The future is unpredictable, but one thing is sure: the challenges we face today—climate change, water scarcity, natural disasters, gun violence, income inequality, racial injustice, housing unaffordability, food insecurity, and inadequate access to healthcare—will intensify as we move deeper into the 21st century.
What role can early childhood education and care serve in helping us to address an uncertain future? This Summer Institute explores how the core values of our field can guide us in preparing for an unpredictable future. Inspired by the sentiment in Robert Fulghum’s Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, this Summer Institute proposes that Everything We Need to Face the Future Comes from Our ECEC Values.
In times of uncertainty, our commitment to ensuring a just and equitable early childhood for all children must remain steadfast. When the future threatens to reshape our world, our shared values can ground us in what all children fundamentally need and deserve.
We invite you to join us as we explore how a commitment to values of Equity, Truth, and Care can support our efforts to resist threats of domination, control, power, racism, white supremacy, climate disaster, and environmental terrorism. Now more than ever, we must double down on what we know constitutes high-quality early childhood education care.
Each day of the institute will begin with a keynote address that centers on one value, followed by a panel discussion of early childhood educators, researchers, and policymakers or advocates. Join us as we recommit to our core values, strengthen our resolve, and build a community of ECEC advocates ready for whatever may be on the horizon.