Peer reviewedERIC Number: EJ701131
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Mar-22
Pages: 8
Abstractor: ERIC
Reference Count: 21
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0009-4056
Rethink, Revise. React: Using an Anti-Bias Curriculum to Move beyond the Usual
Killoran, Isabel; Panaroni, Marisa; Rivers, Sally; Razack, Yasmin; Vetter, Diane; Tymon, Dorothy
Childhood Education, v80 n3 p149 Spr 2004
Ultimately, teacher educators are responsible to two groups of students--those in their classes and the children the education students will teach. A teacher educator's goal should be to provide an experience that will encourage classroom teachers to go back to their classes and make a positive difference in the education of their students. Ideally, the teachers will take the curricula they are given and use it in a way that "challenges and transforms those curricula reforms ... that are profoundly racist in context and content" (Giroux, 1999, p. 43). It is important to understand that, as Corson (2000) explains, children are aware of racial issues and prejudiced behaviors at a very young age; with the support of an anti-bias education, they will be able to take a stand against discrimination. Barta (1996) also agrees that "when students learn to identify bias they become more capable of confronting and eliminating it." Three case studies are shared in this article. In two of them, Marisa and Rena, students in the curriculum course, share their experiences in implementing an anti-bias curriculum. They describe some of their students' responses when challenged to question what they heard and saw. The third case is a poignant reflection of another student who did not have the benefit of hearing her voice in the classroom until she became a graduate student.
Descriptors: Teacher Education, Teacher Educators, Racial Bias, Case Studies, Curriculum, Student Attitudes
Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) Subscriptions, 17904 Georgia Ave., Suite 215, Olney, MD 20832. Web site: http://www.acei.org.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers: N/A


