ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues

I say Amen, in that sing song voice. The marriage of the informal education(called life experience) and the formal education academics really can be likened to nature and nurture. NOT NATURE VERSES NURTURE. As an educator of young children (as well as educated by young children) I understand I am endowed by my whole being to serve the community I am choosing to spend my day in. It is in our relationship and partnership that we accomplish our goals. We both choose to return to the same space to continue our education of each other. It is cliche' to state one more time that we as educators are not in it for the pay. That is a given. We are in it because it touches us in a deep and passionate place in our souls. I believe, sometimes we are so unaware of the depth of our passion until the fiery dragon of frustration engulfs us and we don't have the support we need to explore and work through the difficulty of the moment. Alas we lose another great educator, mentor and resource to communities that are already at a disadvantage. I profoundly request that we find ways to daily feed the souls of ourselves and our colleagues. If we don't this will be a great tragedy for all of the human race ,because we impact one another in everything we do. Call to action. We all have a responsibility in this endeavor.

This is a great article and I truly agree w/the authors. We want teachers to be knowledgeable about child development and have the proper skill sets to be effective in working w/young children. However, as a Certified Trainer and Certified Technical Assistance Provider, I have found many teachers who are discouraged and frustrated in their chosen profession due to the fact that they feel unappreciated by others w/in the ECE field. My goal as a Trainer during workshops and training sessions is to not only help them develop their skills at a higher degree, but also to inspire them to rekindle their passion and purpose so they see the value and importance of the impact and difference they can make in the lives of the children they work with daily.

Great focus in today's article. If we nurture the spirit of the teacher and the child, we'll have a healthy place in which to work and learn. We often ignore this. There are many ways we can daily nourish our spirits; acknowledge and express our sense of wonder in nature, enjoying the sensuousness of the smell of rain, the chirp of a bird, the refraction of sunlight through a sun catcher, etc. If we do these things with the children, it will help. Teachers who appreciate the daily joys and sorrows of the human experience, and take time to reflect on these effects on the development of young humans and on ourselves, are stronger and resilient to the daily grind of our over-regulated field.

I've actually begun giving workshops on this often-ignored aspect of teaching.