Teaching Social Justice: Navigating the Deep Waters of Equity in Early Childhood Programs

In this compelling session, early childhood teacher, equity expert, and author, Nadia Jaboneta will share the story from her most recent book: You can’t Celebrate That! The session will explore the depths of Nadia’s riveting social justice journey as she partnered with families to explore cultural identity, religious celebrations and expressions of racism in response to a biased comment by one child to another in her diverse preschool class. Nadia will be joined by her thinking & collaborating partner Brian Silveira. 

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the critical thinking and collaborative planning process that goes into social justice education.

• Explore how children learn about identity and appreciate difference

• Learn the strength that comes from courageous and vulnerable teaching

Facilitator Biography--

Nadia Jaboneta lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her husband and 3 children. She is a program coordinator and classroom teacher at Pacific Primary preschool in San Francisco, California. She has 22 years experience in Early Childhood Education teaching young children, training teachers, consulting and facilitating workshops. She is passionate about social justice and is proud to have immigrant parents from Lima, Peru. Nadia attended San Francisco State University for both her Bachelor's and Master's degree. She has written numerous articles for the magazine Teaching Young Children, focused on the anti-bias education practices she uses in her classroom. She also is the author of two books, one entitled “You Can’t Celebrate That: Navigating the Deep Waters of Social Justice Education” and “Children’s Lively Minds: Schema Theory Made Visible.” 

Brian Silveira, Lead Teacher/Program Coordinator has worked at Pacific Primary for 25 years and is still thriving and growing in his commitment to serving young children and their families. Brian worked in community-based and public preschools before landing in his dream job at Pacific Primary. His experiences in those diverse schools has informed his philosophy and life mission to make the world a safe and just place for all children. He is currently the co-chair of the LGBT Interest Forum for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC ), and has presented on the topics of equity, bias and allyship both locally and nationally. He has been published in Teaching Young Children magazine and has been recognized by several national interest forums for his work supporting men in ECE, peace educators and the LGBT community.