Researching Early Childhood Issues- a Podcast Review

     One option for this week was to locate another podcast (since the originally assigned podcast does not seem to exist) that would help us to locate information and insights about early childhood education. I am addicted to true crime podcasts but had never really considered a podcast that would support my professional growth. However, I was immediately intrigued to see what I would discover.

So I located The Preschool Podcast on Stitcher 

One of the first episodes that caught my eye is titled Supporting Men in Childcare. This is a topic I have done some research around before. Even with that research in mind I was surprised to hear that only 2.8% of the ECE workforce is comprised of males. On this episode, Soren Gall, Infant/Toddler specialist at the Denver Early Childhood Council, spoke about his work in advocacy for men in the ECE field. He says there is not enough advocacy for men in ECE and believes the focus should be to  keep the men who are already working in the field instead of trying to recruit more men to the field. I found that pretty interesting because I have known for a long time that most men who enter the field end up leaving it or at least leaving the classroom and taking administrative positions.

         This understanding is based on formal research but also on observation. Think about the few males we have seen in our multimedia presentations in our classes. None of them were classroom teachers; they were all in high profile administrative positions. Soren discussed some support avenues for men in the ECE field such as these 2 Facebook pages: Men in Childcare and Men in Early Childhood-Colorado. He also mentioned how women can support men in this female dominated workforce. He said women should not focus on the fact that they are male, rather on their work in the field and education they have pursued. Don't give them the door prize at a training because they are the token male!

           

The second insight/episode I chose to share with you is The Science Behind Sleep and Brain Development in Children. This episode features an interview with "Cindy Davenport, Co-Founder and CEO of Safe Sleep Space, an Australian organization that supports parents and educators with sleep and settling for young children" (Stitcher: The Preschool Podcast, 2014b). Cindy shares her knowledge about children who present sleep challenges and how to support those babies. It turns out that 40% of babies present sleep challenges. However, more interesting to me than the statistics, or brain development information, was the advice Cindy shared for caregivers who are trying to get multiple babies to sleep at the same time.

       First and foremost, parent communication is necessary so that parents can provide information about cues that they use with or notice from their baby during sleep time. Then, observing for the baby's temperament is critical so that we are aware of the baby's specific needs for settling. The sounds of patting and shushing are sounds that infants hear in-utero (from the gastro-intestinal system, placenta, and mother's heartbeat) and can be quite comforting when trying to help babies fall asleep. However, when a teacher/caregiver is alone in a room with several infants or toddlers and cannot pat each of them Cindy suggests putting yourself in a central location and patting your own leg so that the sound of the patting that the baby is used to is still present. She recommends including the shushing sounds, too. You can find more information about safe sleep, helping babies settle, and the unique ways we can support toddlers in their sleep and settling at safesleepspace.com.au and/or safesleepspace.education.

The third and final episode I will discuss here, Leading for Children by Empowering Teachers, introduces the listener to Judy Jablon. I have a personal relationship with Judy through my work with her as a facilitator of several of my professional development sessions I have attended as a Quality First Coach. I was excited to see her name appear as one of the interviewees of the podcast and knew her work and words would be important to share. Also, my work with teachers and directors often focuses on helping them to build leadership capacity within the ECE field. "As Judy says; empowerment comes with decision making and good decisions come with a clear understanding of the 'why'" (Stitcher: The Preschool Podcast, 2014a).
       Judy, along with being an amazing professional development facilitator and coaches' coach, is also the Executive Director of Leading for Children. Judy touches upon empowerment as a parallel process. If we want to empower children to think critically and be inventive decision makers then we must first empower those who teach and care for children. This happens when we can help teachers think about the why behind their work. Judy specifies that it is not in order to score better on an ERS or CLASS assessment but to provide opportunities for children that help them to learn a skill, pass a milestone, or develop in some way. Thinking about the why behind our work is often forgotten but I try to stress this with the providers I work with because it is incredibly important. Check out more about empowering early childhood educators at the Leading for Children website.

If you want a quick glimpse into the power of considering the why- check out Simon Sinek's TEDtalk Start With Why- the below is a short version of the complete TEDtalk. Although, not about education, the principles are the same: why=passion, motivation, power.

I was extremely excited to find this podcast and have already added it to my list of favorites!

                                    References                                                 

Stitcher: The Preschool Podcast. (2014a). Leading for children by empowering teachers. Retrieved from http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/himama/the-preschool-podcast/e/leading-for-children-by-empowering-teachers-49877212

Stitcher: The Preschool Podcast. (2014b). The science behind sleep and brain development in children. Retrieved from http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-preschool-podcast/e/50388640?autoplay=true