Unequal Beginnings - Longer Description
My dissertation analyzes the implications of segregated preschool classrooms. I studied peer and teacher socialization, children’s attempts to access objects from home and school, and teachers’ challenges on the job. I conducted a comparative ethnographic study in two classrooms for 4-year olds. The first classroom wasat one of the Head Start centers in Madison, Wisconsin. All of the children were poor or low-income at Head Start, and most were children of color. The second classroom was a well-respected private preschool in Madison that I call “Great Beginnings.” Most of the children at Great Beginnings were white and middle or upper middle-class. These sites were both high-quality preschools and had experienced, passionate teachers.
I did two years of ethnographic research. To me, ethnography is about understanding the challenges, joys, and unspoken rules that people experience. To do this, I observed what people did and said throughout the day. Because I was primarily interested in how children experienced the classroom, I spent as much time with children as possible. I played with them during free choice periods. I sat with them at Circle Time, Lunch, and Nap Time. I took field notes using bits of paper to jot down important quotes. I wrote out more extensive notes during my own lunch breaks, Nap Time, and after I left the classroom for the day. I also interviewed teachers. I then coded the field notes and transcripts using a qualitative data analysis software.
First, I analyzed how teachers and peers socialize children for school behavior. For teachers to succeed in their socialization goals, they needed a low teacher-student ratio in practice. Head Start and Great Beginnings had comparable ratios on paper. These were low ratios of one adult per six children. But at Head Start, teachers were less able to spread their attention around the classroom because they often had to pair up with children with challenging behaviors. As a result, Head Start children more peer-led socialization, with some peers encouraging peers to break classroom rules. At Great Beginnings, the low ratio translated into relatively even supervision, so that teachers were often engaged in children’s activities. Great Beginnings children experienced teacher-led socialization that uniformly emphasized classroom rules.
Second, I considered children’s ability to predictably access objects while at school. Head Start children were not allowed to bring in personal items, a rule intended to buffer children from feeling jealous about the material goods their families lacked. When Head Start children used classroom toys, the larger class size and teachers’ relaxed management of children’s movement through play centers meant that children sometimes took the stuff their peers were using. These restrictions led poor children of color to develop peer-based, informal practices to access materials, such as assigning guards to watch their stuff if they had to leave it. In contrast, at Great Beginnings, children had several avenues to bring in personal stuff. When they used classroom toys, the teachers’ tight classroom management prevented children from taking each other’s stuff. These affluent, white children became practiced at collaborating with authority figures to access materials. Overall, as children dealt with barriers to using resources in the classroom, they developed classed dispositions toward authority figures and material goods.
Finally, I analyzed teachers’ experiences. I found that Head Start teachers faced extra job demands due to some of the stressors of poverty. For example, some families moved frequently, experienced incarceration, and faced food or housing insecurity. These factors sometimes affected children’s behavior and resulted in less predictable enrollment and attendance. The Head Start teachers spent some of their time handling this unpredictability. The lead teacher also experienced high strain at work as she tried to balance extensive paperwork requirements with hands-on time helping children. In contrast, at Great Beginnings, the children were generally well-behaved, enrollment was stable, and attendance was predictable.
As a whole, my dissertation shows how children, teachers, and classroom conditions together influence early socialization. Preschools provide important, but often segregated, early socialization experiences that can reinforce class and race inequality.
This project contributes to research on socialization by considering how children react to the simultaneous influences of teachers and peers. Also, rather than thinking of children as the main people who experience the outcomes of socialization, I analyze how socialization works as a relational process that impacts both children and teachers.
I am currently revising my dissertation into a book. The book will offer a detailed account of the subtle but impactful inequalities that children experience in segregated preschools. This will add to academic and policy debates about how to improve preschools in order to advance class and race equality.
This work is supported by the National Science Foundation and the Ford Foundation.
I did two years of ethnographic research. To me, ethnography is about understanding the challenges, joys, and unspoken rules that people experience. To do this, I observed what people did and said throughout the day. Because I was primarily interested in how children experienced the classroom, I spent as much time with children as possible. I played with them during free choice periods. I sat with them at Circle Time, Lunch, and Nap Time. I took field notes using bits of paper to jot down important quotes. I wrote out more extensive notes during my own lunch breaks, Nap Time, and after I left the classroom for the day. I also interviewed teachers. I then coded the field notes and transcripts using a qualitative data analysis software.
First, I analyzed how teachers and peers socialize children for school behavior. For teachers to succeed in their socialization goals, they needed a low teacher-student ratio in practice. Head Start and Great Beginnings had comparable ratios on paper. These were low ratios of one adult per six children. But at Head Start, teachers were less able to spread their attention around the classroom because they often had to pair up with children with challenging behaviors. As a result, Head Start children more peer-led socialization, with some peers encouraging peers to break classroom rules. At Great Beginnings, the low ratio translated into relatively even supervision, so that teachers were often engaged in children’s activities. Great Beginnings children experienced teacher-led socialization that uniformly emphasized classroom rules.
Second, I considered children’s ability to predictably access objects while at school. Head Start children were not allowed to bring in personal items, a rule intended to buffer children from feeling jealous about the material goods their families lacked. When Head Start children used classroom toys, the larger class size and teachers’ relaxed management of children’s movement through play centers meant that children sometimes took the stuff their peers were using. These restrictions led poor children of color to develop peer-based, informal practices to access materials, such as assigning guards to watch their stuff if they had to leave it. In contrast, at Great Beginnings, children had several avenues to bring in personal stuff. When they used classroom toys, the teachers’ tight classroom management prevented children from taking each other’s stuff. These affluent, white children became practiced at collaborating with authority figures to access materials. Overall, as children dealt with barriers to using resources in the classroom, they developed classed dispositions toward authority figures and material goods.
Finally, I analyzed teachers’ experiences. I found that Head Start teachers faced extra job demands due to some of the stressors of poverty. For example, some families moved frequently, experienced incarceration, and faced food or housing insecurity. These factors sometimes affected children’s behavior and resulted in less predictable enrollment and attendance. The Head Start teachers spent some of their time handling this unpredictability. The lead teacher also experienced high strain at work as she tried to balance extensive paperwork requirements with hands-on time helping children. In contrast, at Great Beginnings, the children were generally well-behaved, enrollment was stable, and attendance was predictable.
As a whole, my dissertation shows how children, teachers, and classroom conditions together influence early socialization. Preschools provide important, but often segregated, early socialization experiences that can reinforce class and race inequality.
This project contributes to research on socialization by considering how children react to the simultaneous influences of teachers and peers. Also, rather than thinking of children as the main people who experience the outcomes of socialization, I analyze how socialization works as a relational process that impacts both children and teachers.
I am currently revising my dissertation into a book. The book will offer a detailed account of the subtle but impactful inequalities that children experience in segregated preschools. This will add to academic and policy debates about how to improve preschools in order to advance class and race equality.
This work is supported by the National Science Foundation and the Ford Foundation.