On Listening to What Early Childhood Teachers Say: Reflections on Collaborative Inquiry, Community, and Care

Session Type: Working Group Roundtable

Abstract

This session offers critical reflections from a group of early childhood workers who came together to participate in a teacher as researcher project. Our project draws from collaborative inquiry, teacher research, and communities of practice to explore the relationship between teacher experiences and equity and diversity. Presentations are grounded in reflexivity and convey how people’s deep engagement in teacher research and collaborative inquiry has influenced their personal and professional experiences. This session also raises discussion on the complexities of early childhood teacher research, and issues around sustaining research-practice-policy partnerships. A primary aim is to generate dialogue among participants around how collaborative inquiry groups cultivate caring communities, impact early childhood workers’ well being, and lead to educational possibilities dreamed by teachers.

Sub Unit

• Division K - Teaching and Teacher Education / Division K - Section 08: Teachers’ Lives, Identities, and Journeys

Chair

• Lacey Elizabeth Peters, Hunter College - CUNY

Papers

• Early Childhood Educators Are Experts Too and We Have a Lot to Say - Tara Kirton, Hunter College - CUNY

• Meaningful Contributions of Early Care and Education Workers: Crucial Component of Actionable Research - Erica Clarke Yardy, The NYC Early Childhood Research Network, CUNY & Teachers College, Columbia University

• The Power of Educators in Community: Walking the Path to Equity in Early Childhood Education - Omotola Omoyele, Independent Researcher

• The Inequities of Representation and Support Between 3K/Pre-K Community-Based Centers and Public Schools - Zenovia Duke, Lehman College - CUNY