CEIEC Keynote: Gloria Swindler Boutte

Bio

Dr. Gloria Swindler Boutte is an Associate Professor of Education at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina. She is the author of Multicultural Education: Raising Consciousness and Resounding Voices: School Experiences of People From Diverse Ethnic Backgrounds. She has also authored numerous other publications related to diversity. She has presented nationally and internationally on diversity and curriculum issues and enjoys working with teachers and schools. She is also the founder of the Center of Excellence for the Education and Equity of African American Students at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina.

Abstract

“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice”
---Martin Luther King, Jr.

This presentation calls Early Childhood Educators to action to develop legacies and themes which allow us to work across gender, ethnic, religious, socioeconomic, cultural, and other differences. It explores what we as educators and world citizens can do to ensure that the arc of the moral universe continues to bend toward justice. It summons educators to collectively envision and use pedagogies that can potentially positively change the world beyond even what our currently worldviews permit us to imagine.

Presenting examples from the micro to the macro level, this session questions, “Can we candidly talk about issues and 'four-letter words' like 'race,' 'social class,' 'hate,' and 'love'? Why should be talk about these issues? What should we say? Which pedagogical approaches should be used? How do we use them? How do we create a more inclusive rather than excusive social order?

Several illusions regarding appreciation of diversity in Early Childhood classrooms will be explored. We will also consider ways Early Childhood instruction and curricula can deepen children's understanding of social justice. We will reflect on who we are as educators and what legacies we are leaving and want to leave.