Learn how to create and nurture communities of care for diverse children, families, and practitioners through responsive practice. In this text, the social and emotional worlds of babies and toddlers, their peers, and their caregivers come to life in the everyday moments of infant-toddler care and education. The authors show infants and toddlers as active, agentic, and intentional social partners from the start of life, highlighting their unique capacities for social engagement with both adults and peers. Interwoven within each chapter's narrative are insights culled from extensive observations, teacher interviews, and video analyses. Part I emphasizes play, peer friendships, and humor as essential elements of infant learning, illustrated throughout with anecdotes of praxis in early care and education settings. Building on these aspects of babies' ways of being in group care, Part II examines the complex roles of infant-toddler professionals and the critical importance of supportive and caring environments. Readers will explore the elements needed for in-depth and specialized professional preparation, including overarching principles of relationship-based practice. Book Features: Illuminates particular and understudied ways that infants and toddlers actively contribute to their own social learning and development. Shares how teachers learn to engage with and nurture infants' and toddlers' social capacities and experiences within child care settings. Uses anecdotes and vignettes from the authors' research and practice with infants, toddlers, and caregivers to bring their experiences to life. Discusses themes that are important and unique for infancy and toddlerhood, such as play, friendships, humor, and professional love. Presents a unique set of chapters that reveal infants' and toddlers' perspectives, while also considering the caregiver's actions within a responsive care framework.
Susan L. Recchia is a professor emeritus in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University. Minsun Shin is an associate professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at Montclair State University. Eleni Loizou is a professor in the Department of Education and Early Childhood Education Program at the University of Cyprus.
Contents Foreword Mary Benson McMullen ?ix 1. ?The Social and Emotional World of Infant-Toddler Childcare ?1 Introduction ?1 The Power of Relationships as a Context for Social and Emotional Learning ?5 Overarching Principles That Guide Relationship-Based Practice ?6 Overview With Brief Chapter Descriptions ?7 Chapter Summary ?9 Part I: Distinctive Infant-Toddler Social Encounters in Childcare 2. ?Infant-Toddler Play as an Essential Component of Early Learning and Development ?13 Infants' and Toddlers' Ways of Learning ?13 Infants' and Toddlers' Play Experiences ?15 Infant-Toddler Play Practices and the Caregiver Role ?22 Discussion Questions ?29 3. ?Friendships Among Infant-Toddler Peers ?30 Infant-Toddler Friendships ?31 Friendship Experiences and Sociocultural Context ?36 Infant-Toddler Caregiving to Support Friendships and Social Experiences ?39 Discussion Questions ?42 4. ?Creative Social Exchanges: Infant-Toddler Humor ?43 Humor Definition and Theories ?43 Peer Social Encounters as a Catalyst for Humor Development ?50 Classroom Learning Environments and Caregiver Roles Support Humor ?52 Discussion Questions ?57 Part II: Creating Interpersonal Environments That Support Responsive Care 5. ?The Complex Role of Infant-Toddler Professionals: Care, Love, Diversity, and Identities ?61 Bringing Care, Education, and Love Together ?62 Contemplating Emotional Labor ?66 Appreciating Diverse Lived Experiences ?69 Discussion Questions ?73 6. ?Becoming an Infant-Toddler Teacher: Ways of Thinking and Ways of Being ?74 Relationship-Based Care and the Primary Care System ?75 Being With and Learning From Infants and Toddlers ?77 Becoming an Infant-Toddler Practitioner Within a Supportive Learning Community ?82 Discussion Questions ?90 7. ?Constellations of Care: Building Caring Infant-Toddler Communities ?91 Constellations of Caring/Ethic of Care ?92 Valuing Inclusive Practice/Honoring Differences ?96 Respecting and Supporting New and Continuing Transitions ?98 Capitalizing on Opportunities to Build Community Among Staff, Children, and Families ?100 Making Administrative and Policy Decisions That Reflect Relationship-Based Practice ?102 Discussion Questions ?104 8. ?Enduring Reflections for the Field of Infant-Toddler Care and Education ?105 Infants and Toddlers as Being and Becoming ?105 Infants' and Toddlers' Rights to Responsive and Loving Care ?107 Infant-Toddler Care as a "Home" for Fostering Community and Subjective Well-Being ?109 Concluding Thoughts ?110 References ?111 Index ?127 About the Authors ?133
