Embracing Challenges in Early Childhood Education

Embracing Challenges resets our view of conflict as a constructive dialectic process founded on sound teaching principles and flexible methods. Oken-Wright’s transcribed conversations perfectly exemplify her message, and the chapter summaries invite the reader to think critically. George E. Forman, Ph.D. Emeritus Professor, University of Massachusetts, Amherst In this book, Pam is our pedagogical companion. She encourages and supports our learning about what it means to stand alongside children and, together, explore the foundational question, “How does life work?” Pam offers generous and clear guidance about how to cultivate the cognitive and emotional flexibility that allows teachers and children to embrace “good conflict,” sticking with each other and with their shared undertakings even when—especially when!—they encounter uncertainty, divergent perspectives, and disequilibrium. This book is a necessary text for our times. Ann Pelo Co-author of From Teaching to Thinking: A Pedagogy for Reimagining Our Work Pam invites us to explore some of the most feared and avoided terrain in the education landscape, acting as a trusted companion on what turns out to be an exciting and meaningful journey. She provides a wide variety of practical tools, and shares stories that inspire us to appreciate the beauty in the complexity and uncertainty of working with young children. This book encourages us to do the difficult and brave work of embracing conflict, allowing us to strengthen the agency we need to become the teachers we aspire to be. Susan Harris MacKay The Center and Studio for Playful Inquiry