Wesleyan Anti-Bias Curriculum

Shakira Abdul-Rauf
Shakira Abdul-Rauf

Shakira Abdul-Rauf is a rising sophomore ‘24 (pronouns: she/hers). She was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and her family is from Ghana. Her intended majors are Psychology and African American Studies with possible minors in Dance or Education Studies. Outside of the classroom, you might find Shakira working as a Writing Mentor or in Exley library. Next semester, Shakira will also be supporting the African Student Association (ASA) and Minority Association of Premedical Students (MAPS) as treasurer.

Abstract: Researchers have established through various methods that by as early as three years old children are aware of social constructs such as race, gender, and economic status. Despite the many studies that demonstrate that intergroup biases and stereotypes begin to formulate in early childhood, there is a lack of educational resources and materials for intervention in pre-schools. This may be due to a common misconception that preschool is too young to begin to introduce these topics. However, according to the research, young children begin to construct explanatory theories about their environment, making early childhood possibly one of the most essential times to intervene. Most of the current literature on children and essentialism, biases, and stereotypes falls short in explaining how exactly parents and educators can assist children with navigating their biases. To begin to bridge this gap, we have explored the question: How can we take pre-existing childhood developmental research and translate it into an anti-bias intervention for preschool children? With this, our goal is to build a preschool appropriate curriculum in the form of activities to make it flexible and approachable for teachers and students. By making research-based decisions to formulate concrete activities and recommendations for preschool teachers we can intervene during a critical time and potentially prevent the formation of biases in children.

Video:

Shakira Abdul-Rauf (Psychology)
Anti-Bias-Curriculum_Poster-Presentation-Summer-2021_S.A.R

Live Poster Session:
Thursday, July 29th 1:15-2:30pm EDT