Our Earliest Learners — and Their Caregivers

The early education landscape continues to shift under the weight of pandemic impacts. Join us as we take a look at where things stand for our young learners, their families, and the early educators who are trying to serve their needs.

We’ll highlight the current challenges in early learning that need critical attention. We'll explore how our caregivers are managing their own stresses and helping young children navigate disruption and instability. And we’ll also offer strategies for perseverance and even innovation, focusing in on the solutions that educators and their families are finding and spreading. 

Host

Junlei Li, Saul Zaentz Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education and Co-Chair, Human Development and Education Program, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Speakers

• Lynette Fraga, Chief Executive Officer, Child Care Aware of America (CCAoA)
• Stephanie Jones, Gerald S. Lesser Professor in Early Childhood Development, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Key takeaways and prompts for action:

1. Together, focus on how to support families – families of early educators, families of young children. Families are the critical foundation and source of resilience and support.  ​
2. Together, focus on equity and equitable access. Interrogate our history; ask what we truly mean when we use words like diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.
3. Early education advocates are being heard. There is a generational opportunity now to drive this work.​
4. Quality in ECE = Relationships. We have to take care of the early childhood educators who are making those relationships.

Resources:

• Persevering Through the Pandemic: Key Learnings about Children from Parents and Educators  
• JDBP: Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics
• Child Care Aware of America’s Build Back Better Act Resource Hub (Child Care Aware of America)
• Preschool Enrollment Has Plunged: What That Means for School Readiness
• Biden's Finishing What Obama Started with Early Learning