Dissertation Proposal Announcement Ed.D. Program: Amber Jarrett, “Beyond Multiculturalism: A Kindergarten Social Studies Unit Framed by Critical Literacy”

Research shows that young children begin forming racial perceptions and navigating social power through race as early as age three, yet early childhood educators often avoid direct conversations about race and racism. When race is addressed, it is typically through multicultural or diversity-based approaches that celebrate difference without interrogating systems of power and oppression. Critical scholars argue that, with appropriate support, young children are capable of challenging racialized ideologies by engaging in conversations about fairness, justice, and inequality. However, most critical early childhood work has been conducted in racially diverse settings and led by external researchers, leaving a gap in practical guidance for White educators in predominantly White, socioeconomically privileged classrooms.

This practitioner research study investigates how kindergarteners in a predominantly White classroom engage with a teacher-created social studies unit grounded in critical literacy practices. It is guided by two central research questions: (1) What does an early childhood curriculum based on critical literacy look like in practice? and (2) How do kindergarten children respond to a unit rooted in critical literacy practices?

Using a practitioner research design, this study will document the implementation of a thirteen-lesson social studies unit that foregrounds race. Qualitative data will be collected through video-recorded classroom observations, student interviews, and child-created artifacts, with a focus on four focal children selected to reflect classroom demographics. Findings will include a holistic narrative that provides a detailed description of the implemented curriculum and its potential impact on students’ racial thinking and discourse. This research contributes to the field by offering a classroom-based, teacher-led example of how critical literacy can be enacted in early childhood education to interrogate racial understandings