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Issue 51 of the Bank Street Occasional Papers Series "Reconceptualizing Quality Early Care and Education with Equity at the Center" is a response to Gunilla Dahlberg, Peter Moss, and Alan Pence's 25-year interrogation of the concept of quality in early childhood education (ECE) (Dahlberg et al., 1999, 2013, 2023). Their groundbreaking work has called early childhood educators to question deeply held assumptions about the universality of childhood and how these shape the standardization of practices in early childhood settings around the world. While quality is typically conceived of as existing primarily in classrooms, the authors in Issue 51 remind readers that the small world of ECE exists within oppressive systems imbued with intersecting racism, classism, sexism, and ableism, and that, therefore, a beyond quality praxis requires nurturing and supporting educators through partnerships (recognizing that resilience is social), developing political commitments and orientations through relationships, and mobilizing these relationships for collective action towards liberatory alternatives. The idea for this issue, which is a part of a broader project to identify and analyze promising, equity-committed early childhood policies and practices, emerged over the past few years.

For this edition of the "Bank Street Occasional Paper Series," educators were invited to share stories from their practice: times when they utilized children's literature and conversations to address real life; the difficult topics that children experience through the mirror of their own experiences or the windows of their peers, communities, or world. These stories are the stories of educators who have tried, and sometimes stumbled, and are showing their vulnerabilities. In each story, there is profound learning from the conversations that emerge from books. In the range of stories offered in this issue, there is one commonality: teachers are responding to the challenges that students of all ages face in their lives. These include concerns about gender and sexuality, racism, death and grief, climate change, police brutality, class issues, trauma, family insecurity, and mental health challenges. The essays are arranged in pairs by age/grade levels from preschool, to early elementary, middle elementary, late elementary, middle school, high school, and college, however, every one of these authors offers thoughtful guidance to educators (and non-educators), no matter the level with which they most identify.

Much of the policy-and practice-focused research on infant-toddler care and education has been concerned with the issue of program quality. That is, what elements constitute a quality program for infants and toddlers that ensures their ongoing developmental success? Researchers have sought to identify the structural and process indicators necessary for young children to receive the kinds of responsive interactions that contribute to positive developmental outcomes. Paradoxically, while a lot is known about what constitutes high-quality care and education for infants and toddlers, most policies ignore the research by regulating a bare minimum of requirements for programs. This situation has resulted in significant variation in what infant-toddler programming looks like, where it is located, and who gets access to high-quality programs. This special themed issue of the "Occasional Paper Series" seeks to highlight and challenge assumptions about infant-toddler care and education. All the pieces in the issue can be grouped around two main themes: (1) the centrality of relationship-based care; and (2) the tensions between local/contextual and larger-scale systems-level approaches. The papers call to everyone in the early education field to advocate forcefully for infant-toddler education, for the communities in which it takes place, and for the workforce that facilitates children's development and family members' ability to work outside the home. This collection offers a vision of new pathways and resources that the field might utilize to address the under-resourcing and inadequate attention given to policy and practice addressing the zero to three space.

This issue of the Occasional Papers Series aims to draw attention to the use of storytelling as a medium for provoking dialogue about inclusive classrooms and school communities. It offers readers stories of classroom life that provide insights into understanding the complexities that make up the lives of children with disabilities, their families, and teachers. The nine contributions to this issue include lived narratives and analyses presented from a wide range of useful subject positions: parents, general and special education teachers, researchers, advocates, siblings, and persons who are themselves disabled. The introduction titled, "Disability Studies in Education: Storying Our Way to Inclusion," was written by Joseph Michael Valente and Scot Danforth. The opening essay by Diane Linder Berman and David J. Connor, "Eclipsing Expectations: How A 3rd Grader Set His Own Goals (And Taught Us All How to Listen)," kicks off with a description of an illuminating journey through the eyes of a parent, Diane, who wanted a more inclusive experience for her son Benny. For Diane and Benny, this meant becoming meaningful participants not only in Benny's own classroom community but in the Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings that determined his educational goals. David uses a DSE framework to analyze and highlight the importance of context, as opposed to focusing on the disability condition, in enacting inclusionary practices. The authors argue for an "adhocratic" model of education that views children, educators, and parents as allies. In "Teaching Stories: Inclusion/exclusion and Disability Studies," Linda Ware and Natalie Wheeler-Hatz describe an exceptional collaboration between a university teacher-educator, Linda, and a public school teacher, Natalie. Together they develop a "Teaching Stories" in-service workshop for Natalie's colleagues to learn about disability studies, as well as a curriculum for her fifth grade class. Teaching Stories participants engage in self-reflection to examine personal biases about disability, use media to critically review representations of disability, and learn how to harness the potential of young adult literature to provide illustrative, non-deficit perspectives on disabilities. Louis Olander, an Iraqi war veteran and special education teacher in New York City, crafts a powerful story about his experiences coming to terms with a diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and navigating the quandaries and everyday realities of what he terms "quasi-inclusion." In "Rethinking Those Kids: Lessons Learned From a Novice Teacher's Induction into In/Exclusion," Louis argues for reframing inclusionary practices as pedagogies for equity that attend to the intersectional dynamics of race, class, and disability. He also encourages more local control over the implementation of inclusionary classroom practices. Inspired by Vivian Paley's storying scholarship, the essay "The Unfolding of Lucas's Story in an Inclusive Classroom: Living, Playing, and Becoming in the Social World of Kindergarten," tells stories about a vibrant kindergartner named Lucas through the viewpoints of his mother (Emma), teacher (Carmen), and teacher-educator (Haeny). In this multi-voiced story, the narrative centers on Lucas and shifts outward toward those orbiting Lucas's wondrously playful universe. The magic of Lucas's unfolding story is in the ways it disrupts conventional discourses about labels, interventions, and imposed meanings of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Karen Watson's ethnographic study, "Talking Tolerance Inside the 'Inclusive' Early Childhood Classroom" provides an inside look into what the Australian government calls "inclusive learning communities." This term emerges from a national early-years learning framework that highlights ability and disability as diversity. Following the course of a six-month period in three "inclusive" early childhood classrooms, Karen offers an account of the transformative potential of inclusion in contrast to the harmful effects of teaching tolerance. Tolerance, as Karen's study reveals, preserves the dualism of normal versus abnormal (or Other) and hinders critical reflection about ableist assumptions. "Hitting the Switch: ¡Sí se puede!" takes the reader into the lifeworld of first-grader Jason at Castle Bridge Elementary School, a public, dual-language school in New York City. Written by Jason's teachers Stephanie and Andrea in conjunction with his mother Sandra, this essay puts forward the ethos ¡Sí se puede! (Yes, you can!), which relies on children's empathy and calls for a collective response to inclusion. "Hitting the Switch" concludes with practical suggestions for creating an inclusive space for children who use assistive communicative devices so that they can become meaningful participants in the classroom community. Emily Clark's "I [Don't] Belong Here: Narrating Inclusion at the Exclusion of Others," privileges the voices of families in their quest for inclusive education. Borrowing from narrative research and Disability Studies in Education, Emily tells the story of her adoptive siblings Maria and Isaac, who were orphaned by AIDS. She explores the paradox of inclusion which is that it sometimes, if not oftentimes, fails and results in exclusion. A chief reason for the failure of inclusion, Emily argues, is that children with real and perceived differences challenge the "grammar" of schooling--that is, they stand out for their differences. A beautifully crafted ethnographic description of a rural Midwestern middle school, "Lunch Detention: Our Little Barred Room," by Lisa A. Johnson, pulls back the "facades of inclusion" to reveal emotional violence and deep-seated discriminatory practices against special education students. Lisa, herself blind, describes how she was approached by an administrator to take over the role of lunch detention supervisor for the "little barred room." In a short time, the "little barred room" becomes a place of refuge for Lisa and the other students, who share stories of friendship and create an inclusive space that empowers them to challenge a culture of oppression. Melissa Tsuei's "A Circle With Edges: How Storytime Privileges the Abled Learner," takes a critical look at one of the commonplace features of early childhood classrooms--story time. In her essay, Melissa considers the ways in which story time reinforces unequal power dynamics for diverse learners by privileging the able-bodied learner. In response, Melissa creates and presents the SPHERE model, which promotes active engagement and shared dialogue through collaborative storytelling and nurtures an inclusive literacy-learning environment. Taken together, these essays are intended to offer readers an applied DSE approach to inclusive classroom pedagogy. These essays frame disability and the lives of young children with disabilities in ways that: privilege the self-understandings and experiential knowledge of the children and their families; illuminate oppressive systems, arrangements, and circumstances that deny them opportunities for access to participation and equality; and create opportunities for greater levels of access, participation, and equality for them. It is the hope that these essays will further amplify and provoke unending discussions about how to create and sustain genuinely inclusive classrooms and communities. (Individual papers contain references.)

In this issue of the Occasional Paper Series, the authors reimagine progressive pedagogy within the framework of digital pedagogy and online practice. The issue begins with "Notes from the Special Issue Editors," Helen Freidus, Mollie Welsh Kruger & Steven Goss. In the first set of essays, "Inside the Online Classroom," the authors present the experiences of educators who have entered the square room but have refused to be limited by its constraints. These are teacher educators who have designed their courses for the online venue. Some enthusiastically chose to teach online; others were mandated to do so. Regardless of how their journey began, each author describes the work she or he is doing to bring constructivist practice online. To the surprise of each of these educators, they find that not only is the work possible, but it leads them to reframe the ways in which they approach their face-to-face teaching. This section begins with "Beyond a Digital Status Quo: Re-conceptualizing Online Learning Opportunities," by Ellen B. Meier. Tamara Spencer, in "Preparing Teachers as Literacy Leaders in a Hybrid Classroom," documents the process of taking new literacies and innovative pedagogy online, moving from a face-to-face to a hybrid course, she details the learning of both students and educator. Robin Isserles, in "Fostering Student Engagement: Creating a 'Culture of Learning' Online," addresses the ways in which distance learning offers possibilities for mitigating inequitable access to higher education--supporting community college students' ability to take ownership of their learning, and encouraging them to think critically about what they are learning. In Fred W. Freking & Jenny D. Ingber's "Teaching Science Teachers in an Online Context with a Constructivist Approach", the authors discuss the development of an online STEM-based teacher education program, providing a template for the inclusion of constructivist practices, such as course activities and student teaching Ramona Cutri, Erin Whiting & Stefinee Pinnegar, in "Activating Emotional and Analytic Engagement in Blended Learning: A Multicultural Teacher Education Example," activate students' emotional and analytic engagement with multicultural education through online classrooms. In "Creating Meaningful Learning Opportunities Online," Hafdís Guðjónsdóttir, Karen Gísladottir & Svanborg Jonsdottir describe the ways in which they have used digital pedagogy to address the loneliness of the distance learner by making their online course more inclusive and interactive. In the second set of essays, "Beyond the Online Classroom," authors describe their experiences in a range of online contexts. These authors came to their work with a vision of how technology might offer new pathways for learning. They ask: what do K-12 classrooms, business school courses, teacher communities of practice, and museum spaces look like when infused with the new opportunities technologies offer? The authors included in this section use constructivist practices to bring new visions to traditional experiences. They find that the outcomes are even richer than they had anticipated. In "Operations Management Outside of the Classroom: An Experiential Approach to Teaching Enabled by Online Learning," Kristen A. Sosulski & Harry R. Chernoff employ online learning as a way to free their students from the confines of the lecture-based classroom. In "Reflection & Technology in Theory and Practice: Teen Engagement in Art Museums," Chelsea Emelie Kelly discusses her experience using digital technologies to extend the young museum-goer's voice beyond the walls of the museum and into online communities. In "Technology as a Tool for Collaboration, Understanding & Engagement," Kai Johnson incorporates multimodal online inquiry to deepen the thinking of children in his elementary classroom. When he sees how engaged his students are in their work, he realizes that this is a true picture of constructivist learning. Marvin Cohen, Babette Moeller & Michelle Cerrone document the ways in which online communities of practice enable teachers to have meaningful conversations sharing practices and discussing the nuances of teaching math in "Constructing Online Communities of Practice." Across these articles, the reader will find educators engaging with the challenges they encountered and emerging with new visions of constructivist practice. Authors who began as skeptics discovered possibilities. Authors who thought they understood the potential of online practice were struck by their students' and their own increased insight. The hope is that the ideas presented in this edition of the Occasional Paper Series will encourage readers to experiment with and document their own forays into online practice. (Individual papers contain references.)

Each of the papers in this collection offers a much-needed antidote to the forces that disconnect educators from the places in which they teach, learn, and live. Together, they provide an opportunity to reflect on the power of place in education. This issue offers an opportunity--an invitation--to embrace all that the places both in and outside the classroom have to offer. Individual essays in this paper include: (1) Reclaiming the Promise of Place: An Interview with David Greenwood (Roberta Altman); (2) Playing in Literary Landscapes: Considering Children's Need for Fantasy Literature in the Place-Based Classroom (Sarah Fisher); (3) Guggenheim for All: Museum Education for Students on the Spectrum (Chiara Di Lello); (4) Curtain Up: Place-based Teaching & Learning in the New York City Theater District (Peggy McNamara and Bryan Andes); (5) Place-Based Education: (Re)Integrating Ecology & Economy (Mark T. Kissling and Angela Calabrese Barton); (6) Discovering Place-based Education in the Foothills of the Himalayas (Monimalika Day with Doug Hernandez); (7) Learning Naturally: An Inquiry Study of Streams in Hawaii (Becca Kesler); (8) Nature Preschools: Putting Nature at the Heart of Early Childhood Education (Ken Finch and Patti Ensel Bailie); and (9) Preparing Teachers for Place-based Teaching (Amy Vinlove). Individual essays contain references and figures.