Early Childhood Symposium 2023 - Ollie Ollie Oxen Free: Play for All with Ijumaa Jordan (CTLE-1.5)

Join us for the Fifth Annual Early Childhood Symposium at Brooklyn Public Library. This year, we will explore Play, Equity, and Joy in Early Childhood Classrooms in a series of three workshops offering 1.5 free CTLE credits each to NYS-certified educators.

Join us for Ollie Ollie Oxen Free: Play for All with Ijumaa Jordan.

This workshop examines how systemic classism and racism privileges play for some children while devaluing it for others. Living through and surviving the pandemic has highlighted the societal inequities that impact children’s lives and their play. Children who live in under-resourced areas and children of color are particularly vulnerable to educational reforms that restrict their access to self-initiated, complex play. Our goal is to uphold play as a right and move play back to the center of childhood experiences for all children. We will develop our playful dispositions to create practical strategies for play by providing more access to space, time, materials, and relationships. This experience is well-suited for participants with a passion for play, equity, and advocacy.

About the facilitator: 

Ijumaa Jordan is a fat, Black, cis-gender woman (she/her) daily engaging in the beautiful struggle of life, doing the internal and external work to abolish systems of oppression such as racism, sexism, transphobia, and classism, etc. Ijumaa shows up for this work with intensity and passion, being joyful, thinking critically, and holding learning space with care and grace. She loves afternoon naps and snacks, you can usually find her online looking serious and laughing loudly.

Image description: a Black woman smiling straight at the camera, wearing a burgundy top with black embroidered flowers. her hair twisted on top of her head in a wreath of ferns and other greenery. A grassy hill, the ocean, and a blue sky are in the background.