Abstract
This paper presents a case study of the impact of an unconscious bias training intervention on early childhood educators’ awareness of unconscious bias and their professional practice. We also present the findings of an audit of the picture books read to children and the rationale for the choice of books. Participants in the study were 23 educators based in 13 early childhood education settings in the North East of England. The intervention consisted of two sessions of unconscious bias training two months apart, with a particular focus on gender and children’s literature. Participants completed a survey before and after the intervention about the last 10 books they had read to children in their setting. The literature audit shows the corpus of literature used in settings continues to lack gender diversity, and that non-human characters in books are often considered male. A matched sub-sample of 6 participants showed a significant increase in the number of counter-stereotypical books chosen after the intervention. The paper shows that the intervention raised participants’ awareness of the impact of stereotypes and brought a medium-term change of practice for individuals, their early childhood settings and ultimately the quality of experience for young children in their care.