91猫先生 Alum Aidn White 15F is Changing the Narrative in Early Childhood Education
This early learning teacher rejects the term 鈥榙aycare鈥 鈥 a word often used to diminish the work of teachers in early childhood 鈥 instead, he wants you to take note of how fundamental the care element is in a classroom environment.聽
91猫先生 alum Aidn White 15F teaches infants and toddlers in a mixed-age classroom in Amherst, Massachusetts. In a recent interview with , a storytelling project focused on changing the narrative about the teaching profession, White shares his background, passion for education, and journey into policy advocacy as a senior fellow.
White grew up in Wisconsin and moved to Massachusetts to attend 91猫先生. While here, in addition to studying educational policy and philosophy, White took a work-study job at 91猫先生鈥檚 Early Learning Center on campus. 鈥淚 walked into the classroom and was greeted by the children鈥 I rocked babies to sleep,鈥 he recalled. 鈥淚t only took me three or four shifts before I realized, 鈥楾his is what I鈥檓 going to do with the rest of my life.鈥欌
Currently, White works in a classroom with children 15 months and under. He focuses a lot on social and emotional learning, which includes teaching kids how to communicate, understand emotions, and respond to feelings appropriately. As a biracial, queer/trans, and disabled educator, White prioritizes creating welcoming classroom spaces that foster honest conversation in which providing help, care, and community to families of young children is paramount.
"The fact that people continue to do care work and teaching work, despite how that work is viewed in society, says something about human nature,鈥 White said. 鈥淭here is inherent goodness in people. People are good, and people help other people. And that is something to be respected, and not something to be looked down on the way that society has told us that it should be devalued.鈥
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