Rethinking Early Childhood Education (Paperback)
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Description
Rethinking Early Childhood Education is alive with the conviction that teaching young children involves values and vision. This anthology collects inspiring stories about social justice teaching with young children. Included here is outstanding writing from childcare teachers, early-grade public school teachers, scholars, and parents.
Early childhood is when we develop our core dispositions — the habits of thinking that shape how we live. This book shows how educators can nurture empathy, an ecological consciousness, curiosity, collaboration, and activism in young children. It invites readers to rethink early childhood education, reminding them that it is inseparable from social justice and ecological education.
An outstanding resource for childcare providers, early-grade teachers, as well as teacher education and staff development programs.
About the Author
Ann Pelo has been an early childhood educator and teacher mentor for 18 years. She studied Child Development and Family Studies at Purdue University, earning a Masters degree in 1992. From 1992 until 2008 she worked at Hilltop Children's Center in Seattle as a teacher of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children and as the Mentor Teacher, responsible for professional development at the center. During that time, Pelo was active in the national Worthy Wage Campaign, an effort to improve the wages and working conditions of child care teachers. Pelo has traveled extensively both in the United States and abroad to work with child care and Head Start teachers on emergent, Reggio-inspired teaching practices and on social justice education. She is the co-author, with Fran Davidson, of That's Not Fair: A Teacher's Guide to Activism with Young Children, and the author of The Language of Art: Inquiry-Based Studio Practices in Early Childhood Settings. She divides her time between Seattle and Utah, and works on developing practices to connect children to place.
Praise for Rethinking Early Childhood Education…
"If you are an educator who upholds the principle of early childhood education's attention to the whole child, then Rethinking Early Childhood Education is for you. The diverse articles give insightful, practical and moving voice to teachers' experiences with children and families and make diversity, equity, inclusion, and preserving the environment integral to a quality early childhood education program."
— Louise Derman-Sparks Faculty emeritus of Pacific Oaks College and author of Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves.
"Beautifully weaves together key components for transforming early childhood educators into a leadership force for progressive thinking and teaching. With its range of teacher stories Rethinking Early Childhood Education provokes critical thinking and imaginative classroom practices. There's nothing else quite like this book to fortify early educators for the work before us."
— Margie Carter Early childhood instructor and co-author of Learning Together with Young Children: A Curriculum Framework for Reflective Teachers.
"Ann Pelo and contributing authors provide deep focus on the complexities of social justice issues in early childhood education settings, offering an overview of critical content, dispositions, and actions in support of authentic, equitable education experiences for all children, families and educators. This book can open a dialogue among ECE professionals and parents, leading to understanding the vital connection between anti-bias, culturally and linguistically appropriate curriculum and practices and children’s social/emotional, intellectual, and spiritual development. With this foundation, our children will not only be able to cope with but to shape their lives and their future society in powerful ways."
— Cecelia Alvarado
Faculty, George Mason University and Director, Early Childhood Equity Initiative, Teaching for Change
Additional praise for Rethinking Early Childhood Education:
"This book is a real page-turner. I just couldn’t put it down! It’s a treasure store of short, interesting pieces by famous and not so famous authors, all of whom write from their hearts and experiences. The subject is so important — equity and social justice — and the writing brings it all down to earth. Everybody should read this book!"
— Janet Gonzalez-Mena
Early childhood consultant and author of Diversity in Early Care and Education: Honoring Differences
"This volume is a beacon of progressive early childhood teaching practices. I was constantly impressed with the intimate understanding of young children that shone through teachers’ descriptions of how they engage young children and their families in inclusive practices, critical thinking, and social activism to address biases and inequities and to foster connections to the natural world and critical appraisals of consumerism. When I started reading this book, I could not put it down!"
— Patricia Ramsey
Professor of Psychology and Education, Mount Holyoke College, and co-author of Teaching and Learning in a Diverse World: Multicultural Education for Young Children.
"Rethinking Early Childhood Education places understanding of what is mine, what is yours, and what is ours at the center of the development of values in childhood and therefore emphasizes the importance teaching for social justice and cultural sensitivity during the early years of life. The book discusses culturally sensitive anti-bias teaching and the importance of play; it is also full of ideas about engaging parents and communities in children's development, teaching ideas and suggestions about how teachers can become children's advocates. It is an invaluable, useful addition to the literature of early childhood education."
— Herb Kohl
Author and educator. His most recent book is Painting Chinese: A Lifelong Teacher Gains the Wisdom of Youth.
