You know the saying “it takes a village to raise a child”? For Women’s History Month, all of us should be celebrating the childcare providers, the preschool teachers, and all others who make it possible for us to have careers. When I think back to the days of juggling life with newborns, toddlers, and kindergarten-age kids, I am so grateful for the village, the pueblo, that I had. That village is still with me, with us, with my family.
Recently, my daughter and I met with her preschool teacher from what was then Escuelita Borínquen to plan her quinceañera. We marveled at how she has grown and matured into a young woman from the tiny tot who used to eat a lot of arroz con habichuela. Rice and beans remains her favorite comfort dish.
Escuelita (the name has since changed) is the early childhood education program offered by the Boston-based organization IBA or Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción. There, my children began their formal school experience in a bilingual setting, in Spanish and English. The program ensured their cognitive, socio-emotional, and social development in an environment where they felt as loved by their teachers as they were by their parents. They built their vocabulary and critical thinking skills. They learned to regulate their emotions and were encouraged to stay curious. Those early years laid the foundation for my son’s curiosity in other languages, including Chinese in which he is proficient today.
As a society, we do not value enough the work of early childhood educators. The work of caring for children is underpaid and consequently is not attractive to younger people. The field is experiencing high turnover rates, relies on a disproportionately aging population, and the replacement pool is shallow. A recent report by the Boston Foundation highlighted the challenges and opportunities before us. Women are most adversely impacted by the lack of affordable childcare. Women of color and low-income women experience the most workforce marginalization due to lack of childcare that they can afford.
Nearly all of us who are parents relied on those early childhood educators to build our careers. Completing my doctoral degree would have been impossible. I would have had a very late start on my career without Ms. Merian, Ms. Iris, Ms. Niurca, Ms. Valerie, and all the other teachers who cared for, educated, and loved our children. We would not have discovered that our daughter has a rare genetic condition had it not been for her community of teachers who first noticed the symptoms and manifestations of her disease.
So, yes, her preschool teachers will be at the quinceañera and will be there to celebrate her academic and artistic successes and the woman she is becoming.
(Urban College of Boston offers credentials for those wishing to pursue a career in early childhood education. We are a multilingual college offering instruction in Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese and Haitian Creole. Visit us at https://www.urbancollege.edu/early-childhood-education-associate-degree)
