Greta Saftig

Personal details

Greta Saftig, Catholic University of Applied Social Sciences Berlin

Main research areas: Racism research, postcolonial studies, diversity studies, social inequality, childhood education

Current title: Racism-critical organizational development in elementary education

Abstract

Racism has received increased attention as a structural problem in society in recent years. Experienced racism has far-reaching consequences for child development and impairs equal opportunities. It is obvious that daycare centers in diverse societies have a special responsibility to become aware of racist structures. This affects both the level of organizational development and the daily practice of early childhood education. The dissertation uses two case studies to examine organizational development processes in daycare centers that are critical of racism. The research questions are: How do educational professionals describe the development process towards a racism-critical daycare center? What experiences do individual professionals or teams have in the course of this development process? The responsibility of the daycare center organization to focus on racism-critical strategies must be underpinned by studies. Important contributions have been made sporadically, for example by the ethnographic study "Children and Difference" by Machold and the empirical study on racism sensitivity in daycare facilities in Rhineland-Palatinate by Bundschuh and Müller, which point to a research gap in this field. The dissertation project provides a new perspective on the connection between pedagogical teams and racism-critical organization.