Promoting Diverse Children’s Books

Teaching for Change recently released a statement addressing media personality, Rush Limbaugh, and his comments that their approach of teaching with diverse books is ‘racist.’ School Readiness Consulting firmly stands behind Teaching for Change and the work they do to promote inclusive learning through diverse books. We believe that Teaching for Change’s approach in fact, supports anti-bias education. 

Imagery is at the foundation of learning for young children. What they see is how they learn, and what they learn will ultimately affect how they see themselves. If books are not showing a fair and equal representation of all of the children and families that live within our communities, then how will all children form positive identities and take pride in who they are and where they come from? Excluding the varied experiences of groups of people who come from different races and ethnicities from literature will rob all children of the chance to be cognizant and appreciative of the diverse society in which we live. 

So, Mr. Limbaugh, our question to you is – how can we teach children that who they are and where they come from should be celebrated if we’re not exposing them to it in the most important channel that forms the foundation of their learning?