ABSTRACT
Culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) is a powerful framework towards disrupting standardized practices in early childhood education which have been historically undergirded by deficit ideologies. CSP seeks to foster, reclaim and sustain the dynamic cultural and linguistic practices of children and communities of Color with the intention of creating learning spaces that honor multilingualism and multiculturalism. This chapter explores the sociohistorical contexts surrounding the early education of children of Color and immigrant children to trace how deficit ideologies have shaped early childhood education policies and practice for children from culturally and linguistically minoritized backgrounds. Subsequently, the chapter describes the roots and tenets of CSP and explores enactments of CSP in diverse early childhood education spaces. These examples highlight how teachers have (1) created critical generative learning spaces to interrogate and disrupt inequities in the worlds of children; (2) honored the multilingual and multicultural practices of children through families and communities; and (3) negotiated mandated curriculums and standards with CSP. These glimpses of practice uncover the possibilities for disrupting standardization by developing transformative pedagogies that aim to reclaim and nurture children’s multicultural and multilinguistic identities and practices.
