Toward ABlack PlayCritin Educational Leadership: What School Leaders Need to Know About Black Boyhood Play

Abstract

Childhood play is one of the hallmarks of early childhood education, yet most early childhood educators have stereotypical views of Black boyhood play. At the same time, few scholars have addressed teachers’ and school administrators’ stereotypes and biases of Black boys’ play styles and behaviors. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to highlight the ways in which school administrators reinforce the anti-Black misandric violence Black boys experience during play through disciplinary decision-making. We also explore how such reinforcement leads to Black boys’ entry into the preschool-to-prison pipeline. Ultimately, we aim to introduce Black PlayCrit to the field of educational leadership/adminstration in order to bring attention to anti-Black misandric violence against Black boys, and to celebrate the rich history and strength of Black boyhood play.

Prison abolition literacies as Pro-Black pedagogy in early childhood education

“…As mentioned earlier, Black children are criminalized and are positioned in deficit ways by their white peers during play (Bryan, 2021; Dumas and Nelson, 2016; Rosen, 2017). When white children misperceive the play styles and behaviors of Black children, their misperceptions lead to Black children’s entry into the preschool-to-prison pipeline, as teachers and school administrators alike are more likely to suspend and expel Black children from early childhood classrooms for minor and misperceived behavioral infractions during play (Bryan et al, in press). Therefore, teachers can help young white children examine language that may criminalize their Black peers as a way to push back against deficit labels that persist beyond play and the criminalization of Black bodies during play.…”