Building anti-racist competences in early childhood education: Collaborative design and impact of a professional development program

The preschool period plays a pivotal role in fostering positive intergroup attitudes and nurturing a healthy self-image in children. With racism on the rise globally, early childhood educators often feel unqualified to address issues of race, diversity and justice, leaving our youngest children vulnerable. In Flanders, there is a notable lack of support and training to build anti-racist competences and implement social justice education in early childhood settings. This study addresses these challenges by co-constructing and evaluating a systeshic, high-quality professional development program specifically tailored to early childhood educators. Utilizing the framework of Educational Design Research, the program was co-developed with early childhood educators based on literature reviews, classroom observations, and interviews. This process led to the identification of six design principles for anti-racist professional development: (a) Diversity content & pedagogical knowledge, (b) intercultural skills, (c) learning materials, (d) community of learners, (e) guided critical reflection, (f) policy and shared vision. These design principles formed the foundation for the subsequent creation and evaluation of a professional development program to strengthen anti-racist practices in early childhood education. A pilot study involving 10 early childhood educators demonstrated significant self-reported improvements in several areas, including: (a) increased use of sensitive and inclusive language, (b) heightened awareness of biases and perspectives, (c) enhanced anti-racist teaching skills, such as addressing racism and designing anti-racist activities for children, (d) strengthened collaboration with colleagues and parents, and (e) greater courage, confidence, and willingness to act against racism in practice. These findings underscore the potential of evidence-based, contextually adapted, and collaboratively designed professional development programs to foster inclusive, anti-racist early childhood environments. The study contributes to the field of early childhood education by emphasizing the importance of community-based, co-constructed approaches to enhance educators’ anti-racist competences.