An infant-toddler field experience in resistance to settler colonialism in teacher preparation: perspectives and practices of teachers and teacher candidates

The separation of young children from their families for most of their awake hours, and the specific segregation of children by discrete chronological age through classrooms and grade levels, is a relatively new phenomenon in the history of human society. Such settler colonial constructs continue to influence early learning design, policy and practice. We suggest that to prepare early childhood educators committed to bringing about just and sustainable futures, early childhood teacher preparation programs must begin to make visible and interrupt the notion of age segregation, support understandings of very young children as complete individuals and foster teacher preparation grounded in holistic, familial, and relational development. In considering how early childhood teacher preparation programs can prepare educators to serve children and families across their lifespan, we share perspectives of teacher candidates and recent graduates regarding how an infant/toddler practicum experience impacted and held relevance to their PK-3 teaching practice