There’s something we don’t say often enough in early childhood education: "The quality of a child’s learning environment is only ever as strong as the people in it." And right now, the people—our teachers—are carrying too much, with too little. I speak to kaiako every week who are passionate, intelligent, and deeply committed to tamariki. But behind their dedication is exhaustion. There’s pressure to meet documentation demands. To meet standards. To support children’s beha