Creating Spaces of Belonging: An Equity & Diversity Professional Development Book Club

As early childhood practitioners, we should never underestimate the power and influence we have on shaping the lives of children and families. Learning to recognize the eco-social context of culture, language, identity and its influence on the values, beliefs, child rearing practices and expectations of families and program staff in terms of child development, social-emotional well-being, inclusiveness, and classroom practices. It is important that we examine our feelings, attitudes, sensitively, with open heart and mind to counteract successive generations of children experiencing bias and inequality.

Details:

• January 11th, 18th, & 25th from 6-7:30pm
• Virtual on Zoom
• Regular Price: $50 (includes NAEYC membership!)
• COAEYC Member Price: $20

This course includes brief but powerful reading assignments outside of class time (two (2) articles per session for a total of six (6) articles), reflective homework assignments, and 4.5 hours of Zoom time with the instructor and cohort. Participants will earn 10 clock hours upon completion of the course. YOU MUST ATTEND ALL THREE SESSIONS AND COMPLETE ASSIGNMENTS TO RECEIVE A CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION.

About the Instructor:

Deborah Young, Ed.S. PhD. is Professor and Executive Director of Empowering Communities Globally: For the Care of Children. Deborah has been involved in human rights and social/ecological justice with a focus on education and early childhood issues for over 35 years.  Her work focuses on refugees and immigrants; gender discrimination and empowerment; and parents and children who have been impacted by ACES. Her work in early childhood, teacher education programs, community led participatory action research, and maternal/newborn child health has embodied community led formal and nonformal education programs, government health system strengthening, service delivery innovations, and quality improvement. She has lived and worked in Central America, East Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East providing technical assistance for quality and inclusive systemic change. She has co-developed the 5-Step Empowering Communities community development model in partnership with the community members she works with. This model is founded in participatory action research, change theory methodologies, informed by raciolinguistics, contemplative critical pedagogy, and decolonizing frameworks.