Christine Pegorraro Schull, Sandra Peña, Sandra Casco, Sicili McCoy, June Bishop Gibbs, and Leslie La Croix

Early childhood educators do not grow in isolation. Rather, it is through community with others that they nurture their professional practice. This is particularly true as they develop strategies to advance equity and become anti-bias educators.

One way to develop community is through collaborative learning. This can occur in formal or informal settings. It’ s important because it allows early childhood educators to keep current with the field’ s ever-changing knowledge base.

Sandra Peña, Sandra Casco, Sicili McCoy, and June Bishop Gibbs( authors two through five) have all worked in the Arlington, Virginia, Public Schools’ extended day program. With scholarship support from the Virginia Department of Education and the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, they joined a 26-member cohort to earn their associate degrees in early childhood development from Northern Virginia Community College. The cohort represented many cultures, languages, and lived experiences, which mirrored

42 Educating Young Children

Fall 2026