• Name and date of Journal: The Early Childhood Educator early childhood educators of BC- standing strong together. Spring 2020
  • Main Focus of Journal: COVID-19 and Early Childhood Education with a focus on healthy spaces in early care and learning.
  • Your opinion on the publication in general: This publication is well laid out and has interesting content.  The content was very relevant to what is happening in the world today.  The authors of the articles seem to be very committed to this project as their articles were due the same week that the global pandemic was announced and all the authors wrote informative and thoughtful articles that cooperated the pandemic in some way.  I like the page “our children speak” at the start of the journal. This page show cased children’s art work and their words.  To me this page is a very powerful image of how children are viewed by the staff that work on this journal.
  • Title and Authors of article:  Health and Outdoor Environments in Early Childhood Education: Dwelling in Complexities by Iris Berger and Nancy Van Groll
  • Key Points:  I feel like the main idea of this article is to reflect upon and gain knowledge on how to “revise all known categories of intimacy and care”. How do we safely do this without compromising on quality care.
  • How this article added to your knowledge:  I learned when reading this article that the word “crisis” is derived from the Greek word meaning a “decisive stage, in which a decisive change is imminent”.  When reflecting upon this definition I have changed my preconceived knowledge of what a crisis means.  I have learned to interpret a crisis as an opportunity for a shift.  This shift can be positive if we have a positive mindset.  The concept of a crisis has always had a negative feeling for me but now I realize it can be positive depending on which way that shift lands.  The current crisis could be used as a “teachable moment” some questions that were posed in the article are “What can we learn at the time about who we value? Who is in danger? Who is deemed essential? Who is compensated for taking risk?” . These questions are the basis for thought and reflection through many different lenses including and early childhood education lens.  The authors state that “the current crisis is not only a health crisis but also an ecological, social and political one” which is evident in current events.  People all over the world are suffering in many different ways as a result of COVID-19.  It is important especially when working in the field to remember this, nobody’s story is the same not even now.  The argument is posed that it makes it difficult to respond to many layers of the current crisis in the ECE field when ECE across Canada is not viewed as a “public good”.  This view causes the field to be “fragmented” within the country.
  • How this article might influence you: A sentence or idea that struck me in this article is that as a society “we romanticize wild-ness, but at the same time, crave to control it.”.  This refers to the outdoor or nature aspects of early learning.  We all have fenced, manicured yards which are regulated by licensing and safety protocols.  I believe there is something to be said about children experiencing nature in an uncontrolled environment.  I will take this image with me throughout my practice in the future and try my best to facilitate this type of nature experience. I think this is the appeal of a nature based childcare program.