Soobin Oh Discusses Anti-Bias Education in Early Childhood

In this week’s episode, we speak with Soobin Oh about the importance of anti-bias education in early childhood. Soobin Oh is the senior education advisor at Children’s Institute. He is a committed social justice educator and is well-versed in anti-bias education, culturally sustaining pedagogy, and critical pedagogy. Soobin holds a master’s in early childhood inclusive curriculum and instruction from Portland State University (PSU) and is working towards his Ed.D. in curriculum and instruction at PSU with a research focus on social justice in early childhood education.

Definitions:

Institutional Bias is the tendency of institutions to advantage and favor certain groups of people while other groups are disadvantaged or devalued.

Explicit Bias is attitudes and beliefs of individuals about other people or groups of people on a conscious level.

Implicit Bias is attitudes and beliefs of individuals about other people or groups of people on an unconscious level. Implicit bias is a problem for educators because it can come into play in a classroom without intent.

A Tourist Curriculum is a superficial educational approach that does not make diversity a routine part of the ongoing, daily learning environment. Instead, it is curriculum that “drops in” on strange, exotic people to see their holidays and taste their foods, and then returns to the “real” world of “regular” life. Essentially it treats non-western cultures as “other.”

Recommended Reading

What is Anti-Bias Education? – NAEYC

Leading Anti-Bias Early Childhood Programs – Louise Derman-Sparks, Debbie LeeKeenan & John Nimmo 

Anti-Bias Education in the Early Childhood Classroom – Katie Kissinger