How do we simultaneously create a culture for effective goodbyes while orienting towards greetings? The late summer and early fall are a transitional time in early learning (and post-secondary education), and it can come with dysregulation for children, families, educators, students, and leaders. This time of year requires intention to design how we part ways and how we plan to create a welcoming environment to new community members. I find it's a time of reflection and uncertainty as we are coming to know each other. So this episode just captures some of the thoughts, feelings, and ideas related to embracing this time of year.

Credits:

Music by Piotr Witowski from Pixabay

Music by Petrushkasound from Pixabay

Music by Tunetank from Pixabay

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Season 4, Episode 3 was recorded in August 2025, but published nearly a year later. Guiding administrative processes in an undervalued sector is vulnerable and harrowing work to begin with, but becomes particularly potent at the intersection of operations and pedagogy. This is an intersection I visit regularly and one I have little to offer, other than observations which are documented here. This reflection was recorded while on a dog walk where I am initially pondering what greetings and goodbyes teach us about belonging, and how that question invites us to rethink administrative processes. Through continued reflection on topics like child protection and policy writing, this episode invites listeners to wonder about how learning communities can uphold practices that go beyond compliance, by creating a culture of accountability and care.

Intro/ Outro Music by Andrii Poradovskyi from Pixabay

Background Music by Piotr Witowski from Pixabay

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In Season 4, Episode 2. this episode is called Pedagogy, Lately... and it is a car recording after a conference. I reflect on topics such as how bias shows up in our work, the role of pedagogical documentation, my thoughts on teacher research and curriculum planning, the role of tools like protocols and parallel practice. Join me on the quest within the questions!

Intro/ Outro Music by Andrii Poradovskyi from Pixabay

Background Music by Piotr Witowski from Pixabay

Background Music by Mircea Iancu from Pixabay

Background Music by Dmitry Taras from Pixabay

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Welcome and/or welcome back! Check out this short episode for an introduction to Season 4 and the thinking behind the name change.

Intro/ Outro Music by Andrii Poradovskyi from Pixabay

Background Music by DELOSound from Pixabay

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How would you describe pedagogical leadership? What does the daily experience of pedagogical leadership look like and feel like? While our guiding documents and emerging literature attempts to define this role, there is so much value in exploring how pedagogical leaders describe and document their work. This episode aims to capture some raw thoughts and descriptions of pedagogical leadership - in order to better understand it as a practice. It’s been a year since the last episode in Season 3, so what better way to kick off this season than by delving into pedagogical documentation of this leadership role? Here, I offer and explore metaphors that bring visibility to the foggy contours of an evolving role and the lived experience behind the title 'pedagogical leader.' Some of the metaphors relate to active listening, noticing, professional judgement, confidentiality, and infusing space. Tune in to hear about the highs and lows, slow growth, planes, ships, gathering, and more!

Background sound attribution:

Marble run - piano intro by tenonic -- https://freesound.org/s/725580/ -- License: Attribution 4.0 

Everybody Has a Story (pensive cello & choir) by SondreDrakensson -- https://freesound.org/s/749371/ -- License: Attribution 4.0 

Woodstock Chimes of Mars on Firebeacon Hill, near Boscastle by Philip_Goddard -- https://freesound.org/s/698495/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 

Natural Ocean Waves, Water Droplets & Bubbly Sounds by DudeAwesome -- https://freesound.org/s/386454/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

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This episode was recorded on a walk home, where I ponder how we could shift our understanding of pedagogy towards a study of subtle systems and relations? What would that conceptualization invite of us? Join me as I ponder this question in this first episode of season 3.

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Why do we document? How do we document? What do we document? When do we document? When does documentation become pedagogical? What activates pedagogical documentation?  What about pedagogy inherently documents? What routines and rituals facilitate and sustain my reflective, responsive, relational documentation practice?  What are the precursors to creating stories about our practice that can reveal and illuminate our communal thinking, children's insights, and the big picture questions we are pursuing in our community? These are just some of the questions I'll be pursuing in season 3 as I explore the use of podcasting in my pedagogical documentation practice and reflective practice journey. Join me to hear my own reflections in action, how I decide to respond to various encounters, how I reflect and capture my decision making, how I critique my own best intentions, and how I become changed by studying my own documentation over time.

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I've spiralled my way back to this question with a desire to unpack why I feel some tension around the terminology of "emergent" curriculum. Is curriculum the active agent? Does it reveal itself? If so, what role do educators play in taking up the passively emerging information? How do we use our interpretations of our experiences with children to respond and expand upon their learning? And what the heck do ukuleles have to do with this conversation?? Join me in wondering about an educator's role in offering responsive, informed, and intentional curricula.

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In response to questions about celebrating Halloween, I noticed an opportunity to explore why and how we celebrate in early learning communities. From thinking about relationships with families, to upholding integral rituals, to fostering cultural competency, to honouring what a seasons invites, and creating a community protocol for making decisions, this episode documents my journey of reading literature, taking questions to our staff meeting, and capturing our thinking.  By wandering through the joys and tensions of celebrations that pedagogy invites, this offers a series of thoughts and decisions that are merely one example of pursuing questions about celebrations within in our community.

Disclaimer: this is one version of the story that took place. As a pedagogical leader, I am in the privileged position of having paid time to reflect deeply on events that take place across our centre, and this episode is offered  from my own singular perspective on the topic. Anyone else might tell the same story very differently.

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I'm embedded within the September welcoming routines and rituals, and it's caused me to reflect on building relationships through the lens of parallel practice. As a pedagogical leader and course instructor, I wonder about the experiences  afforded to educators and students that foster or erode connection, and how these experiences mirror that which we hope children and families experience. Play along with me here if you're curious about designing experiences that support congruency between auspice, operators/administrators, educators, children, and families.

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