000 to $10,000, or about $667 to $833 per month. Infant care tends to be the most expensive, with costs potentially exceeding $12,000 annually for center-based care.
- An average married couple in Michigan spends 22% of their annual income on childcare.
- An estimated 40% of Michiganders live in a childcare desert, defined as a geographic area with insufficient childcare options, meaning there are no providers or so few that there are significantly more children than available spaces.
- The childcare shortage in Michigan costs the state an estimated $2.88 billion annually in lost economic activity due to parents leaving jobs or struggling to find work.
Social and emotional health are key to children’s development. We know that poverty, trauma, and other adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can have sustained, negative impacts on children’s ability to succeed and their health outcomes over the course of their life. We will explore ACE’s more later in this challenge. To preview these concepts, check out this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gm-lNpzU4g) for a brief overview. Dr. Roy Wade notes that “we see higher levels of childhood adversity among minority populations, but we need to acknowledge the role that historical inequities and disenfranchisement play in creating the environment in which such traumatic experiences are more likely to occur.”
Anti-racist education in early childhood classrooms requires educators to do more than highlight the history of Indigenous people or acknowledge the civil rights movements. It requires educators to imbed into the curriculum a deep belief in the inherent value and potential in every student and their communities.
Today’s Challenge
Read
- Read this U.S. News article on how “Education Inequality Starts Early” for children in households with low incomes.
https://www.usnews.com/opinion/knowledge-bank/articles/2017-07-27/education-inequality-begins-with-child-care - The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) offers guidance on fostering anti-racist early childhood environments in their article, Viewpoint. Creating Anti-Racist Early Childhood Spaces | NAEYC: https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/summer2021/viewpoint-anti-racist-spaces
Watch
- Watch author, historian, and leading antiracist activist Ibram X. Kendi in an interview discussing his book Antiracist Baby. Ibram X. Kendi discusses the important role parents and educators play in teaching young children to be an antiracist. (5:31)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNn2ecyU-HU
Engage
- Visit the website Childcare Desert to understand the overlay of childcare needs and poverty in and around your community. Does this surprise you?
Discuss
- What factors contribute to the early childhood education shortage in your community? What’s being done to address this?
- How have your own experiences with early childhood education impacted where you are today?