Events Calendar

How Children Learn About Race and How Adults Can Help

Saturday, February 8

1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

Location: Shorewood Village Center

There is a myth in popular culture that children are "colorblind" or don't notice race. This leads many parents, families, and educators to avoid discussing race and racism with young children or to be unsure how best to do so. In this presentation, Dr. Erin Winkler will review the current research on children's understandings of race, including how ideas about race form, what children learn and when, why we see changes at various ages, why all of this matters, and how parents, families, and educators can help children understand racial identity, racism, and racial inequities in age-appropriate ways that empower the young children in their lives.

ABOUT DR. ERIN WINKLER

Erin N. Winkler is an associate professor of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she also serves on the advisory boards of Childhood and Adolescent Studies; Ethnic Studies; and Latin American, Caribbean, and US Latino/a Studies; and is affiliated faculty in Urban Studies and Women's Studies. She earned her Ph.D. in African American Studies at the University of California-Berkeley and was a postdoctoral fellow in African American Studies at Northwestern University. She is the author of the book, Learning Race, Learning Place: Shaping Racial Identities and Ideas in African American Childhoods. She has served as a consultant for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, working to train museum staff and K-12 teachers to have productive conversations about race and racism people of all ages and backgrounds.

This program is co-sponsored by the Shorewood School District.

Click here for a list of resources for caregivers and teachers provided by Dr. Winkler