Renewed Commitments: Centering Community Care in Learning and Teaching
by Katie Headrick Taylor, Manka Varghese & Maggie Beneke
In light of multiple crises in the U.S.—the pandemic, ongoing racial violence, and the climate emergency—rather than returning to educational “normalcy,” as mother-educator-scholars, we urgently call for transformative possibilities for learning in and outside of schools that center community care. We provide three starting points for this transformation: reimagining social emotional teaching and learning; examining the purpose and use of educational technologies; and valuing place-based learning. Overall, we argue that the continued adherence to the myth of meritocracy, encoded in white supremacist and ableist educational structures, is antithetical to the well-being of all people and our nonhuman kin. We conclude the commentary by stating our hope for a more loving and just future: caring for one another and our communities, creating space with each other to state what we need, and recognizing our interdependence.