This year, something's shifting in how educators think about the start of school - some are waiting to build the space together with the children who arrive. In this episode, we explore what that small choice reveals about a much bigger question: what do we actually believe about children, learning, and our own role as educators? A quiet invitation to revisit your values - not to change them, but to ask how they show up now - so that you, and the children in your care, can thrive.

Values to Action:  A Guidebook for Early Childhood Educators

References

From Teaching to Thinking - Ann Pelo, Margie Carter

Revisiting Journeys - Miriam Beloglovsky, Jessica Frazier

Finding Our Way - Ann Van Dam, Fiona Zinn

ASPIRE - Sue Roffey

Ecological Systems Theory - Uri Bronfenbrenner

Community in an early learning centre isn't something that happens by accident - it's built intentionally, through partnership, dialogue, and a willingness to ask hard questions about what we value and how we structure our time. Jessie Frazier joins the conversation to explore what it really means to create community with children, families, and educators - from integrating families into planning, to designing spaces that feel alive, to the self-work that has to come first.

What if the divide between infant and toddler, preschool, and school-age educators isn't really about age groups at all - but about status, hierarchy and whose work gets recognized as teaching? In this panel conversation, Paige Wernick, Ron Grady, and Dr. Misty Paterson explore the depth of knowledge educators carry, how it’s often not seen, the structural barriers that keep us from building bridges across rooms and programs, and what becomes possible when we stop treating collaboration as a ‘nice to have’ but as an essential part of an educator’s work. It's a conversation about power, perception, and what it might take for every educator, and every child, to truly thrive.

To learn more about Paige, Ron and Misty:

Paige Wernick

Ron Grady + website

Dr. Misty Paterson + website

What looks like defiance is often a nervous system trying to stay safe. Adam McCormick, Professor of Social Work at St. Edward's University, explores trauma as an internal wound, the nervous system's constant search for safety, and why children can act out in the very relationships where they feel safest. We talk about what boys are taught to disconnect from, the practice of going shoulder to shoulder instead of face to face, and why connection - not correction - is what helps a child regulate. A grounded and honest conversation about co-regulation, repair, and the conditions that help both children and educators thrive.

To learn more about or connect with Adam:

LinkedIn

St. Edwards University

What does meaningful learning actually look like - and why doesn't it move in a straight line? In this episode, I trace a week of colour exploration in Art Lab through Guy Claxton & Emily Poel's Bodies of Learning and Suzanne Axelsson's Original Learning Approach - and consider what it asks of myself and of educators, to stay present and trust the process.

Resources:The Original Learning Approach ~ Suzanne Axelsson

Bodies of Learning ~ Guy Claxton & Emily Poel

When children's developmental needs go unmet, the effects ripple far beyond the learning environment. Megan Graham - play advocate and Child and Youth Care student - explores the brain science behind trauma-informed practice, the role of play in building a sense of self, and why educators' observational skills may be their greatest tool. A rich and honest conversation about reimagining systems, reducing burnout, and advocating for the conditions that allow every child - and every educator - to truly thrive.

To learn more about Megan’s work:

Website:  Around the Birch Tree

IG:  @aroundthebirchtree

Children have a right to autonomy - and so do educators. And like children, we don't practice that autonomy in isolation; we work in teams, organizations, inside larger systems. In this episode, Collective Autonomy: What It Looks Like When We Work Together, drawing on Suzanne Axelsson's concept of collective autonomy, Brené Brown's BRAVING framework, and insights from Margaret Wheatley and Ross Gay, we explore what it takes for educators to build trust, generosity, and true belonging with one another - even through disagreement.

References

The Original Learning Approach ~ Suzanne Axelsson

BRAVING ~ Brené Brown

Kerry Drake

Inciting Joy ~ Ross Gay

A quiet, small moment at snack time - a child looking sideways instead of inward to answer a simple question - became the doorway into something much larger: what happens when children learn to scan for permission and approval instead of trusting their own noticing. This episode explores autonomy, agency, and the difference between compliance and true self-regulation, and asks what it might take to help children's own compass feel safe to trust again.

References:

The Original Learning Approach by Suzanne Axelsson

Revisiting Journeys by Miriam Beloglovsky & Jessica Frazier

From Teaching to Thinking by Ann Pelo & Margie Carter

The Intentional Educator

What if the educator's most important role is not to direct learning, but to wonder alongside children? Miriam Beloglovsky explores the power of revisiting journeys - how children enter inquiry, what sustains their thinking, and what happens when educators trust children's capacity to learn and let go of the need to control. A conversation about vulnerability, responsiveness, and what it truly means to share the story of learning with children.

To connect or learn more about Miriam:

https://miriambeloglovsky.com/

Instagram

The Chronicles of Children’s Thinking

When we approach our practice with curiosity and inquiry, children have a way of taking us somewhere we didn't expect to go. Jessica Boritz, artist, educator, and researcher, shares how her teacher-researcher lens has shaped her thinking about beauty, imagination, and community -  and what a student-led art project called Creativity City revealed about what children are truly capable of when we create the conditions to let them lead.

Learn more about/connect with Jessica:

IG:  https://www.instagram.com/jessicaboritz/

LinkedIn:  www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-boritz-atelierista

IG:  https://www.instagram.com/gracegryphon_atelier/

Resources:

Democracy and Beauty by Robert Gooding-Williams

It’s Not a Bird Yet by Ursula Kolbe

Roberta Pucci Lab