ABSTRACT
This chapter presents terms and topics that can lead to rich classroom discussions, and that can provide experiences to anchor discussion for young children's evolving understandings of their world and their role in it. It highlights some of the major milestones along the path to assuring an equitable, meaningful education for all young children. The chapter explores topics of race, gender, and ability, yet it is important to acknowledge that there are numerous other topics that can create challenges for teachers. Diversity is a term often used, and used in multiple ways, sometimes without a specific definition or goal: Sometimes it is used as a euphemism for race or gender in an attempt to soften the impact of discussing racism and sexism directly. Like race, gender is a socially constructed concept, as opposed to sex, which is biologically determined at birth. Similar to the concepts of race and gender, there are numerous political, cultural, and social constructs related to disability.
