Liz Kleinrock is an anti-bias educator and consultant. Her social justice-based school curriculum brings current community discussion to the forefront of the classroom. Most importantly, Liz teaches us the significance of opening this valuable dialogue with even the youngest of children. These conversations, Liz says, is how we change the world.
Setting the Stage for Change
Growing up in a transracial adoptive family, Liz often struggled with her own identity. She didn’t have access to the language or conversations necessary to understand the dynamics of the world around her. Today, Liz's work provides children with access to these vital tools.
Teaching Social Justice
With a strong focus on social-emotional learning, Liz taught first through fifth grade for a number of years. Year after year, she retaught many of the same children, so there was certainly a need for fresh content. This necessity for new content lead Liz to integrate social concepts into the classroom.
Liz knew, without a doubt, the students would take the language and skills learned inside the classroom to the outside world. Starting with the overall concept of gender stereotyping, Liz’s second graders immediately viewed the world through their newly shifted critical lens.
It was here that Liz’s business, Teach and Transform, was born.
Bringing Educators Together
Teach and Transform began as a way to connect like-minded educators who are doing similar work in their classrooms. Oftentimes, social justice work feels isolating, so Liz created a way to build community. What started as a way to share books and lessons focused on biases, anti-racism, and social justice, quickly morphed into a space to hold a discussion about the planning and teaching processes involved in this deeply transformative work. Teach and Transform is now a platform used to springboard social justice initiatives where schools and organizations work to grow their own anti-bias practices.
Kids are capable!
Through all of her work with children, Liz finds that kids tend to understand newly introduced concepts easier than adults do. In addition, kids focus on action, and that’s really what anti-racism is all about. It’s taking action to create change. Liz’s work demonstrates the importance of presenting these ideas to children from a very early age. They are already experiencing societal norms in their daily life, so the discussion is completely relatable. Did you know, Gender identity and racial biases often begin to form prior to entering preschool!
Undoubtedly, trust is a major component of this transformative work. Families are called to trust Liz and other administrators with significantly sensitive topics. If we want to see a change, we need to come together as a community and raise our children up. They are capable of so much more than we often give them credit for.
Other Resources Mentioned In Liz’s Interview
Jacob’s New Dress – by Sarah and Ian Hoffman
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
Recommended Resources on Liz’s Website
More About Liz:
Liz is an incredible educator; however, her work stretches far beyond the walls of the classroom. She sits on the Advisory Board for Teaching Tolerance, a branch of the Southern Poverty Law Center. In fact, she won their 2018 Teaching Tolerance Award for Excellence in Teaching!
She's also writing a book of her own. The book will provide proactive solutions on how to break through barriers related to social justice and anti-racism work. It will be especially helpful for educators who are struggling with implementing equity and inclusion work in the classroom.
To learn more and take action, check out some of Liz’s articles written for Teaching Tolerance here.
Connect with Liz
Do yourself a favor and check out Liz’s website and Instagram page. Both are full of amazing resources for any person interested in social justice learning for kids.
We can change the world. Unquestionably, it all starts with transforming the way we teach our kids about social justice!
BELOW ARE EXAMPLES OF THE TYPES OF CONVETSTAIONS LIZ HAS WITH STUDENTS. YOU CAN FIND EVEN MORE EXAMPLES AND WONDERFUL CONTENT FROM LIZ ON INSTAGRAM.
