We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated.
– Maya Angelou, 1928 – 2014, American poet, civil rights activist

What better time than #TeacherAppreciationWeek to consider the deeper work teachers do! In their book From Teaching to Thinking, Ann Pelo and Margie Carter explain, “We believe that educators hunger for deeper meaning in their work. We believe that educators long to be challenged into their biggest, deepest, most startling thinking and questioning. We believe that educators are ready to have their hearts cracked open and their imaginations ignited.”

Following their book’s publication, Pelo and Carter began encouraging early care and education practitioners to write and reflect on their individual work, which led to a group of books called the Reimagining Our Work (ROW) book collection. The newest ROW title is the bilingual book The Art of Troublemaking: A Teacher Unravels Racism | El arte de crear problema: Una maestra desenmaraña el racismo, by Olga Lacayo, with Eliana Elias.

Lacayo tells how, when she was confronted by racism in her early childhood classroom, she decided to confront it head on, rather than avoid or deny it. She engaged in deep thinking with colleagues, her coach, her teaching community, larger professional development circles and the children in her class. Lacayo ended up with a story of perseverance as she dealt with entrenched ways of thinking and behaving. She drew strength from her cultural heritage and from her hope that it is possible to create a world where all are welcomed – children and teachers alike – in the fullness of their being. This is the kind of deeper meaning in our work that Pelo and Carter describe.

More deep thinking happens in the Exchange Reflections, “Anti-Bias Classroom Culture,” based on an article by Karen Babbs Hollett, with preschool teachers Edie Hillard, Traces Ryckman, and Lauren Valesey. The educators write about the careful reflection that helped them create an anti-bias classroom.

“‘We celebrate differences,’ Valesey said. ‘When kids know that we are talking about difference in a kind and caring way, they feel safe, and are much more willing to talk.’ This approach also opens doors to challenge children’s thinking, which Hillard believes is essential.

‘It is important to look at things such as physical attributes, gender, and socioeconomic status, and have those conversations and be able to expose children to ideas that may challenge their own thoughts about what is normal or right or wrong. We do not have to think the same way, but we need to be respectful of people’s ideas when they are different from our own.’” The Reflections provides support for teams of people, college students or individuals to think deeply about ways to create authentically welcoming, inclusive classrooms.