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Exploring Gender Diversity in Early Childhood
August 21, 2019
You must work—we must all work— to make the world worthy of its children.
-Pablo Casals, 1876-1973, Spanish cellist, conductor and composer
-Pablo Casals, 1876-1973, Spanish cellist, conductor and composer
In the March/April edition of Exchange magazine, Brook Pessin-Whedbee writes: “Exploring gender diversity with children can happen in myriad ways. We can choose books that serve as mirrors, reflecting back our students’ experiences, and books that serve as windows, opening our students’ eyes to the experiences of others. Just about any story can be transformed into a springboard for a rich conversation…Sometimes the unplanned conversations are even richer.”
The author provides an example of an unplanned conversation: “It was free play and a group of children were huddled around a colorful book in my kindergarten classroom. ‘Pink is a girl color,’ Ezra insisted…I paused to see how the other children would respond…Amaya was first, ‘My dad has a pink shirt’...Ezra’s best friend, JJ, had been quiet at first, but burst in with bolstered confidence, ‘Yeah, I love pink.’ There was a pause and all eyes were on Ezra. I could see on his face that he was rolling all of this around in his mind, trying to make sense of the wave of new information. ‘Well,’…he looked at his friends and took a breath. Then he repeated his declaration, ‘Pink is a girl color.’
It takes a certain amount of courage and trust to delve into these explorations with our students when we are all still learning ourselves. Indeed, it can be a daunting task, but it is one that is well worth the dive.”
The Early Childhood Leaders' Magazine  |
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Find your community within the pages of Exchange magazine. Each issue features articles written by people who share your commitment to early care and education and know what life is really like in our rewarding, but oftentimes challenging, field. |
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ExchangeEveryDay is the official electronic newsletter for Exchange Press. It is delivered five days a week containing news stories, success stories, solutions, trend reports, and much more.
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