Just(ice) Beginnings: Researchers’ Life Stories of Caring and Just Practices in Early Childhood Education

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

The purpose of this symposium is to share and discuss with the audience four related works around the conference theme that demonstrate caring and just practices the researchers have experienced in early childhood environments. The four presentations document lived experiences in settings for infants-toddlers and preschoolers. Featured are life stories in which presenters describe encounters, interactions, and opportunities for caring and justice-oriented dispositions to be shared with young children through trusting relationships. The central premise uniting the four presentations in this symposium is that the adults who care for and educate young children have a responsibility to demonstrate and share just, caring, and compassionate attitudes and behaviors.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Early Education and Child Development

Chair

• Mila Costa, Bank Street College of Education

Papers

• Becoming Just: Nurturing the Roots of Kindness & Empathy in Infant-Toddler Care & Education - Mary Benson McMullen, Indiana University

• Repairing Invisible Trauma: Using Drawing to Restore Preschoolers’ Well-being in a Native American Community - Mila Costa, Bank Street College of Education

• More Than Just Us! Building Compassionate Connections Between Preschoolers and Elders in an Intergenerational Facility - Cecilia Maron-Puntarelli, Indiana University

• Promoting Social Justice Through Translanguaging: Teacher’s Views of How Best to Support Linguistic Diversity - Julia T. Atiles, East Tennessee State University

Discussant

• Travis S. Wright, University of Wisconsin - Madison