out of touch with child development theory. Given the depth of Bowman’ s knowledge and seven‐decades‐long experience in the field, I was curious to learn more about what led her to this conclusion. Over the course of 2022, she and I engaged in a series of informal conversations, during which time I also revisited her published work and public commentary. My end goal in writing this article was to create a more comprehensive framework for understanding Bowman’ s viewpoint on the relationship between child development and classroom practice than could be gleaned from the short interview or dialogue format.
All text taken directly from my notes on our verbal or written exchanges is cited as personal communication( i. e., personal communication, 2022). Bowman reviewed the text in its entirety.
Principles of development are the same for all children, even though their behavior may be quite different.— Barbara T. Bowman
Barbara T. Bowman’ s contributions to early childhood education over the course of seven decades have been felt at every level, including teacher education, professional development, public policy, and research. A long‐term concern for her was the need to prepare teachers whose practice is critically and positively informed by children’ s experiences at home and in the community. Bowman long argued, however, that“[ t ] eacher education gives lip service to the importance of family / community contexts in high‐quality care and education and then ignores it in the field”( personal communication, 2022).
A manifestation of the problem is what she referred to as“ half‐truths” about child development that dominate praxis with negative results.“ All half‐truths,” Bowman contended,“ have a germ of truth that causes them to get repeated and accepted.” But they also become fertile ground for teacher biases when family and community habits deviate from teachers’ assumptions about healthy families or acceptable behavior( personal communication, 2022). For example, although it is widely believed all children thrive best in a loving and caring environment, it is not true all families and cultures express love and care in the same way, even when it comes to such basics as feeding and sleeping. The significance of differences between family / community contexts and teachers’ expectations becomes especially acute when applied to Black and Brown children and children from families with low incomes.
Bowman said the only“ whole” truth about development all early childhood teachers must abide by is that every child can develop and learn.“ Principles of development are the same for all children,” she said,“ even though their behavior may be quite different. The latter naturally calls for particular and / or localized responses”( emphasis hers). Teachers should not assume, however, that children and families cannot respond to larger social systems and their meanings( like school) if provided applicable support in a timely fashion.“ Children, families, and communities can adapt to changing conditions,” as exemplified by their success in becoming both bilingual and bicultural, often as a result of schooling, she said( personal communication, 2022).
This article draws on personal communication with Bowman, as well as her published work and public commentary, to explore four common practices in early childhood education that Bowman contends teachers approach through the damaging lens of half‐truths: Relation‐based teaching, school readiness, the role of play, and beginning reading instruction.( The last two common practices can be found in the originally published, online version of this article at NAEYC. org / resources / pubs / yc / fall2023 / family-community-contexts.)
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