Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) vocabulary continues to evolve. As we move toward a greater understanding together, we must share a foundational understanding of terms as they stand today. As ideas change, people create new terms or use old terms in new ways, we will update our glossary. The following terms give us a place to start.
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Allies: people who stand up against the unjust treatment of members of an identity group other than their own.
Anti-Bias: opposing or prohibiting unfair discrimination of individuals based on their identity including race, gender, sexual orientation, language, culture, religion, mental and physical ability, social class, or immigration status.
Anti-Bias Education: a commitment to supporting children who live in a highly diverse and yet still inequitable world. Rather than a formula for a particular curriculum, it is an underpinning perspective and framework that permeates everything in early childhood education - including interactions with children and families. (more information on Paddington's guiding resource: Anti-Bias Education for Young Children & Ourselves)
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Diversity: ways that people are similar or different across dimensions of race, gender, sexual orientation, language, culture, religion, mental and physical ability, social class, or immigration status.
Equity: ensures that every student, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, language, culture, religion, mental and physical ability, social class, or immigration status, has the tools and support they need to succeed. Whereas, equality provides equal access to resources and opportunities regardless of individual identity and circumstances, despite their differing needs and capacities.
Gender: a social identity resting on the assigned sex given to people at birth or earlier based on their visible anatomy.
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Anti-Racism: the work of actively opposing racism by advocating for changes politically, economically, and in social life.
Inclusion: the act of creating environments where each individual, or group can be and feel welcomed, respected, supported and valued to fully participate.
Bias: any attitude, belief or feeling that justifies or results in unfair treatment of a person or a group of people because of their identity.
BIPOC: Black, Indigenous, People of Color
Cisgender: a person whose gender identity corresponds with the sex the person had or was identified as having at birth.
Culture: a set of shared beliefs, values, expectations, rules or patterns of behavior, goals and practices that characterize a group such as a family, community, institution, or organization. The characteristic features of everyday existence (how people live their lives) shared by people in a place or time.
Cultural Appropriation: the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, etc. of one people or society by members of another and typically more dominant people or society.
Disability: a physical, cognitive, emotional or neuro-divergent challenge that impacts a person's abilities in some area(s) of daily living and learning.
Discrimination: the unequal treatment of individuals based on their identity including race, gender, sexual orientation, language, culture, religion, mental and physical ability, social class, or immigration status.
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Gender Non-Conforming: exhibiting behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits that do not correspond with the traits typically associated with one's sex : having a gender expression that does not conform to gender norms.
Inclusion: seeks to ensure equitable participation of all historically marginalized groups.
Institutional or Systematic Racism: the policies and procedures of institutions, such as schools, that result in unequal treatment of groups based on race.
LGBTQIA: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning (one's sexual or gender identity), intersex, and asexual/aromantic/agender.
Microaggression: a statement, action, or incident regarded as an instance of indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group such as a racial or ethnic minority.
People of Color: includes people from Black/African American, Asian American, Middle-Eastern American, American Indian/Native American, Latino/Hispanic, Pacific Islander, and multiracial backgrounds.
Race: a social construct, where an identity is assigned based on rules made by society. Race does not have an inherent physical or biological meaning. Despite its lack of validity, this construct underlies a system of racial advantage and disadvantage. Race designations and the way racial categorizations are enforced have changed over time.
Racism: institutionalized system of economic, political, social and cultural conditions that assigns power, advantage, and privilege to one racial group over another.
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