Glossary

The following key terms are used to center all aspects of teaching and learning with an equity-focused mindset. While the terms may be used throughout the early childhood field, some have been modified through a teaching and learning lens. The glossary is meant to promote continued self-reflection and awareness of one’s biases. 

This is not an official Head Start glossary.

B

Bias – Attitudes or stereotypes that favor one group over another. Explicit biases are conscious beliefs and stereotypes that affect one’s understanding, actions, and decisions; implicit biases also affect one’s understanding, actions, and decisions but in an unconscious manner. Implicit biases reflect an individual’s socialization and experiences within broader systemic structures that work to perpetuate existing systems of privilege and oppression.^[9] 

Bias conscious – Being aware of one’s own biases and how they are shaped by experiences, beliefs, values, education, family, friends, peers, and others. It includes awareness of how biases impact interactions and emotional responses to others. In teaching and learning environments, early learning leaders, education staff, and coaches continually consider and reflect on how their beliefs and practices work to disrupt bias. Actively disrupting bias validates children and families’ intersecting identities and encourages children’s joy for learning.

C

Culture – Values, beliefs, and practices shared by a group of people. Culture has a major influence on the beliefs and behaviors of everyone. Each of us is rooted in culture that is unique, dynamic, and evolving. Culture is influenced by many factors, including family, community, and history that reflect the collective lived experiences of a group of people. We are all shaped by culture. Successful programs promote the development of positive cultural, linguistic, and individual identities for all children and families. In teaching and learning environments, early learning leaders and education staff teach through the lens of culture in authentic ways that validate children and families’ cultural ways of knowing and being, lived experiences, and identities to support development and learning.

Cultural ways of knowing and being – Refers to the ways that culture influences our individual behaviors, assumptions, meaning making, and world views. It provides a mental framing or pattern for thinking that includes unspoken rules, beliefs, and norms. This framing informs everyday social interactions that help us to interpret and make sense of our world. Examples of these framings may include what constitutes a family, notions of self, notions of problem solving, ways to express emotion, child rearing practices, or preferences for competition vs. cooperation. While there may be some commonalities among cultural groups, variability exists within groups. While it is helpful to understand what is common among a group of people, it is more important to learn about and understand the cultural ways of knowing and being for each person. This helps to recognize and respect everyone’s unique identity. It is also important to recognize and reflect on how our own biases, values, and beliefs impact our relationships and interactions when engaging with individuals whose cultural ways of knowing and being differ from our own.

Each child brings their cultural way of knowing and being into the learning environment. This informs how their brain interprets and makes meaning of new information.^[10] Early learning leaders and education staff must get to know the individual child and their family to better understand their cultural ways of knowing and being to make development and learning culturally responsive and meaningful. 

H

Hispanic | Latine (o/a) – There are many terms used by and referring to people from Latin American descent in the United States. Hispanic is the term most widely used in official U.S. government documents. This term means that one originates from descendants of the Iberian Peninsula, where Spain and Portugal are located. Although many individuals who descend from Latin America prefer this term, others have expressed not liking this term because it was the name given by European settlers, and it does not represent the variety of people in Latin America who do not have European ancestry. Many others prefer terms specific to their or their ancestral country of origin (e.g., Mexican or Mexican American, Cuban or Cuban American, Afro Latine. While Latino/a this term is preferred by many, others feel this term is not gender inclusive, so they prefer a term like Latinx that is not bounded by gender. However, because this is an English term, some people prefer Latine because that’s the gender-neutral version of Latinx in Spanish. Throughout the Framework for Effective Practice, the term Latino is used to refer to people of Latin American descent in the United States as the term follows current guidance used by the Office of Head Start.

I

Intersectionality – Explains how individual identities such as race, language, gender, sexual orientation, ability, socioeconomic status, and other aspects intersect in ways that impact how we are viewed, understood, and treated. It highlights ways in which these identities overlap with one another and with systems of power that oppress and advantage people in their daily lives, both individually and systemically. Early learning leaders and education staff foster learning environments where children and their families’ intersecting identities are acknowledged as valuable parts of children’s development and learning.

L

Lived experience – Based on various intersecting characteristics, including a person’s age and generation, gender and sexual orientation, income, race, ethnicity, beliefs, ability, language, educational background, immigration status, and other factors. Lived experiences are often impacted by how one’s intersecting characteristics are either privileged or marginalized in society. Lived experiences can be painful and harmful when one is part of a community that is marginalized; however, they can also be powerful assets. Everyone has lived experiences that are strengths, even when people experience marginalization. Lived experiences provide individuals with insider knowledge about a community, culture, or society, offering them a perspective they would not have had otherwise. 

In teaching and learning, understanding children and families' lived experiences provides early learning leaders and staff with information to: 

• Acknowledge how societal inequities impact families and children. 
• Build more authentic relationships with families and children that are rooted in empathy and trust.
• Recognize that everyone has lived experiences that are assets that can be embedded meaningfully in the learning environment.

For example, a family with farming experience can serve as the classroom expert during a project on farm animals and how crops grow. Another family who relies on public transportation can share about what it's like to ride the train to go to school every day. A family who has a child with a disability can support other families who are learning about their child having a disability for the first time.

S

Strength-based – A way of working with children, families, and communities that acknowledges and focuses on their abilities, knowledge, capacities, and resources rather than focusing on things that are lacking. A strength-based approach focuses on enhancing strengths and builds on characteristics that are already present in individuals and communities. In teaching and learning, a strength-based perspective acknowledges that each child is a capable and competent learner who brings unique strengths and talents to the learning environment. A child’s culture, ethnicity, home languages, language varieties, modalities, and dialects are positive contributors that support their development. Education staff should use these assets to promote children’s development and learning in ways that are culturally responsive and sustaining. 

Last Updated: March 21, 2024