Yes, yes, yes. “Put your oxygen mask on first.” We all have heard this before, from authors touting successful business practices to airline stewards at the beginning of a flight. Traveling with my children when they were toddlers, I remember an internal dialogue I would hold with myself, “I don’t care what you say, confident-airline-steward, but I will tear and claw down that overhead cabinet to get oxygen masks to my children.”
I knew it was silly and certainly that idea grates against my need to be a rule-follower, but there is something worth noting for us here as parents and teachers of very young children. We want that oxygen mask ON children and we want it now.
The thing about COVID-19 though is that it is hard to find that oxygen mask, and it feels like each day the oxygen mask changes.
Last week, I felt like I found the comfort and sustaining connection during our first, group online Cooperatively Speaking meeting. Over 85 people representing cooperative advocates, parents, and staff attended from all parts of the United States and Canada. Each one was ready to share those precious oxygen masks. Even now, several days later, what I heard from the other members on the call is like a lifeline.
PCPI leadership collected feedback and interest topics through the Cooperatively Speaking facebook group, direct emails, and through the registration forms. We could see that interest fell into three overarching categories, Financial, Enrollment, and Operational. These are common themes for any cooperative setting at any time — parents and staff look to nurture and maintain day-to-day operations while planning for growth and how to sustain the model/setting for the next year and years to come.
Closures, along with managing health and safety risks specific to this pandemic, have changed and challenged our core values which center on creating and building a community of parents and children.
What we learned during the virtual meet-up is that not only is there a re-centering of our core values there is a clarion call to action along with success stories of seemingly small efforts which have galvanized cooperative families and staff. From how to maintain student and parent connections using virtual conferencing platforms to how to commemorate year-end transitions for our pre kindergarteners, people are doing all they can to keep their communities intact..
There were a few topics that were echoed throughout the breakout sessions which has inspired the PCPI leadership to schedule future opportunities. Initially these will be available to all interested parties as we look to support cooperative settings during difficult and often overwhelming circumstances. This is where the PCPI organization and network of experts can help.
Looking Forward
Our upcoming topics will focus on areas which bubbled to the surface during the meeting.
Parent Education.
Parent education is a primary mission of both PCPI and our member schools. We can help. A virtual meeting that centers on building successful parent education meetings while collecting and sharing a list of available speakers and trainers for play-based early childhood education will provide a much-needed foundation for home support while sustaining and building membership.
Board Cultivation.
This is a broad topic which includes methods to cultivate and train board members while also establishing methods of communication and, in practical terms, how to maintain transparency in bylaws and school governance. We know that mission-driven practice is hard to implement in the best of circumstances, but with physical distancing it has become unwieldy — how do you plan ahead without knowing what the future holds? The benefit of working alongside practitioners and parent boards from every part of North America means that there is a wealth of knowledge to share with PCPI members.
Best Practice.
It is clear that the conference call held a wealth of personal and professional knowledge. As regulation is a quickly changing landscape in the response to this pandemic, we see that members hold both intention and skill in terms of parent involvement and play-based learning. This knowledge — a practice of parent involvement and early childhood education — must be collected and shared. It sets parent cooperatives above. Our voices should be heard above the fray. We hold in our hands the key that unlocks best practice. That key needs to be shared.
Together we are stronger.
It is clear to me that this is not all that we want to share or offer. Keep the conversation going, send in your news, your struggles, and success stories along with any interests you have for future virtual Cooperatively Speaking meetings to meetingnotes@preschools.coop
Here’s to donning our collective oxygen masks! Often hand sewn and every single one, made with love.
