Preschool Is School

FOCUS

Preschool is school

Early childhood educators need relevant, collaborative, and aligned learning

By Zeke Alejandro, Sarah Garland, Suzanne Kennedy and Thomas Van Soelen

August 2017

Vol. 38 No. 4

Early childhood centers and classrooms perpetually dance between being a center or a school. Perhaps it doesn’t seem different in your mind, but it does to us. To many educators, the word school usually presumes K-12 students. It often means the school is part of a larger entity, like a district or a school board. To parents, school might connote importance or deference to a teacher or principal. To students, the word school might yield a host of intriguing responses. Early childhood educators have learned to navigate between and among all of these assumptions, embracing the assumptions that advance their cause and distancing themselves from those that do not. For instance, using “infant teacher” instead of “day care worker” can produce an entirely new context

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Zeke Alejandro (zalejandro@csdecatur.net) is instructional coach, Sarah Garland (sgarland@csdecatur.net) is early childhood specialist, and Suzanne Kennedy (susu06kennedy@gmail.com) is principal at College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center in Decatur, Georgia. Thomas Van Soelen (Thomas@vansoelenassociates.com) is former associate superintendent of City Schools of Decatur, Georgia, and president of Van Soelen & Associates in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

References

Kruse, S., Louis, K.S., & Bryk, A. (1994). Building professional community in schools. Issues in Restructuring Schools, 6, 3-6.

Van Soelen, T.M. (2016). Crafting the feedback teachers need and deserve: A guide for leaders. New York, NY: Routledge.

Van Soelen, T.M. (2012a, September). The connection between early childhood and desegregation. The New Superintendent’s E-Journal. Available at www.aasa.org/content.aspx?id=24760.

Van Soelen, T.M. (2012b, September). Cross-school teacher evaluation. The New Superintendent’s E- Journal. Available at www.aasa.org/content.aspx?id=24764.