Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Celebration
We're thrilled to honor the remarkable accomplishments of our Asian American colleagues in early childhood education, publication, and beyond! Check out our AIF presentation, "Advancing Early Literacy, Language Development, and Advocacy Through Storytelling and Publication - An Asian American Perspective," for valuable resources that can assist you in your work with families and children in your programs.
Debbie LeeKeenan in her presentation, “Anti-Bias Education and Children’s Literature: Provoking Courageous Conversations” highlights how children’s literature can provide mirrors and windows to children’s lived experiences. In this presentation , Debbie emphasizes books written by AANHPI authors and illustrators as exemplars. She uses children’s books as provocations for having conversations about the 4 anti-bias goals of identity, diversity, justice, and action. Debbie received the 2022 AIF Leadership Award.
Lee & Low Books is the largest multicultural children's book publisher in the United States, and one of the earliest publishers of BIPOC authors, illustrators and content that represents diverse stories. In this presentation, Jason Low shares how the company was started by his family over 30 years ago, and developed a system to track the lack of diversity within the publishing industry through their Diversity Baseline Survey Jason received the 2022 AIF Community Contributor Award.
In her presentation, “Young Children’s Identity Formation: Using Literature to Understand Self and Others,” Iris Chin Ponte offers two examples of how literature can be used in the preschool classroom to combat Asian Hate and to support identity development in adopted Chinese children. When teachers read stories to groups of children that showcase different ethnicities, the children of that group feel valued and seen. Books not only develop a child’s sense of identity but also their ability to understand others. When children read positive stories about people from various cultures, they learn to welcome differences and connect with people in their communities.
Teaching Profiles
To celebrate the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) month, the NAEYC Asian Interest Forum (AIF) would like to pay tribute to Asian American early childhood educators and educators who have been helping Asian American children and families thrive in the United States by sharing their teaching profiles.
Acknowledgement
We want to express our heartfelt thank you to all NAEYC members and staff for your continued support of AIF's mission. We also want to give a big shout out to First 5 San Francisco for producing the teachers' video profiles through the Excellence in Teaching Awards.