Transforming Early Years Policy in the U.S.

Mark K. Nagasawa is director of the Straus Center for Young Children & Families at Bank Street College of Education. Lacey Peters is an assistant professor and graduate program co-coordinator for early childhood care and education at Hunter College, City University of New York. Marianne N. Bloch is professor emerita in the Departments of Curriculum and Instruction and Gender and Women's Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Beth Blue Swadener is professor emerita of justice studies and of social and cultural pedagogy in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University.

Contents


Foreword Mariana Souto-Manning ix

Acknowledgments xiii


Introduction 1

Mark K. Nagasawa, Lacey Peters, Marianne N. Bloch, and Beth Blue Swadener


Part I: EARLY YEARS SYSTEMS FRAGMENTATION AND INEQUALITY


1. In This Moment . . . We Are Essential 11

Lucinda Heimer

2. One Center, Two Programs: Finding Promise Within a Fragmented and Unequal Non-System 19

Louis Hamlyn-Harris

3. Toward Transforming Fragmented and Unequal Early Years Systems—Recommendations 25

Jacqueline Jones


Part II: CENTERING ANTI-RACISM IN EARLY YEARS CONTEXTS


4. Constellations of Care: Black Kith and Kin Home/ Place-Making Beyond the State Gaze 33

Ashley J. May

5. Proactive, Not Reactive: Creating Anti-Racist Policies for Child Care Centers and Preschools 39

Kerry-Ann Escayg and Flora Farago

6. Short- and Long-Term Policy Solutions Are Necessary to Address Inequities in Access and Affordability in the Early Years 47

Chrishana M. Lloyd and Julianna Carlson


Part III: FELT IN/EQUITIES IN THE EARLY YEARS: INFANT/TODDLER CARE AND EDUCATION


7. Felt In/equities: The Status of Infant/Toddler Care 57

Barbara Milner

8. Felt In/equities: The Status of Infant/Toddler Teachers 63

Emmanuelle N. Fincham

9. Recognizing the Birth-to-3 Workforce as Educators 69

Emily Sharrock and Annie Schaeffing


Part IV: DE/PROFESSIONALIZATION


10. Grounding Educators’ Experiences, Perspectives, and Intellect in De/Professionalization Debates 77

Lea J. E. Austin

11. Toward Equity in Professionalization Through Community- and Coalition-Building 83

Juliana Pinto McKeen, Fabiola Santos-Gaerlan, Alice Tse Chiu, and Wendy Jo Cole

12. Toward Professionalization By the People 89

Betzaida Vera-Heredia


Part V: SUPPORTING THRIVING TEACHERS


13. Don’t Train Me to Serve! Supporting Thriving Teachers Through Identity Development 97

Vanessa Rodriguez

14. "I Want to Be Treated Like I’m Valuable": Advocating for Teachers’ Humanity 103

Abbi Kruse

15. Talking the Talk, Walking the Walk With Teachers 109

Lorraine Falchi and Cristina Medellin-Paz


Part VI: Whose Standards?


16. Being Held to Whose Standards? Considering the Unique Experiences of Racially and Ethnically Diverse Children 119

Alexandra Figueras-Daniel and Stephanie M. Curenton

17. Using Aesthetic Approaches to Meet and Challenge the National Standards: A Both/And Approach 127

Margarita G. Ruiz Guerrero and Carolyn Brennan

18. "John Adams Didn’t Own Slaves": Culturally Affirming Standards, Assessments, and Curriculum 135

Evandra Catherine


Part VII: HONORING COMMUNITY CULTURAL WEALTH


19. Elevating the Cultural Wealth in Communities of Color: The R.I.C.H.E.R. Framework–Intersectionality Between Race and Place 143

Iheoma U. Iruka

20. It Really Does Take a Village: Why Educators Need to Be Involved in Community Initiatives 151

Jaclyn Vasquez and Mark K. Nagasawa

21. Mi Casita: How a School Can Exist to Meet the Needs of Children and Adults Alike 157

Eva Ruiz and Rafael (Rafa) PŽrez-Segura

22. Sustaining Our Futures Through Expanded Relations 163

Anna Lees


Conclusion: Now What? Our Call to Collective Action 169

Mark K. Nagasawa, Lacey Peters, Marianne N. Bloch, and Beth Blue Swadener


Index 185

About the Editors 193

About the Contributors 195