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Elliot’s Provocations

Elliot’s Provocations unpacks current events in the early learning world and explores how we can chart a path to a future where all children can flourish. Regarding the title, if you’re not steeped in early childhood education (ECE) lingo, a “provocation” is the field’s term—taken from the Reggio-Emilia philosophy of early education—for offering someone the opportunity to engage with an idea.

We hope this monthly column does that: provocations are certainly not answers, but we hope Elliot’s Provocations helps you pause and consider concepts in a different way.

Elliot’s Provocations: When the Waters Rise on Child Care Programs

Elliot Haspel·May 2, 2023·5 min read

If you’ve been following my work for the past year, you know I am deeply concerned about how unprepared our child- and family-serving systems are for this new reality. I’m not the only one. A new report puts a fine point on why early care & education stakeholders need to have a climate strategy, and why public officials need to have ECE in their climate strategy: a staggering number of child care programs are under threat.

New Year’s Resolutions for the Early Learning Community

Elliot Haspel·January 4, 2022·7 min read

2021 was a momentous year for early childhood care & education. The field suffered blow after blow from COVID and then a knock-on staffing crisis; received nearly $50 billion in rescue funds to temporarily patch the gaping leaks; and is ending the year on the precipice of receiving enough public funds through the Build Back Better Act to finally become a stable and healthy sector.

O Canada(’s Child Care Progress)

Elliot Haspel·October 1, 2021·4 min read

While the U.S. is busy debating whether or not to finally invest in our failing child care system, Canada is busy doing it.

Elliot’s Provocations: Employer-Sponsored Child Care is a Wrong Turn

Elliot Haspel·November 1, 2022·7 min read

As I travel internationally, I have been thinking a lot about how we position child care in the United States. I am increasingly concerned by an ascendant school of thought that emphasizes a role for employer-sponsored child care benefits.

Elliot’s Provocations: Five Early Learning Trends for 2023

Elliot Haspel·January 4, 2023·6 min read

Happy New Year! As 2023 kicks off, I wanted to highlight five early learning trends to be watching this year.

Elliot’s Provocations: Seizing the Reconciliation Opportunity

Elliot Haspel·September 1, 2021·5 min read

Welcome to the first edition of my new monthly column, “Elliot’s Provocations.” The goal of this column is to unpack...

Elliot’s Provocations: In Plain Dollars and Cents, a Child Care Policy Without Major Compensation Increases Is No Child Care Policy

Elliot Haspel·February 2, 2023·6 min read

Elliot’s Provocations unpacks current events in the early learning world and explores how we can chart a path to a...

Elliot’s Provocations: Bring on School-Aged Care

Can We Create a Seamless Melding of Early Child Care and School-Aged Care?

Elliot Haspel·June 5, 2023·5 min read

Linking early child care and school-aged care is a good idea both on the merits and the politics. I’m hardly the first one to point this out, but I want to highlight the opportunity here as we head into summer break and the acute headache it causes for many families.

Elliot’s Provocations: Child Care or Early Childhood Education?

Elliot Haspel·December 1, 2022·9 min read

For my last column of the year, I want to touch on a less-discussed but not-unimportant question: what in the heck should we call the care and education of children during the first five years of their life?

School Readiness and the Tyranny of Merit, Part 2

Elliot Haspel·August 2, 2022·9 min read

What, in the end, do we want young children (and young parents) to be ready for? For a nation that forces you to run a race before your legs can even hold your own weight, or a nation that says ‘we’ve got you, take your time’?

Elliot’s Provocations

Elliot’s Provocations: When the Waters Rise on Child Care Programs

New Year’s Resolutions for the Early Learning Community

O Canada(’s Child Care Progress)

Elliot’s Provocations: Employer-Sponsored Child Care is a Wrong Turn

Elliot’s Provocations: Five Early Learning Trends for 2023

Elliot’s Provocations: Seizing the Reconciliation Opportunity

Elliot’s Provocations: In Plain Dollars and Cents, a Child Care Policy Without Major Compensation Increases Is No Child Care Policy

Elliot’s Provocations: Bring on School-Aged Care

Elliot’s Provocations: Child Care or Early Childhood Education?

School Readiness and the Tyranny of Merit, Part 2

Elliot’s Provocations: Bring on School-Aged Care

5 Questions for the Governor: Oklahoma’s Kevin Stitt

Rhythm, Blues and the Revolutionary Power of Creativity

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