Training and Workshops

Identity is individual and personal. It is a bouquet of lived experience, authenticity, and temperament. Children need safe spaces where they are seen and have the agency  to experiment with their own identity. 

By confronting our own bias, changing the perception of our own story, and giving ourselves permission to shine, we can create a space where each child and everyone is validated and given autonomy over their own organic existence. 

From birth, language and culture are how we build a sense of self and connect with those around us. Considering the cultural context of the children we work with is necessary to establish trust and cultivate belonging as the foundation for learning. In this workshop, attendees will gather practical tools to incorporate family practices and languages into the classroom, fostering children's positive self-image, counter cultural biases, and strengthen a sense of community. 

Environmental stewardship emphasizes our obligation to protect and appreciate the environment. This involves being aware of our impact on the environment, making conscious efforts to reduce our impact, and being thoughtful of the choices we make and how this affects our natural resources. We also must pass this awareness on to the next generation as teachers, caregivers, or parents.

As early childhood professionals we have a unique opportunity to change the trajectory of the future through the impact we have on the children trusted to our care. By recognizing our own implicit bias and how it affects our interactions, we can learn to change our own internal narrative, and model a future where justice, fairness, and equity will prevail

We cannot teach what we do not practice. Racism exists. Being able to identify racism in our systems, communities, and ourselves is the first step towards developing an anti-racist lens. Attendees will participate in small group discussions, self-reflective activities, and receive resources and tips to help provide our littlest learners with the language and skills to recognize and call out racism. 

Current systems of oppression have created a false perception of power. It's time to return to ancestral knowledge that respects the Earth, and views all life as equal. As educators, we have the opportunity to provide children with the skills  to develop connection, understand individuality, exist as a unit, and develop a response system void of ego, while promoting compassion, and love for all living beings

The preschool classroom is a diverse community of experience. For many young learners it is their first experience outside the home environment. Each child needs to be seen for who they are, where they come from, and what they have lived. Being able to connect with children and their families in ways that are equitable and just requires     humility, self reflection, compassion, grace, and acceptance 

In the book We Are the Change We Seek, Advancing Racial Justice in Early Care and Education, Iruka et al. discuss using a Culturally Relevant, Anti-Biased, Anti-Racist (CRABAR) lens in assessing young children and creating spaces that promote a sense of belonging. They emphasize the importance of family support, understanding lived experience, humility, self-reflection and critical consciousness.