In this thought-provoking episode of Early Childhood Chapters, we sit down with Dr. Tameka Ardrey and Dr. Ebonyse Mead, co-authors of Building Equitable Early Learning Programs: A Social Justice Approach, along with Gryphon House President Dr. Rebecca Berlin. Together, they delve into the challenges and opportunities of fostering equity in early childhood education, particularly in today’s complex political climate.
The conversation explores the distinction between equity and equality, the importance of culturally responsive teaching, and how discipline policies disproportionately impact marginalized children. Dr. Mead and Dr. Ardrey offer actionable strategies for educators and administrators, emphasizing the power of self-reflection, authentic family engagement, and creative approaches to overcoming systemic barriers. They also discuss ways to navigate difficult conversations with families and institutions while staying committed to inclusive practices.
Key Takeaways:
✅ Equity vs. Equality – Why giving every child the same resources isn’t enough and how educators can meet children where they are.
✅ Culturally Responsive Teaching – Simple ways to incorporate children’s lived experiences into daily classroom practices.
✅ Discipline Disparities – How biases influence suspension and expulsion rates and what educators can do to disrupt harmful patterns.
✅ Family Engagement – Moving beyond token gestures to build meaningful relationships with families from diverse backgrounds.
✅ Navigating Resistance – Practical strategies for teachers working in challenging environments, including finding supportive communities and “doing the work scared.”
Episode Transcript
What follows is a lightly edited transcript of our interview.
Emily Garman: Today's episode is a vital conversation on equity in early learning. We're honored to have Tameka Ardrey, PhD:, Dr. Ebonyse Mead, and Gryphon House president Dr. Rebecca Berlin joining us today.
At a time when DEI initiatives are under attack and equity feels increasingly out of reach, these women continue to push forward with honesty, courage and unwavering commitment. In this episode, we'll explore what equity truly means in an early childhood setting and how educators can make a difference even in difficult times. Let's get started.
Welcome to Early Childhood Chapters. My name is Emily Garman. I'm your host. Today we have a very special episode. We have two guests and our in-house, moderator, Rebecca Berlin from Gryphon House. So I'll kick it off to Dr. Mead first. Please introduce yourself. Let us know who you are, where you are, what book you've written for Gryphon House.
Ebonyse Mead, EdD: Hi, everyone. My name is Dr. Ebonyse Mead. If you say that kind of fast, it sounds like you're saying Ebony Smead. That's not my name. It's Ebonyse Mead. But I'm very happy to be here with you today. I am assistant professor in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences at Virginia State University, and I teach in the family, child and community development track.
I am also the adjunct professor at Wilmington University in Delaware. I teach in the online Applied Family Science graduate program. So I'm very happy to be here with you. Prior to that, this is how I know Dr. Ardrey. Together we worked at Georgia Southern University in their birth to kindergarten program. And we collaborated, probably like the semester that I got there, I believe we talked about collaborating, on a book that we both use in our classes at Georgia Southern University--Building Equitable Early Learning Programs: A Social Justice Approach. Right. It was to almost two years ago. So, yeah, I'll turn it over to Dr. Ardrey to introduce herself.
Tameka Ardrey, PhD:: So. Hello, I’m Dr. Audrey, I am excited to be here as well. I am currently the early childhood program director at Cape Fear Community College, and I'm also serving as interim director of our law school, so that's been fun and exciting. I've been in the field of early childhood for 20 years now, particularly working with children traditionally labeled at risk and underprivileged.
Rebecca Berlin, PhD: And I'm Dr. Rebecca Berlin, and I am currently the president of Gryphon House. And in that capacity, I have the ability to work with amazing authors, like these two women, and probably about 100 more. So it's my honor to lead us in a discussion today. So let's just get started.
So, Dr. Ardrey, equity in general and in education is a concept that's often misunderstood and confused with equality. Can you share how you differentiate between the two, and how do you help educators shift this mindset?
Tameka Ardrey, PhD: Absolutely, I always like to point out the word inequality. And when we think about people always thinking the same. And so if we're thinking about equality, we have to assume that everyone is starting out at the same place. Everyone has the same needs. So whatever we give them, it will suit everybody. So highlight the difference for educators. I like to use an example of perhaps going to a doctor’s office, and let's say three different individuals go to the doctor’s office. One person may have an earache, one person may have a toothache, and somebody else may have like a gunshot wound. Right. And the doctor gives everyone ear drops, right? It's equal. It's the same.
But does it meet the needs of everyone? It does not. Right? And so it's the same thing when we think about classrooms and our students. And when they show up, they come from different backgrounds, different experiences. They're exposed to different things. Some of them have early learning experiences. Some of them do not. And so we have to be mindful that we are meeting everyone at the point of their need.
And so I think equity is about giving you what you need based on the context of your life. Inequality would just be giving everyone the same thing no matter where they come from, no matter what they need.
Rebecca Berlin, PhD: I appreciate that because that is such an important concept to help people really understand those differences. I mean, speaking of mindsets, your book emphasizes that cultural inclusion should go beyond awareness and monthly celebrations. Can you share an example of what true, culturally responsive teaching looks like in practice?
Tameka Ardrey, PhD: So I like to think of culture. Responsive teaching is just teaching in context, right? Teaching in the context of the children, their lived experiences, their background. So for example, in a classroom, if you're doing transitions, it's simply using music that has the same rhythm, the beats, the tones that they're familiar with listening to at home. And so using those in your transitions every day.
Or it may be that children speak different languages in your classroom. And so maybe in the morning, if you're having a morning group time or just greetings, right, you're using terminologies in those different languages. It's something that you do every single day on a routine basis, but you're just incorporating who they are within the practices.
Rebecca Berlin, PhD: Thank you. I love that idea about transitions, right. Because transitions are so difficult for everyone. I say, if you ask 100 teachers what their top challenges are, usually transitions go to the top right because we know that it’s difficult to stop something and start something. And so making it meaningful and making there be a piece that’s familiar for those children is so important.
So, going to you, Dr. Mead. Given the current political environment and the threats to the initiatives, what can educators and administrators realistically do to foster equity when facing funding cuts or even threats? Legal threats to this work?
Ebonyse Mead, EdD: So I think that's such an important question. Just, you know, particularly just given our time, I think there's three things that teachers and educators can continue to do. I think one of the first things is to to really understand that equity work is it takes critical self-reflection, right? We bring our whole self to the work. And so even though there may be, you know, cuts to different programs that you're implementing or threats to those cuts, you can still do the personal work, right?
That doesn't change. And the personal work has to continue to happen in order to effectively implement the things that you're doing in your programs or in your centers. Right? Because again, bring your whole self to the work. Right? We often say that equity and you know, anti bias or, or you know, racial justice work isn't a destination--isn't like “I went to this training and then I'm done.”
Right. So I think there's three things that you can continue to do. One, you can continue to educate yourself. Because as we are learning more about the current climate that we're in, you know, we're learning more about ourselves as American citizens and people, right? So we can continue to educate ourselves about the history of this country. You know, what those inequities look like, not just within our society.
In the United States, the education system is a microcosm of the larger inequities that we see within our society. And so I think one thing is to continue to educate yourself, continue to attend professional development, webinars that are not just focused on things like cultural humility; now, don't get me wrong, cultural humility is very important, but really dive deep into understanding racial justice. What does that look like? You know, racial justice and anti-racism practices, right. How do those practices and pedagogy, you know, what does that actually look like in the classroom? Even if there are threats about funding, you can still educate yourself on those types of things.
So I think education is one. I think engagement, the engagement that you do with families is very important. The engagement that you do with children is so important because you want to continue to build those authentic relationships so you can do things like a cultural audit in your classroom, like, how are you really being intentional about fostering an environment that is representative of diverse families and just representation that's in a non-stereotypical way, right?
So the posters that you have in your class, or the bulletin board, or what all of those types of things; even in the play area, do those items truly represent and make children feel seen, valued and that they're welcome, and families as well? So the first thing I think is to continue education, continue that self-reflection.
How do you show up as a racialized person, in relation to the children that are in your care, and listen to the families, continue to have that authentic engagement and then continue to evaluate the policies that you have in your program, the practices that you have in your program, because it's not just looking at things like suspension and expulsion and teacher child interactions.
It's like, what policies do I have in my program that could inadvertently create inequity, right. And I'll give an example. One of my colleagues would have an assignment for her students in her sociology course, they would have to visit some type of nonprofit organization to try to get a better understanding of the organization, what they do, you know, how do you apply a sociological concept?
And what she found was that some students were not doing the assignment, and some of the students were not doing the assignment because they didn't have time to go to an organization. Right? Because they work. It's not that they were just not following instructions. They did want to do it, but they worked and they couldn't go.
And when she dug deeper to find out what's going on? Why aren’t you all completing the assignment? She found out that even in her good intention to expose students to the nonprofit world and give them some experience in to learning, her policy was inequitable, right. And so, again, so just being able to look at the policies and practices that you have that are on the surface, they may seem to have good intention, but in practice they may be creating or perpetuating inequities.
Rebecca Berlin, PhD: Thank you for lifting that up, because I do think that those barriers, those unintentional barriers, I often think about times where—I’m going to talk about family engagement for a minute. You spoke about it earlier. We're going to do a, literacy evening for families, and we're going to do it at 6:00. Right. So 6:00 is when many families are still working. Many families don't have access to reliable transportation or bus lines. And so by putting those things in place, those are barriers to those parents participating. Exactly those policies and those intended or unintended consequences, almost like, to be able to do X., what do you need to be able to do that assignment, to come to that meeting.
Ebonyse Mead, EdD: Right. And I also think that we have to, you know, in examining, you know, our past, I think we have to be creative, right. And what we can do to remove those barriers. Like if we think about the childcare system, like there are barriers in place that prevent families from receiving the childcare that they need, right? So some programs, if you think about subsidy, like some programs you have to work, or if you get a scholarship, maybe you can get a scholarship for a couple of months where you look for work.
But then what happens if you don't find work right within that time frame? Right. So it's like thinking about, well, what can we do to be creative. So is there funding like if you're using funding to have scholarships, then maybe some of that funding can be used to help to have more family childcare, or help people pay family members to care for the kids.
People are looking for work, like just being creative and trying to remove some of those systemic barriers that are in place that keep families in this perpetual state of inequities and disparate outcomes as well.
Rebecca Berlin, PhD: Yeah, I appreciate that because we try, in the United States, to have a one size fits all response to things, but our communities, our people, our states are so diverse that we can't have a one size fits all. So I appreciate that.
Ebonyse Mead, EdD: Well, Rebecca, I mean, don't get me started now. That's the problem with America anyway, this idea what the United States is, this idea that there's this, you know, homogenized view that everyone should be the same. Right? This is why we're in the mess that we're in now with the political climate that we're in. And that's very counter to the ideals of the United States.
Rebecca Berlin, PhD: You mentioned family engagement. So I want to circle back to that, and family agent engagement is a key theme in your book. And it's so important. Right. Because I always think about, the child does not come to school, come to childcare, come into the community as just the child. They come within the system of that family.
And so I want you to just share a little bit about what are some of the most effective methods for educators, particularly those who come from non-marginalized communities, to build authentic relationships with families?
Ebonyse Mead, EdD: family engagement means so much to me. Just because children, they don't exist in a vacuum. They exist within the context of their families, their culture and their communities. Right. And I think when we understand that, I think the field of early childhood education needs to understand that concept. When I think about my learning in my doctoral program, I took one class.
And then with family engagement. We often focus on the child, which is not wrong. But again, children don't exist in absence of their families. And so I think one thing we have to do is understand and view families from a strength-based perspective. Right? I don't think we do enough of that. And acknowledging and respecting the strengths and the assets that families bring to the space, right?
Regardless of whatever adversities, or what that they may be experience. Right. Understanding that families develop over time. They're resourceful. They're resilient. Like, if we bring those concepts to the forefront of the work that we do when we're engaging with children already, then that helps build those authentic relationships. So I think we need kind of like a paradigm shift and a mindset of how we view families, right?
If we view families from a strength based perspective and that they are integral parts of the child’s development, it makes a world of a difference. So for me, I think it's having this mind shift to a strength based approach, and understanding that whatever adversity that the family may be experiencing.
The family got the child to school on time, no matter if the mom came in a bonnet and pajamas. That's not important. What's important is that she got the child to school on time, so she values the child's education, right? If we can see that instead of other things, I think that helps us build authentic relationships in a way where we're not judging families.
Right. And and families don't feel disconnected or they're not welcome because we're not placing judgment on them. We don't we don't have to censor them. We can help them, show what their strengths are and share power with families and all of those types of things that sometimes we do after the fact and not as a part of the work, if that makes sense.
Rebecca Berlin, PhD: I'm curious, before we move on, this term family engagement. I've spent a lot of time thinking about that word. Right. Because in a way it's a little one directional, right? I'm the “expert” and I'm going to reach out to you, the family. And I'm just curious your thoughts on that word. If there's a there's a better word, that you feel like we should move to using.
Ebonyse Mead, EdD: When I used to work when I was a home visitor; that's where I cut my teeth before coming into higher education; I was a home visitor for programs like Healthy Families and Parents as Teachers. And we would call our families that were in our program, We would call them “participants.” Rather than a client.
Because we really wanted to uplift this idea that we were partnering with them. And helping them. Helping them move in the direction that they wanted to go, you know in their family. So when I think about family engagement, I also think about partnership. Right. Because it isn’t just one-way. It’s bidirectional. Families learn from us and we learn from families.
And so again, just going back to what I said about viewing families from a strength-based perspective; when we do so, they teach us things about ourselves. And then we can kind of deconstruct this idea that we are the experts with this hierarchal relationship because, you are coming to the center for service, so I am the expert. Right? So if we view families as partners in this work, because we have the same outcomes, right? We want the best outcome for children. So we view families as partners in helping them teach us what, how they would like to be engaged.
Rebecca Berlin, PhD: Dr. Ardrey, as you noted in the introduction to the book, data shows there's a racial disparity in school discipline, with black children being disproportionately suspended and expelled even in preschool. How can early childhood educators disrupt this pattern and ensure discipline policies are developmentally appropriate and, more importantly, equitable?
Tameka Ardrey, PhD: I think so much of what Dr. Mead said in her previous responses hit this perfectly. It first takes self reflection, right? You have to know your biases. You have to know your dispositions. But we also have to know our own upbringings. Right? We have to know ourselves, because how our moral compass, how we determine what's right and what's wrong, what's good behavior and bad behavior is based on who we are and how we were raised.
And I always point out to educators, we have to determine what really matters. Right? Is this really an issue? Is this really taking away from the child learning and their peers learning? If it's not, some things we just have to let slide, right? I also think it's important that we teach expectations. I think a lot of times we just assume, right? We assume that everyone has the same notions of what's appropriate and what's not appropriate. And we base all of that on white middle class culture, and we forget that when students enter, they come from a whole other background. When we're talking about black children, in particular black boys, right? The way we communicate, the way we respond, all of these different things go into play.
And when you look at the data on why they are being suspended and why they are being expelled, we see disrespect over and over and over. And so we have to ask yourself, what does it mean to be, you know, respectful? What does it mean to be disrespectful? Is it the tone of voice, all of these different things?
If it doesn't matter and it's not impacting the child learning, we have to be mindful that, yeah, this might not be something that I prefer or that I like, but doesn't matter. And I think that's the biggest thing is when we look at these policies, we have to ask ourselves why, right? A lot of times I tell my students when I ask them, give me some rules that we should have or some expectations we should have in the classroom.
And they give me this long list, right? And they're really just regurgitating everything that we had to do when we were in school. But then when we get down to, ‘explain to me why this is important,’ they're stumped. Like they don’t know, it’s just because we just have to do it. But why? If I was a child, how would you explain to me why this is important?
And a lot of times they will say, I can't really explain. So let's take that off the list, right? And so when we start going through that, we have a much smaller list than what we think we should have. And so I think it's just a constant check of ourselves. Right. That is just a pet peeve of mine.
Does it really matter at the end of the day or not? And just being mindful how we approach those things in the classroom, and look at who are these rules impacting and affecting the most? And I think that's the best way to start. Taking ourselves out of it and just staying mindful of what is the main purpose in this class, what is the goal?
And if this really does not take away from the end goal, then it doesn't need to be a rule and the children don't need to be penalized for it.
Rebecca Berlin, PhD: I appreciate that, I appreciate the why. Because so many times, even in life, even with adults, like there's something we have to do, there's a why, right? And that shows respect that we talk to people about; it's just what it is. And this is why it is exactly.
Emily Garman: It seems like dress codes are something that I thought of when you said that--when we're having rules about how children's hair should be or shouldn't be, what shoes they can wear, there's so much value judgment in that too. And much of that has little, if anything, to do with how a child learns.
Tameka Ardrey, PhD: Yeah, yeah. And if we're honest, a lot of times we use rules to keep people out. We can't come out and say, ‘we don't want you here’ or ‘we don't want this.’ So we create these rules. That's like, no, this is just the standard that we all have to meet. But it's really a way of gatekeeping and controlling who's in the room.
Rebecca Berlin, PhD: That's a that was a powerful statement what you just said.
Ebonyse Mead, EdD: Yeah. And I think too, like going back to that, the point about gatekeeping like that gatekeeping is rooted in whiteness, right? The ideals of what professionalism look like, the tone of voice, your hair, your dress, how you behave; whiteness set the standards for our educational system of what things should and should not be.
And so deconstructing those like Dr. Ardrey already said, what's the “why” behind it, right? If it's not really impacting the child's ability to learn, then why do we even have that to begin with? But we have to be really mindful when we single children out or we penalize them because what does that do to their self-esteem and their self-worth and their identity, and how they think and feel about themselves. And we know that black children internalize a lot of racism and messages that circulate in our society. They internalize these messages, and they have feelings of shame and rage about, you know, who they are and confusion. And so I think as the adults and the educators. We have a responsibility to create environments where we are affirming their identities and not gatekeeping like Dr. Ardrey said.
Emily Garman: We're also teaching all the other children in the classroom how to treat and regard that child too. When we call them out or single them out.
Ebonyse Mead, EdD: That's right.
Rebecca Berlin, PhD: Speaking of identities and kind of seeing yourself in the classroom with increasing limitations on certain books and topics and historical discussions in schools, how can educators find creative ways to incorporate diverse stories and perspective into the classroom? And what strategies can they use to navigate those conversations with concerned parents who may escalate a book choice or classroom discussion to administrators, a school board, or even the media?
Tameka Ardrey, PhD: So I think for the first part, the way to, you know, incorporate creative ways to address, you know, culture and historical things is to use the lived experiences of the children. Right? There are multiple stories in your classroom right there. You know that you can make personal connections, too. I also think it's important, especially when it comes to controversy.
And I know it's really hard right now because whether we want to acknowledge it or not, there is a very clear mark in the sand of who's valued and who's not. And I think it's important as educators that we this is kind of a hill we should die on, that each and every child in our classroom is important. And they should be valued. And part of them being valued is them seeing themselves and what we're teaching, how we're teaching it. And so we need to do these things and we need to read certain books and do certain things because we want them to see themselves in the context of what they're learning. And I think we get so caught up on it being culturally relevant, or it's about this and is about that, but it's really just teaching in context.
If we think about ourselves, when do we learn best? When we care about what we're learning about. Right. And so it's just finding a way to bridge that gap between home and school to position every child for success. And I think when we take those things away, we're going to see this continuing repetition of this gap in what we call achievement and all of these different things, but it's really just more about the opportunity to learn in the way that best suits you.
And I think we just have to make it very clear to parents and principals or whomever. I always tell my students, know your “why” and be able to articulate it. Why are you doing this and how is it benefiting the children? And take data right? When I do it this way, I know that the children are gaining this when I do it this way.
I've learned that they have gained that because as long as you have your why and you have the data that backs up, nobody can really argue with you, other than being like, “I just don't want you to do it.” And I feel like if it gets to that point, then you need to make some tough decisions about is this a situation that is best suited for you to be your best educator, right.
That’s all you can do. I think Dr. Meade referred to this before is what you can control in your classroom. And I think being an advocate for those children, knowing your why and being able to document how it's beneficial is the best way to kind of navigate those difficult terrains.
Ebonyse Mead, EdD: And if I can piggyback like really quickly, I think there is a misconception that culturally relevant teaching is for black children and other children of color only. Right? It's not. It's just like Dr. Ardrey it. It's good teaching. It's just good practice. And so when we can make the connection that culturally relevant teaching, culturally responsive teaching, culturally responsive practice, anti-racist practice, all of these things.
Tameka Ardrey, PhD: Right? Because to Emily's point, when she said it teaches other children how to treat them or how to interact with a certain right, it's good teaching. It's just good practice. The reality is, we don't live in a homogenous society. We live in a multicultural, diverse society with the reality that people are multilingual, not even bilingual, they are multiracial.
Ebonyse Mead, EdD: And so, we do ourselves justice when we are creating these types of environments because we teach children early childhood and early childhood education is in a position to help young children learn those diverse and global skills that are so needed to help them function in the world.
And to reduce the incidence of prejudice and stereotypes and all of those types of things. Wouldn't it be awesome if we didn’t have categories, different social categories and identities. It's fine. But we don't have to assign value to them. And wouldn't it be awesome if children knew that early on?
Rebecca Berlin, PhD: We appreciate that. What about educators who are committed to equity but fear saying the wrong thing? What advice do you have and how can we move beyond that fear and actively contribute to a meaningful change in the way that approach prioritizes the voices and experiences of marginalized communities?
Tameka Ardrey, PhD: So I think the first thing I would say is don't fear the inevitable, because you are probably going to say something that does not come out the way that you expected it to or the way that you intended to. A lot of that is based on the perception of the other individual. But I will say with that, I think the most important thing is being willing to learn and take accountability.
Knowing that even though that's not what I intended for it to do, the impact that it has on whomever you say it to, right? Be willing to take accountability for that. Be willing to apologize. If you sincerely feel that and just ask for directions to learn and to do this work and to do, you know, the research on, well, what's the best way to say it?
Having open conversations, having the uncomfortable conversations, all of those things will position you. It is a learning curve. Like Dr. Mead says, it's not just, I get to this destination and I stop. But you're always learning, right? Even us. As black women, like when we have a different conversation, me and that community has so many conversations, and we feel differently now than we felt before because of different contexts.
And I just think you have to understand that it is an ongoing journey. Things change all the time, but being willing to take accountability, being willing to admit when you don't know, and being willing to learn is more important than the fear. And so I think “do it scared” is what I would say. Do it scared even if you're scared.
Rebecca Berlin, PhD: I love that phrase. Do it scared. I mean, I think that's such a that's important for Dr. me. This follows that, kind of many educators want to do this work, but they feel isolated or unsupported by their administration or community. How can they build networks of support and resilience when pushing for equity in difficult environments?
Ebonyse Mead, EdD: So it's like, finding your you finding your people, right? Finding those who value the work the same as you and build small communities. I mean, that's what a community is. You're together with people that have a purpose. And you create shared meaning around that. That purpose.
So I would say, find people that share your interest, that share your desire to continue this work. You know, Stephanie, from Gryphon House, we had a conversation the other day and we both went into that meeting like, ugh, and not that we didn't want to meet with each other, but we were feeling very heavy with everything that is going on in our society, just because we are advocates of equity work and particularly equity in early childhood education. And after we got off that call, we felt so much better, because we were in community, even though it was just the two of us. We were in community with each other, and we needed that.
We didn't know that going in, and we were just feeling very heavy. And neither of us wanted to cancel because we had already rescheduled. So I would say, I think that the most important thing to do is to find your people, find people that are willing to do it scared with you, right, that are willing to die on this hill.
And those are the people that you build community with. Those are the people that you come up with creative ways to do things. I facilitate a community of learners with a university in the Northern, the Northeastern part of the state, and I've been with them for four years. And in that space, we know that we can talk about the hard conversations.
They know that I'm going to challenge them to continue to do the work despite everything. Now, of course, I am not saying to people that you need to go out there and lose your job, right? Yeah, not saying that, but I am saying that there's ways to do the work. There's ways to kind of go around.
For example, the community of practice that I facilitate. We had to change the name. We have to change the name of it. That's esthetics. Yeah you want to change the name whatever. Right. But we're still going to do the work. So if you don't want us to say biases okay I'm adding we're just going to say assumptions right. Like we're still going to do the work. We're still going to get the message across. Because if the work wasn't important why would they try to stop the work from happening?
So we know that the work is important. We know that it has value. And so I think that comes with that goes back to what I said earlier about building your capacity to continue to educate yourself and be engaged in the work so you have the right tools, you have the right to be able to name something when you see it and call it out to call someone else whether they say something inadvertently or on purpose, doing something that, that is anti whatever. And so I think it's just building your community and, and being open to learn, you know, practicing cultural humility because that's what cultural humility is. This continued openness and willingness to learn, examine issues of inequities and parity where they exist, examine the spaces that you are in, where there is distance in those spaces where those spaces are not welcoming.
And then how do you use your privilege to be able to create, spaces that, are more welcoming, understanding intersectionality. Right. Because we as people, we're not just one dimensional, right. And the children that we support, they're not just one dimensional, right. So going back to what I said earlier, affirming identities. So I think there's so many different things that, you can do within those spaces.
But I think it just starts with like finding your people and connecting with your people who believe in this work. Whatever happened and then like Dr. Ardrey said, that you might have to have some hard conversations with yourself like, okay, is this the place that I need to be, because I can't be my authentic self if I can't do what I know is the best, right? We are. We want folks to know we are on the right side of history with this. We are.
Rebecca Berlin, PhD: I appreciate that. Speaking of community, I think this next question kind of flows with that. The book discusses using using professional learning communities. They can be called different things. Reflective practice to drive real action. Can you give examples of what a school or center's leadership team should be doing to regularly assess and improve that equity in their program?
Ebonyse Mead, EdD: I would say one thing, if you have regular meeting, that is a prime opportunity to be discussing things that you can do differently to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and justice. And access all of those things. So a question that you can ask in the meeting is, what did I do this week to promote one of those things. And then you all can brainstorm on how you can continue to do those things. Like what went well, what didn’t. What I have the folks that I'm facilitating this community of practice with is we're looking at SWOT, we're looking at strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. And then we go through areas where they want to see improvement.
So for it for example, if it's, you know, better interactions with the teachers like the PTAs don't have, they need to strengthen their interactions with the teachers. Let's just say that that's an area that they want to improve. Then how do we use SWOT to do that? So whatever the issue is that they want to improve or change, we use that kind of analysis because that helps us not only look at the strengths, but what opportunities already exist.
And then what are the threats that that can prevent us from doing so. And I'm not saying you have to use that framework. But if you use that, or something like that to help you dive deeper into what you want to challenge, into what you want to change.
But that's some action that you can take that's practical and it holds you accountable. And then creating an action plan like, okay, this month, this is what we're going to do. It's often helpful to start with the low-hanging fruit, because some things are so ingrained in a system that it takes time. But if there's low-hanging fruit that you can identify, then applying like a SWOT or appreciative inquiry framework, whatever kind of strength-based framework you want to use to help you get to the end result, which is making that change.
And I think the other thing that's really important here is just the value of transformative learning theory. Really understanding how important it is to be able to take in information, because that's what learning is. Learning is an iterative process. So you take in information, you learn something new, you give it a whirl, you give it a try, see if it works out.
If it doesn't, then you make adjustments. That's what learning is. And just also making room for mistakes like that to say you're going to make some mistakes. So give yourself some grace in that. But I think if you come with a framework where you can tie that to some action that you want to do and hold yourself accountable, and that helps you to stay engaged. And engagement was one of the things that I mentioned early at the beginning up here. So I think those are just some things that people can do.
Tameka Ardrey, PhD: So and just to add on to what Dr. Mead said, being mindful of who is at the table, who is the leadership team, and making sure that they reflect the population you serve. Right? Because that will help the decisions be authentic and it will help you to keep in mind the stakeholders and what they desire and what they need.
And so I think a lot of times teams don't always reflect the population we serve. And even though you may be well-intentioned and all of those different things, there are just some blind spots that you have, no matter how well-intentioned you are. So just making sure that your leadership team is reflective of the people you serve in some capacity.
Rebecca Berlin, PhD: And then I have one last question for both of you. So what is one advice you would give to an early childhood educator or leader who is just starting to learn about systemic inequities in education? Where should they begin, and what's most the most important first step they can take?
Ebonyse Mead, EdD: I think where they can begin is with self. It's it's a self-reflective, ongoing process. And you know, some questions they can ask themselves are things like, you know, what values do I hold about education. What beliefs do I have, what ways?
Or what ways have I been socialized around education? What are my beliefs about education? How does that hold up in the classroom? So I think they can start with self and then it's important to understand the systemic equities within our society and how they translate. So having historical knowledge. Learning new terms.
And if those terms make you uncomfortable sitting with that, like sitting with those terms and figure it out, why it makes you uncomfortable, what triggers you, connecting with other people that are beginning to do this work, do not rely on black people or other people of color to teach you. Right. The onus does not fall on our shoulders.
We can be co-thinkers together. But we're not here to teach you what happened. So don’t expect that. Be quiet and listening. Listen to the voices of folks that are marginalized and who have close proximity to the issue. So, yeah, I'll let Dr. Ardrey chime in,but check your whiteness--if you don't know what that means. That's what the community of learning is for, to help you understand.
Tameka Ardrey, PhD: Yeah. I think, you know, Dr. Mead pretty much summed it up. The only thing that I would say is just to take the time to build authentic relationships with people, because you learn so much just from building authentic relationships. You do have those safe spaces to have difficult conversations and to ask questions you may not normally feel comfortable asking and to make those mistakes, because that person will know, this person is well-intended, but let me help you understand.
And so it doesn't feel so burdensome when I have to kind of help and clarify some things when it's built on the authentic relationship versus me being your source, like me being your source for all things black and how do I need to do this? And so I just think relationships go a long, long way.
Rebecca Berlin, PhD: I want to always give space. Is there anything else that we didn’t ask, or you didn't have the opportunity to lift up or share or that you want to make sure we talk about today?
Ebonyse Mead, EdD: I like what Dr. Ardrey said: Do with fear. I think we are so caught up right now, and what's happening, we live in anti-DEI climate. I think people first need to understand what diversity, equity and inclusion is, because I think in some spaces are being reduced to who it has benefited. And not really understanding the full, like what it really is. And let me say that differently. Who it has benefited the most. Like I'm seeing a lot of those types of conversations, but not really understanding the full gamut of what diversity, equity, inclusion is and what it what it should be.
And, you know, and creating space for really examining issues of inequities in parity. You can't talk about diversity and inclusion in absence of that. You can't talk about the ways that we should connect to people. If we are not examining how these systemic barriers have been in place that create the conditions that marginalized folks find themselves in.
So I, I just think that's just it's really important. And then it's also super important to understand that diversity, equity, inclusion work is not anti-race work. It’s similar, but it's not the same. And that we have to we have to create space to examine race and race relations and issues. And we can't be afraid to do that. It's such a taboo topic and continues to be, especially in the current climate that we're living in now. Like we can't do this work authentically if we're not talking about those hard issues that make people cringe or uncomfortable. And that's okay, right? Because if we don't do that in an authentic way, America is never the United States will never live up to its ideals.
And I think one thing I always say is that white supremacy culture, it robs white people of their humanity and robs people of color, black folks and people of color, of their dignity. And so once, once white individuals and people as a group understand that they too have been impacted by white supremacy, then that's when we can stop, when we can get to the nitty gritty, that's when we can start having real conversation.
Hashtag do it scared.
Rebecca Berlin, PhD: Yeah. Like mantras. I think are so helpful for for myself, and for our community. Dr. Mead, Dr. Ardrey, it's been such an honor to spend time with you today discussing these important topics that are important every day, but especially right now. So thank you so much. For your time. Thank you so much for your Gryphon House book. And I look forward to continuing this conversation in the future.
Ebonyse Mead, EdD: Thank you. Thank you for having us.
Emily Garman: And I'm just really grateful to all of you for your time and labor and sharing your knowledge and expertise with us, and just being so candid, I want to acknowledge again the depth of experience and wisdom that is represented here today. It's really, like Rebecca said, such an honor. And you provided so many actionable things that educators and educational leaders can do right now to stay afloat and stay hopeful in this challenging and changing landscape around education and so many other things that we're facing in the United States today. So again, I'm just very grateful to all of you for being here.
Dr. Tameka Ardrey Dr. Ebonyse Mead, I speak for Dr. Berlin and myself and everyone at Gryphon House in expressing our gratitude for your time and expertise today. These conversations are difficult and essential. As Dr. Ardrey said, we must do it scared.Equity work isn't about perfection. It's about showing up, learning and taking action.
To all the educators listening. Keep pushing forward. Your work matters and every child deserves to be seen and valued. Thanks for tuning in to early childhood chapters. See you next time.
