False Starts: The Segregated Lives of Preschoolers
An inside look at the racial and class divides between Head Start and private pre-K classrooms for children and their families
I spent two years observing children and teachers at two preschools in Madison, Wisconsin. Madison, like many other medium cities in the United States, is segregated, with affluent and middle-class white people and working class or low-income people of color occupying different sectors of the city. I observed one preschool that was 95% white and another that was 95% children of color. This segregation had an impact on children’s experiences in multiple ways, but especially in the ways they spent their time, the supervision and instruction they received, and the ways they learned and socialized with other children. I argue that, even in high-quality preschools that on paper have similar resources, de facto segregation creates different school experiences for children that ultimately reinforce racial and class inequality.
False Starts tells the stories of how children experience their segregated classrooms. I invite you to continue the conversation about what young children deserve and order the book here.
I spent two years observing children and teachers at two preschools in Madison, Wisconsin. Madison, like many other medium cities in the United States, is segregated, with affluent and middle-class white people and working class or low-income people of color occupying different sectors of the city. I observed one preschool that was 95% white and another that was 95% children of color. This segregation had an impact on children’s experiences in multiple ways, but especially in the ways they spent their time, the supervision and instruction they received, and the ways they learned and socialized with other children. I argue that, even in high-quality preschools that on paper have similar resources, de facto segregation creates different school experiences for children that ultimately reinforce racial and class inequality.
False Starts tells the stories of how children experience their segregated classrooms. I invite you to continue the conversation about what young children deserve and order the book here.
