Of what will we be ashamed if it’s still a problem in 2020?

What are you prepared to do?

Full disclosure: This book had been sitting on my shelf for too long. I finally read it in 2010 instead of when I got it, which was in 1999 (oops). I plowed through it this past June because I had just purchased Children of 2020 after attending one of Ms. Washington’s talks at the NAEYC PDI (Professional Development Institute) event in Phoenix and I felt I should have some frame of reference before reading her new publication. I loved that she ended her talk by telling the audience that we (as teachers) need to get to work because she didn’t want to have to write Children of 2030. Love it! She’s feisty and direct and an obvious advocate for children.

So what’s the book about?

Direct from her introduction: the book addresses some of the issues involved in making democracy work for the next generation of children, who they (in the book) call the Children of 2010.

Creating a Better Tomorrow

Creating a Better Tomorrow

By Lisa Murphy

Commentary on the book: Children of 2020: Creating a better tomorrow, edited by Valora Washington and J.D. Andrews, © 2010, a collaborative publication between NAEYC and the Council for Professional Recognition.

At the NAEYC Professional Development Institute that took place in Phoenix in June 2010, I attended a panel presentation style workshop. The presentation was facilitated by Valora Washington, and the speakers on the panel were Barbara Bowman, Luis Hernandez and Sue Bredekamp; three well known names in the early childhood community.

Both the book and the panel followed a theatre style presentation:

Act I: Vision: Imagining the world for the children of 2020, Hernandez spoke on this.

Act II: Knowledge: Information to guide future practice, Bredekamp spoke here.

Act III: Strategies: Facilitating outcomes for the children of 2020, Bowman presented here.

Act IV: Denouement: Taking personal responsibility for the children of 2020.