In contrast to a common set of roles or definitions, it is a common sense of mission that unifies practitioners in the field of early childhood education. Successful missions in time become transformed into organizational sagas that capture the allegiance and commitment of a group. Early childhood educators can increase their commitment to the field and its mission by immersing themselves in its saga, thereby strengthening their identity with members. The saga of early childhood education includes such still-relevant issues as (1) when children should start formal schooling; (2) the extent to which kindergarten experiences should include academic or preacademic content; (3) the extent to which early childhood education functions as an agent of social change; (4) what the role of women in contemporary American society should be; and (5) changing conceptions of knowledge and content in early childhood education. Professionalism in early childhood educators also is rooted in this sense of mission and in the saga of early childhood education. (RH)