“PANDEMIC AS PORTAL” IN EARLY EDUCATION: Understanding the Disruptions of COVID-19 as an Invitation to Imagine and Create a New Vision of Preschool

In this chapter, the authors draw on data from early education classrooms in the Southwestern United States during the Spring and Fall of 2020, in a predominantly Latina/o/x community. They consider how the move to remote/virtual schooling shaped children's experiences in preschool, considering not only what possibilities for learning were lost but also what possibilities for mobilization of children's abilities, cultures, and knowledge were opened up by moving school into children's homes. Changes in these classrooms included a dramatic shift in language use, from predominantly English to predominantly Spanish, as communication with parents became essential for children's participation, as well as the development of new approaches for coming to understand more about families.