We're Not Robots

Enid Elliot

Description

This fascinating book presents the stories of infant/toddler caregivers and their work to illustrate the complexity of balancing relationships with babies, families, coworkers, and self, yet remaining emotionally present and mindfully engaged. Enid Elliot explores the inevitable tensions of working within these various relationships and demonstrates how proficient caregivers can develop strategies for achieving this delicate balance. In the process, she raises provocative questions about how we care for babies, and how to provide education and support for their caregivers.

Acknowledgment

Foreword by Janet Gonzalez-Mena

1. Relationship with a Baby

2. The Pull to Attach

3. Caring for Attachment

4. The Public Story of Caregiving

5. Practitioner to Researcher: Telling Stories

6. Responsive Caregiving

7. Hearing from the Caregivers

8. Places of Difficulty

9. Supportive Contexts

10. Conclusion

Notes
Works Cited
Index

Sujets

• Education

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791480830
• Langue: English

Extrait

We re Not Robots ’ The Voices of Daycare Providers

Enid Elliot Foreword by Janet GonzalezMena

We’re Not Robots

SUNY series, Early Childhood Education: Inquiries and Insights

Mary A. Jensen, editor

We’re Not Robots

The Voices of Daycare Providers

Enid Elliot

_________ _________ ❖

Foreword by Janet GonzalezMena

State University of New York Press

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2007 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press, 194 Washington Avenue, Suite 305, Albany, NY 12210–2384

Production by Diane Ganeles Marketing by Anne M. Valentine

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Elliot, Enid, 1947– We’re not robots: the voices of daycare providers / Enid Elliot, foreword by Janet GonzalezMena. p. cm. — (SUNY series, early childhood education) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN13: 978–0–7914–6941–5 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN10: 0–7914–6941–7 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN13: 978–0–7914–6942–2 (pbk : alk. paper) ISBN10: 0–7914–6942–5 (pbk : alk. paper) 1. Child care workers—Psychology. 2. Infants—Care—Psychological aspects. 3. Toddlers—Care—Psychological aspects. I. Title. II. Series.

HQ778.5.E54 2007 362.712—dc22

2005037860

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Acknowledgments

Contents

Foreword by Janet GonzalezMena

Chapter One: Relationship with a Baby

Chapter Two: The Pull to Attach

Chapter Three: Caring for Attachment

Chapter Four: The Public Story of Caregiving

Chapter Five: Practitioner to Reseacher: Telling Stories

Chapter Six: Responsive Caregiving

Chapter Seven: Hearing from the Caregivers

Chapter Eight: Places of Difficulty

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Chapter Nine: Supportive Contexts

Chapter Ten: Conclusion

Notes

Works Cited

Index

Contents

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191

Acknowledgments

hough a solitary journey, the road to this book has not been T travelled alone. I have had good companions for whom I am grateful. Margie Mayfield helped me get started; Alison Preece and Antoinette Oberg provided insights, warm support, and helped me come to an end. Jinny Hayes, Frances Ricks, Martha Haylor provided support along the way, as did Carol Anne Wien. Friends kept me going with encouragement, help, and feed back. I particularly want to thank Heather Kay and Janet GonzalezMena, who read innumerable bits and pieces of this book and never lost enthusiasm. I want to acknowledge the care givers with whom I have worked and learned. I continue to learn from them, each one is an inspiration: Jackie Hurst, Jan Carrie, Deborah Maunder, Marta Pascolin, Wendy Ready, Serina Labh Rizzo, Ruth Gale, Mariah Evans, Nancy Sturdiman, ShirleyLee Doucette, Michelle Chequer, DonnaLynn Thorpe. My doctoral group of fellow scholars, Sally Kimpson, Wendy Donawa, Pat Rasmussen, Heather Hermanson, and Joan Boyce, gave me courage. My thanks also go to Betty Jones, Joe Tobin, Alicia Lieberman, to the Sisters of Saint Anne (Beverly Mitchell and Jessica Bell), Muriel and Janna Ginsberg, Renie Grosser, Chrystal Kleiman, the Harveys, Jesse Dillard. I thank my family, for they have been my spirit guides. My mother, Nancy Haskins Elliot, is always nearby, as is my brother, John Elliot. They know I am grateful. My father, David Elliot, encourages by his example, his editing, and his love. My sister and pal, Nan Elliot, has kept me going on many levels. My children, Jessica, David, Mari, and Isaac helped me keep my perspective.

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Acknowledgments

My dear sisterfriend, Kristin Watson, has given me many wise words. “The relationship has become a partnership” and without my partner, Rick Kool, who manifested endless love, patience, and technical knowhow in this whole process I doubt I would have finished.

Foreword

don’t know how you do it” is a remark often made by parents “ I and others to infanttoddler caregivers. Enid Elliot sought to find the answer to that question, and this book is the result. In a word, the answer is “caring.” As Nel Noddings and Carol Gilligan brought caring into the fields of morals, education, and character development, so Enid Elliot is bringing the subject into early childhood education and care. I predictWe’re Not Robotswill make an impact on the field of infanttoddler care and beyond. By making a strong case for caring relationships and showing how they work from the perspective of the caregivers, Elliot brings up the many complexities, tensions, and rewards, as well as some deep questions for North American society. The book not only questions, but provides answers as well, but by the end Elliot goes all the way to challenging us to think way beyond the universal child and child development. One can’t help but appreciate the wide variety of caregiving experience that Elliot brings to this book, having been a caregiver herself in Turkey, New York, Berkeley, California, as well as in Vancouver and Victoria in British Columbia. How many researchers have actually been in the shoes of their subjects? Enid has done what she’s writing about and has felt the tensions she’s studied. She is truly an expert, from all angles. Further, she used the skills she learned as a caregiver to study other caregivers, skills such as listening carefully, observing closely, and reflecting deeply. Throughout the book she shows how during her interviews she is able to move from judging to wondering—an important skill for infanttoddler caregivers as well as researchers.

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