Article Link: http://stage.exchangepress.com/article/a-manner-of-speaking/5010700/
It's no longer enough just to be who we are - and early childhood professionals are many things: We are artists and authors andpoliticians and architects; we write poetry and children's books and speeches; we own businesses and ideas; we build and teach and dream. But people aren't listening when we speak for THE children.
There are so many ways to write off messages - and one of the easiest ways is lack of respect for the messenger. Could this be what has happened? Certainly, we are all familiar with the struggle for respect in the early childhood field - the ongoing effort to make the general public understand that caring for young children is important work. Can it be that people don't listen because they don't respect us?
We are people who have chosen to directly care on a daily basis for the children of others - we have volunteered to be parents of the world. When we speak, we speak for what is right and important and necessary for THE children, just as we speak for what is needed by each very particular child. We speak for the children we interact with every ...