There is a small body of work examining how picture books can be used with young children and their families to develop understandings of contemporary issues including diversity and practices towards inclusion. This article describes a study in one New Zealand kindergarten that explored teachers' interpretations of children's responses to a…

The Census Bureau estimates that up to 14 million children under the age of 18 are being raised by lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) families. Just as heterosexual families require child care to enable work and want high-quality early childhood education to enhance their children's development, LGBT families experience the same needs…

The present study assessed the attitudes of school professionals in training at an American university toward homosexuality and their comfort, action-related disposition, and preparation to work with gay and lesbian (GL) families and their children. Fifty-nine students specializing in birth through kindergarten education and school social work…

With an ever growing diverse population and access to new technologies, it is no revelation that education is undergoing a significant transformation in the twenty-first century. What remains a struggle is equipping students to meet modern expectations while trying to provide a platform for learning that does not perpetuate the same inequalities…

Children's identities and sense of self are inextricably tied to their families. The experience of being welcome or unwelcome, visible or invisible begins in early childhood. The goal of early childhood professionals is to ensure that all children and their families are welcomed in early childhood settings and provided with quality care and…

This article examines how notions of "child" and "childhood" are produced in relation to recent early childhood policies in Ontario, Canada. It centers on an ongoing shift from Foucauldian disciplinary societies to Deleuzian control societies where it is argued that early childhood subjects (researchers, students, educators,…

Objectives: By completing the "Rewind and Replay" activity, participants will: (1) identify heterosexist language in common classroom interactions, (2) discuss underlying heterosexist assumptions embedded in common teacher statements, (3) brainstorm inclusive terms and expressions for use in place of heterosexist language, and (4) verbally…

We reviewed 31 articles that explored issues related to gender and sexuality in early childhood education (ECE) settings. This body of literature suggests that ECE programs and elementary schools often reinforce the homophobia, heterosexism, and sexism that characterize contemporary U.S. society. A number of the articles described strategies that…

Gay and lesbian issues are often silenced in teacher education programs. Such silencing has serious consequences for teachers who feel unprepared to discuss such issues in their classrooms. Challenging the silence regarding gay and lesbian issues that often permeates early childhood classrooms, we share a teacher's critical inquiry into teaching…

Early childhood educators carefully reflect on the messages conveyed about family diversity in the materials they select to use. Picture books depicting gay and lesbian families can enhance the curriculum and make an important contribution to young children's development. Families comprised of same-sex parents or those who have gay and lesbian…

Teachers often are shocked and in disbelief when someone points out that they are not embracing all children and families. For many teachers, digesting the words of "Everything Possible" or encountering their first nontraditional family in the classroom is an "aha" moment, when they realize that they need classroom resources to support these…

In this paper we examine eight lesbian mothers' experiences and perceptions of their young children's early childhood education. These mothers identified the in/visibility of their lesbian identities and families and the narrow definition of family in early childhood settings as significant issues in their experiences as childcare users. This…

This article explores the notion of "risk" and the consequences of both "taking risks" or "not taking risks" in doing anti-homophobia (or anti-heterosexist) education within broader anti-bias and social justice agendas in early childhood education. Informed primarily by the author's collaborative research and…

In democratic societies schools play a large role in helping students learn the values and skills necessary for adult participation in a free and open society. This article is a case study of a group of students who started a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) at a private American school in Mexico City. The students' struggle to form and keep their GSA,…

This article introduces Karleen Pendleton Jimenez's book for young children, "Are You a Boy or a Girl?", represents a landmark achievement in queer literature in the early childhood classroom and deserves special attention by pre-school and primary teachers, academics working in early childhood education, and parents, particularly…