they might notice when a classmate helped clean up, invited someone to play, or comforted a friend who was having a hard day. At first, I would point out these positive interactions. But over time, I noticed the children becoming more aware of each other’ s feelings and more willing to help and support one another.
I also read books to support children’ s growing empathy. One was Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You, by US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. This book talks about understanding each other’ s unique traits, which promoted children’ s empathic understanding of how bias can hurt others. This book gave even the youngest children language to describe when something is unfair. Students loved learning that we can all be invested in justice.
Even though I now work in a self-contained special education classroom, I still carry the lessons with me that I learned in the cohort and the extended day program. I make an effort to recognize acts of kindness, model empathy, and help children build positive relationships. Some of the most meaningful learning happens through everyday interactions.
Perspective Is the Key to Justice
It’ s important to help children understand that fairness and empathy require us to consider different viewpoints and acknowledge the experiences of each individual. This is part of justice( anti-bias education’ s third goal).
I( Sicili) supervise between 180 and 190 prekindergarten-to-grade-5 children at Glebe Elementary School. I have taught in the extended day program here for 10 years. Our classroom world map represents where children come from, and it has pushpins from nearly every part of the globe. Children and their families represent many languages, cultures, and traditions.
I noticed that I needed to have some purposeful conversations about acceptance, kindness, and inclusivity. I keyed these to the books we were reading. For example, when we read Acceptance Is My Superpower: A Children ' s Book About Diversity and Equality, by Alicia Ortego, a lot of the children could relate to being picked on because of their lunches or their hair. One of my students, Afi, was teased because of the okra stew he brought to lunch. The child who was teasing Afi stopped when I addressed the situation, but compliance is not enough. I needed to create a sense of community that would help Afi’ s classmates honor his food choices.
I immediately started to think of ways to teach children about different cultures and how to acknowledge different experiences, especially different foods. I teamed with my principal and our school’ s PTA to host an event to promote inclusivity of family practices and traditions. We promoted it by posting flyers around the school and reaching out to families via school communication and social media. They were invited to bring a dish that represented their country and to share other cultural traditions, such as music, dance, art, and attire.
46 Educating Young Children
Fall 2026