In mid-October, TBA member Stefanie Wieder offered a training for area educators along with a team of professionals on the topic of Anti Bias in children’s literature. The training was co-sponsored by TBA and was well attended by a variety of library and school professionals from around NH. You can watch the recorded training here (Passcode: 2?TYsZu2) and a helpful handout here. Feel free to share with others!
I was curious to learn more about Stefanie’s background and what led her to so passionately lead such an important conversation. Here is Stefanie’s story:
Tell us about your Jewish background.
I spent most of my childhood in Belmont, MA, where I was one of just a handful of Jewish children in my grade. My experience in our local Reform synagogue was not particularly engaging and my family was not very observant, so I found myself having a conflicted Jewish identity. Rather than feeling a sense of richness and pride in my Jewish heritage, I felt primarily like an outsider wistfully peering out at the dominant culture.
When I moved to NH and got involved with Temple Beth Abraham, I began to feel a lot more comfort and pride in my Jewish identity. I wound up teaching a course through Hebrew College called Parenting Through a Jewish Lens, and I connected with other Jewish families in the area. Most recently, with this webinar, my professional background and my Jewish identity intersected, which was incredibly meaningful for me.
What led you to be involved with children’s literature?
I have loved children’s books for as long as I can remember. I was immersed in children’s books when teaching preschool and then learned more formally about children’s language and literacy development in graduate school. In my work at Barefoot Books, I’ve also learned a lot about the children’s book publishing industry, with particular emphasis on publishing diverse and inclusive books.
What have you noticed that has lifted up the need to educate about anti-bias resources?
When I was pregnant with my daughter in the winter of 2018, I toured numerous preschools and childcare programs in the greater Nashua area. It was December, and I was really shocked at what I saw: every single program was visibly celebrating Christmas with decorations and projects. Some non-denominational programs even had a Christmas stocking for each student or visits from Santa. In local Facebook groups, I saw parents expressing their delight that their grade school children would be writing letters to Santa or having Elf on a Shelf in their classrooms. I became deeply concerned about raising my daughter here, fearing she would feel even more like an outsider than I did when I was growing up. It was around this time that I decided I wanted to bring anti-bias training to early childhood educators in NH.
What is one main take-away you would like to see educators, parents and grandparents keep from the presentation?
Any child who feels excluded or diminished is one child too many.
What obstacles and support did you encounter as you were preparing this presentation?
It was not easy to get the anti-bias training off the ground. I came across several closed doors, the most notable being that the state wound up dropping my planned trainings because of legislation that some interpreted as forbidding professional development on topics of anti-bias and diversity. Ironically, the training wound up being funded by the state anyway because I applied for and received a grant that allows community members to lead local initiatives. Temple Beth Abraham co-sponsored the event and helped get the word out. I’m grateful to TBA for that, and for helping me feel proud to be a Jew, exactly as I am.
Stefanie’s professional bio:
Stefanie Paige Wieder, M.S.Ed, has enjoyed over 20 years of working with children, families and teachers in diverse settings all over the United States as an early childhood educator and program director. Since 2014 she has served as the in-house early education expert at the independent children’s book publisher, Barefoot Books, and is currently their Director of Education and Content. Stefanie earned her dual master’s in Early Childhood General & Special Education / Infant & Parent Development & Early Intervention from the Bank Street Graduate School of Education and her B.A. from Harvard University.