ABSTRACT
The Anti-Bias Curriculum, written by Louise Derman-Sparks and associates and published in 1989, was one of the earliest examples applying the social reconstructionist approach in early childhood classrooms. Using activities and stories, this book has helped teachers to foster the development of children’s ethnic identities and their interpersonal and intergroup respect and relationships and to see and challenge the bias in their classrooms and communities. It continues to be widely used in early childhood classrooms and is reflected in the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accreditation standards. However, as I will discuss in the third section of this chapter, teachers often have difficulty implementing the critical thinking and social activism aspect of this curriculum.
