Books

Changing the Game for Generation Alpha:
Teaching and Raising Young Children in the 21st Century
Valora Washington
Redleaf Press

Become a game changer.

“Generation Alpha” applies to children born between 2011 and 2025. Raised in smaller and constantly evolving families, they are more tech-savvy, globally connected, and diverse than previous generations, and they will live and interact with more generations than their elders. Because of these differences, the next generation, the economy, and the nation are transforming in ways that adults have never before experienced.

In Changing the Game for Generation Alpha Valora Washington identifies six inevitable mega-trends that are transforming our world and invites you to consider how to advocate for and influence the trajectories of this next generation. Dr. Washington aims to support and inform the two principal groups of adults in children’s lives—early childhood educators and families.

Guiding Principles for the New Early Childhood Professional
Valora Washington & Brenda Gadson
foreword by Marcy Whitebook
Teachers College Press

With growing evidence about the critical period of birth to age 5 for child development and learning, the imperative to professionalize the early childhood education workforce has never been greater. In this follow-up to The New Early Childhood Professional: A Step-by-Step Guide to Overcoming Goliath, the authors share lessons learned from their work with thousands of practitioners. They focus on four Guiding Principles for leading change: the need to Respect diverse opinions, to seek Equity, and to acknowledge the field’s Strengths while doing the hard work to enhance Competence.

With a strategic emphasis on building professional communities, strengthening professional capital, and working together to craft solutions, Guiding Principles for the New Early Childhood Professional presents a clearer vision of a unified future in early childhood care and education.

The New Early Childhood Professional: A Step-by-Step Guide to Overcoming Goliath
Valora Washington, Brenda Gadson, Kathryn L. Amel
foreword by Roger and Bonnie Neugebauer
Teachers College Press

For today’s early childhood educator, change is a non-negotiable reality. While the size, force, and direction of change can often seem overwhelming, this book shows the way toward overcoming these gigantic odds or “Goliaths.” The New Early Childhood Professional presents some of the heroic experiences and strategic approaches used by early educators (participants in CAYL’s Institute Fellowship programs) to deal with change. The authors share a specific framework with concrete steps to help educators become positive changemakers in the field of early care and education.