Can early learning environments foster democratic ideals?
Is our democracy in crisis, teetering on the verge of implosion, or is our country still in its infancy, and these are just growing pains we can respond to with love and nurture? In the lead-up to the 2024 election, Trust for Learning, Grantmakers for Education, and the Early Childhood Funders Collaborative will co-host a provocative series connecting the dots on children’s formative experiences in publicly-funded learning environments and our country’s democratic ideals. We believe that ideal learning environments not only support children’s cognitive, emotional, and academic development, they also create the foundation for the realization of our shared civic aims.
While it may at times feel that democracy is in peril, the United States is still in its formative years – in a sensitive period that we can respond to with presence, vision, and love. How will we shape the future of a peaceful, multiracial, just and free democracy through investments in our youngest community members?
Episode 1: From Neurons to Nation: Early Learning that Fosters Democratic Ideals (July 11, 2024)
The Infant Nation series launched with discussion on children’s formative experiences and our country’s democratic ideals. Ellen Roche, Trust for Learning, was joined by Dr. Fabienne Doucet, Executive Director at the New York University Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools, and Dr. Iheoma U. Iruka, Research Professor, Department of Public Policy at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill connecting the dots on children’s formative experiences in publicly-funded learning environments and our country’s democratic ideals.
Episode 2: Toward Languages of Liberation in Learning Environments (August 8, 2024)
What would it take to support all children and youth to flourish in both their home or native language and English? What is lost for our democracy when children lose their family’s languages? How can early childhood and youth development programs affirm positive cultural identities that build resiliency and honor cultural traditions? We were joined for insightful discussion with Dr. Shantel Meek, The Children’s Equity Project, Julie Garreau, Cheyenne River Youth Project, and Vanessa Goodthunder, C̣aƞṡayapi Waḳaƞyeża Owayawa Oṭi (Lower Sioux Early Head Start and Head Start) to connect the dots on how children’s earliest experiences in their native, heritage and English languages shape their identities while shaping a truly multicultural vision of democracy’s future in the United States.
Episode 3: Toward a Climate of Care in Learning Programs (September 10, 2024) Funders often fund in silos, but these two issues (climate risks and learning environments for children and youth) are both prominent areas where we are failing to center children in the policy arena. Our panelists will discuss areas where they see opportunities for funders to connect dots between their issue areas. We were joined by Dr. Anita Krishnamurthi, Collective for Youth Empowerment in STEM and Society, Ellicia Lanier, Urban Sprouts Child Development Center, and Dr. Joan Lombardi, Co-Founder and Senior Fellow at Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues,
Georgetown University to connect movements for high-quality learning environments for children and youth to the growing movement for climate justice around the world.
Episode 4: Relationship as Revolution to Support Youth Thriving (November 4, 2024) On the eve of the 2024 Presidential Election, this episode elevated the connections between young people’s moment-to-moment development in close relationships and the trust and collective willpower we need to build effective and sustainable movements that support youth thriving in election years and beyond. Bringing together Lucy Recio (Third Bloom Consulting), Marina Rodriguez (Educational Mentor Coach, All Our Kin), and Marcus Strother (executive director, Mentor California), this critical conversation explored the ways that relationships drive the change we seek.