ECC: Building Trust and Connection

As innately relational beings, we are born with a natural inclination to form connections with one another and the world around us. From the moment we are born, we begin to build relationships with our caretakers, developing trust that they will respond to us, soothe us, and meet our needs.

Strong, trusting relationships with caregivers are critical to children’s ability to explore their environment and form new connections. They are essential to creating nurturing learning environments where children feel loved, safe, and empowered to explore, take risks, and connect. At the start of each school year, our focus as educators is on fostering these kinds of relationships with each child and family.

Before each new school year begins, our educators engage in a week of learning and reflection as we prepare to welcome children and families back to the classroom. During our annual Professional Development week, we explore our roles as educators through the lens of B’rit (Covenant), which calls upon us to reflect on our relationships and commitments to the children, families as well as each other. Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative facilitators remind us that,

“When we intentionally raise the level of our interactions with others, our shared vision is more clearly articulated and communicated, and our community becomes more than just a random gathering of souls. We become bound to each other over time, mundane obligations are elevated to the level of sacred responsibility, and trusting, secure partnerships are nourished.”

As a community of educators, we created our own covenantal agreement with the intention of fostering an environment where each child, family, and educator feels a sense of belonging, and each member of our learning community receives the support needed to thrive. Just as we are guided in Judaism by our covenant with God, our covenant as ECC educators included a list of promises that each of us agreed to uphold as we engage in this sacred work of guiding, nurturing and educating the youngest members of our community. This signed covenant serves as a symbolic reminder of the reciprocal commitments we made to communicate with honesty, respect and compassion, uphold our responsibilities and engage in this work with humor, flexibility and gratitude.

The relationships we nurture and model for children play a crucial role in shaping their relationships with others, their environment, and themselves. What children witness and experience in their early years greatly influences how they interact with others, understand the world, and feel about themselves.

Each new year we reflect on our relationships with one another, our world, and ourselves. We make amends for our wrongdoings and commit to growth in the coming year. For young children just learning how to interact with the world, each day provides opportunities to engage in this cycle of action, reflection, and growth. Through play and guidance from their caregivers, children discover what it means to be in reciprocal relationships, and our intention — and commitment — as educators is to create an environment that reflects the type of covenantal relationships that we hope children nurture throughout their lives.

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