Picture a typical family engagement event at an early childhood center: parents arrive after work, listen to a presentation about child development, ask a few questions, and head home. The teacher feels good about “involving” families. The parents appreciate the information. Everyone leaves satisfied. But something fundamental is missing. What if we’ve been thinking about family engagement all wrong? What if families aren’t meant to be “involved” in education as outside participants, but...

In many Euro-Western educational models, the focus is often on individual children’s development, their milestones, their achievements, their progress. Success is measured in terms of what each child can do independently. But through the HuUbuntu: I Am Because We Are philosophy, we are asking us to shift our perspective: What if a child’s development is fundamentally relational? What if children don’t just grow up, but grow into themselves through connections with family,community, and...

This Black History Month I have been honored to celebrate Black authors of children’s literature because they play a critical role in sharing various cultural perspectives. The minds of young children are able to get windows into diverse experiences that may mirror their own identities. There is a fair understanding and perhaps agreement on the fact that the early years of child development represent animportant opportunity to develop social awareness and cultural appreciation. When the...