REBROADCAST: Promises That Matter: Unleashing Kindergarten’s Potential for Young Learners

Promises That Matter: Unleashing Kindergarten’s Potential for Young Learners

This session relaunched our “Kindergarten Matters” series, highlighting the importance of Kindergarten as a “sturdy bridge” from pre-K to early elementary grades. We were pleased to relaunch this important series with moderator Kali Thorne Ladd of the Children’s Institute, whose organization also serves as Oregon’s GLR State Lead. Ladd began by highlighting that “belonging has a huge consequence, and it has a consequence that can last decades. And how children feel in their classroom does impact their learning.” This was the perfect introduction to the featured speaker, renowned developmental psychologist Susan Engel, Ph.D., of Williams College.

Ladd and Engel engaged in an inspiring conversation about Engel’s newest book that aligns so well with GLR’s Kindergarten Matters series: American Kindergarten: Dispatches from the First Year of School. The book describes Engel’s observations from visiting 29 kindergarten classrooms across 14 states, and the five “promises” she found that teachers and their classrooms make to their students during this crucial year. The five promises, of course, include reading — but also order, thinking, identity, and,  perhaps most importantly, love. She emphasized that 5-year-olds come to kindergarten filled with curiosity and interest in the world that surrounds them.  She also reiterated that kids need to use time during their first year of school to explore, build confidence, socialize, and more — all of which will actually help them become even better readers. Engel further described how and why love is so important for learning in kindergarten classrooms:

“The first promise that I write about in the book is the promise of love. It’s enormously powerful. It’s very palpable, too. It doesn’t always go with the other things you think are good in a classroom. So I watched a classroom where I saw some things that I didn’t necessarily think were good for kids in terms of the way things were set up or how things were taught, but there was so much love. And I would say that without it, not very much good can happen. And with it a lot of good can happen, even if other things aren’t as good as they could be.”

Next, a panel of distinguished kindergarten and early education teaching and learning leaders reflected on the findings in Engel’s book and what she shared as it relates to their own experience working with students and teachers and examining policy. Laura Bornfreund of New America’s Education Policy Program discussed how her work complements Engels and described New America’s efforts to influence policymakers to develop a different approach to kindergarten. She also teased her forthcoming book, Rediscovering Kindergarten: Embracing Play & Joy in Learning, which is being released on June 1 and will be featured in a follow-up GLR Learning Tuesdays webinar on June 9.

Patricia Ford, NBCT, a kindergarten teacher at Rock Quarry Elementary School at Tuscaloosa City Schools, expressed that she was brought to tears by what Engel shared. After 30 years of teaching kindergartners, she felt that someone was finally getting it and supporting what is so important about her job. Rebeca Itzkowich of Teach Plus reviewed the Project Connect Plus initiative, which engages kindergarten teachers in learning communities where they have the opportunity to collaborate, troubleshoot challenges, and rediscover the joy that many of them have lost in teaching. Ford truly drove home the simplicity, yet the profound significance, of putting relationships and connection first in her classroom:

“I would encourage every kindergarten teacher to intentionally build daily opportunities for a connection, to connect with their students and for the students to have a voice. Sometimes it’s as simple as a meaningful morning meeting or just a one on one. Speaking to a student and acknowledging, I notice you’re not yourself, you’re off today. Let’s talk about it…. You tell me what’s going on. When children feel heard, valued, and connected, I say it all the time. We can move mountains. We can MOVE MOUNTAINS. So I love it.”

Presenter: Susan Engel, Ph.D., Williams College & Author, American Kindergarten: Dispatches from the First Year of School.
Commentators: Laura Bornfreund, New America & Author of the forthcoming book, Rediscovering Kindergarten: Embracing Play & Joy in Learning; Patricia A. Ford, NBCT, Rock Quarry Elementary School, Tuscaloosa City Schools, Alabama; and Rebeca Itzkowich, Teach Plus.
Moderator: Kali Thorne Ladd, Children’s Institute, Oregon.