Have you started reading Illuminating Care by Carol Garboden Murray yet? I am about 20 pages in and I am in awe.
Care is the core of early childhood; however, in an effort to elevate our profession and prove our worth as "real teachers", we shifted the focus of our roles from child care to "real education". As a result, "school readiness" hijacked our field leaving us with top-down agendas deemed not best practice. We lost our identity in a way and care was sacrificed in the midst.
This book, to me, is an opportunity for us to recenter and embrace the importance of care in our work and recognize it cannot be separated from education - they are one in the same. Thank you @illuminatingcare for giving us the opportunity to reflect and center back on what is essential for child and human development.
If you haven't purchased yet, Illuminating Care is available through Exchange Press.