Folk wisdom tells us young children don't notice differences or have any biases, yet research is telling us otherwise. What are age appropriate ways to develop intentionally inclusive and identity conscious children?

1. The Children’s School
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee
Seattle Girls’ School
Inclusion in the Early Years:
Why, What, and How
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2. About Seattle Girls’ School
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3. Agenda
 Increasing Inclusivity
 Developmental Timelines
 What We Can Do
 Questions and Answers
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4. Disclaimers and
Other Food for Thought
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5. Dimensions of Identity and Culture
This model of identifiers and culture was created by Karen Bradberry and Johnnie Foreman for NAIS Summer Diversity Institute,
adapted from Loden and Rosener’s Workforce America! (1991) and from Diverse Teams at Work, Gardenswartz & Rowe (SHRM 2003).
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

6. Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)
The Jones Model of Cultural Competence
Cultural Self-
Awareness
Cultural
Intelligence
Cross-Cultural
Effectiveness
Skills
Countering
Oppression
through
Inclusion

7. Developmentally Appropriate
Approaches and Talks
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8. Timeline for Early Awareness of
Difference and Oppression
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Age Signs
6 months Can discern racial feature differences
3 years Awareness of own and others’ gender.
Beginning awareness of gender roles
5 years Desire to categorize – self, others
Curiosity about meaning of differences
Aware of biases
7 years Can regulate biases versus behaviors
Starting to parrot adult messages
3rd grade Are aware of societal stereotypes
5th grade Have internalized stereotypical messages

9. When They’re Little
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Theme: Trying to Understand the World
 Curiosity based questions about difference
 Find out what they’re actually asking
 Find out why they’re asking
 Answer their questions straightforwardly
 Model and coach humility, delight, and
curiosity about difference
 Be mindful of children’s media – it’s not
always good for kids

10. Baby Deep Dive: Gender
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11. Gender Differences
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12. Brash
Troublemaker
Strong
Competitive
Physical
Silent
Clever
Mistake-Prone
Belligerent
Intuitive
Well-Behaved
Delicate
Cooperative
Emotional
Verbal
Pretty
Perfect
Nice
Gender Bias
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13. Paradigm We Were Taught
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Born with Male Parts
Calls Himself a Man
Displays Masculinity
Is Attracted to
Women
Man Woman
Born with Female
Parts
Calls Herself a
Woman
Displays Femininity
Is Attracted to Men
Boys Will Be Boys
A Man’s Man
Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails
Macho Men
Girls Will Be Girls
Woman’s Domain
Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice
The Feminine Mystique
Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus

14. Gender and Sexuality Paradigm
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15. What Some People Think
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Born with Boy Body
Calls Himself a Boy
Acts Like a Boy
Grows Up to Love
Girls
Boy Girl
Born with Girl Body
Calls Herself a Girl
Acts Like a Girl
Grows Up to Love
Boys
Boys Will Be Boys
Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails
Prince Charming to the Princess
Girls Will Be Girls
Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice
Princess Waiting for Prince Charming

16. What Gender Unicorns Know
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)
There are many ways to
be me, and not
everything fits neatly
into bubbles of “boy” or
“girl.” And that’s okay!

17. What Gender Unicorns Know
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)
All unicorns have
bodies. Some bodies
have parts that are
biologically male parts,
some bodies have parts
that are biologically
female parts. Some
bodies have parts that
aren’t so clear cut!

18. What Gender Unicorns Know
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)
All unicorns have identities.
Some unicorns KNOW that
they are boy unicorns. Some
unicorns KNOW they are girl
unicorns. Some unicorns
KNOW that they are part girls
and part boys. Some
unicorns KNOW that they are
neither boy or girl.

19. What Gender Unicorns Know
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)
All unicorns express
themselves. Unicorns like
to wear different colors,
wear their hair different
ways, play with different
types of toys, act different
ways. Some people think
these are “boy” ways and
“girl” ways, but unicorns
know it’s just “their way”

20. What Gender Unicorns Know
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)
Many unicorns fall in
love when they grow up.
Some unicorns fall in
love with boys, some
unicorns fall in love with
girls, some unicorns fall
in love with either boys
or girls, and some
unicorns don’t fall in
love with anyone!

21. In the Middle Years
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Theme: Who Am I? How Do I Have Power?
 “Friendship Extinction Event”
 Identity search through grouping
 Good and bad cliques
 Open their horizons about identity
 Be steady through their rollercoaster
 Coach more, teach less

22. Early Curricular Approaches
 Exposure Base
 Allowing Questions
 Gentle Guidance
 Modeling Comfort With Discussions
 Expanding Definition of What’s Possible
 Fairness, Kindness, and Rightness
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

23. Examples
 The Black Santa Story
 The Jackie Robinson Story
 What Makes a Family?
 Alternate Fairy Tales
 Dress-Up Corner
 Guest Speakers That Defy Stereotypes
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

24. Later Curricular Approaches
 Experiential And Discovery Base
 Facilitating Questions and Discussions
 Media Literacy
 Patterns and Systems
 Values and Actions
 Autonomy and Choice
 Justice and Activism
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25. Examples
 Products of Puberty
 Barbie Math
 Nacirema
 What’s So Funny?
 Video Documentary Project
 Pay It Forward
 Data Manipulations
 Problem-Solving Through Coding
 The Scholar’s Club
 Teaching Younger Youth
 Correlation versus Causation
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26. Talking With Your Kids
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 Be explicit about your values
 Be open about your own
struggles
 Don’t stay silent
 100 1-Minute Conversations
 Relationship Based
Interruption

27. Questions and Comments
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28. Presenter Information
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee
6th Faculty and
Professional Outreach
Seattle Girls’ School
2706 S Jackson Street
Seattle WA 98144
(206) 805-6562
rlee@seattlegirlsschool.org
http://tiny.cc/rosettalee
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)