How can parents and caregivers support the healthy identity development of young children? This session, presented by TEAM Westport in conjunction with The Westport Library and held in the Library's Trefz Forum, will explore how adults socialize young children into racial, cultural, and other social identities, and what that means in the context of an inequitable U.S. society. Participants will explore examples of culturally, racially, and identity-responsive practices and environments for young children. There will be a Q&A following the discussion.
Takiema Bunche Smith has worked as an executive leader, adviser, coach, and educator for over two decades. Her mission is to support individuals to understand their personal capacity to effect change in society at the intersections of research, policy, and practice. She expertly guides people and institutions to connect and commit to anti-oppression and racial equity with a focus on joy. Takiema has written and implemented transformative curricula about culturally responsive leadership, child and adult racial and cultural identity development, centering Black children’s joy and agency, arts as a vehicle for healing and social change, parent/caregiver empowerment, and anti-Blackness in education and society.
