Honest Beginnings: Using Explicit Language to Discuss Race and Identity with Young Children

Early Risers

What was it like to work at Sesame Workshop back in the day? How about Nickelodeon? As a proud Chinese American, Courtney Wong Chin was thrilled to help the companies find ways to talk about race and culture. In this episode, Chin pulls back the curtain on content creation at Noggin and Sesame Workshop. She talks about the challenge of finding language and images that are culturally specific but not confusing, and the importance of noticing and celebrating diverse identities to help build children's' self-esteem. Chin says she learned that kids’ stories work best when they’re specific enough to be authentic but not so complicated they’re overwhelming.

Episode Resources:

Coming Together: Family Reflections on Racism at Sesame Workshop

Discussing Race with Young Children guide from Sparkler Learning, OK Play, and Noggin.

Building Characters, Blending Cultures from EmbraceRace's 2023 Reflections on Racial Learning

Panel discussion on content creation for children at the Children’s Media Career Symposium 2022, hosted by the Center for Media and Information Literacy

Early Risers Season 6 Episode 5 Discussion Guide