Our Workplaces as Neighborhoods

For decades, Exchange Press co-founder Bonnie Neugebauer closed out each issue of the magazine with her column "A Manner of Speaking." In May 1991, she shared some reflections that still resonate today on Love & Profit: The Art of Caring Leadership, by James A. Autry:

He made one particular point that has followed me all day: Autry suggests that the workplace is becoming the new neighborhood — that in the frenzy of contemporary living it is the people we work with, rather than the people we live near, who provide the emotional support that sustains us. This is certainly true at Exchange Press… In a very real sense we are for each other a major source of support and strength. In the sharing of celebrations and frustrations, in each of us performing the work we do best, committed to a common goal, we are very important in each other’s lives.

In child care, we are already in the business of caring, so it is not a radical extension to see the society of the center — children, families, staff — as a neighborhood, a group of people bonded together by common ground (emotions, time, space, and shared experience and concerns, rather than the physical ground of the traditional neighborhood). Perhaps the greatest boon of the neighborhood has always been the constant flow in and out, the brief encounters, the hasty sharing of trivial as well as weighty information. These comings and goings are very visible in early childhood programs; they create the structure for each day. As we work to facilitate the relationships between parents, the friendships between children, we must also think of ourselves. We must allow ourselves to enjoy our relationships with all the characters in our new neighborhood; we must give ourselves license to let boundaries get muddled now and then. Yes, it makes the partings more painful; but it makes the daily living so much richer, even possible.

For more information about Exchange's magazine, books, and other products pertaining to ECE, go to www.ccie.com.

© 2005 Child Care Information Exchange - All Rights Reserved | Contact Us | Return to Site