Bright Ideas
Natural Start Forum: Reflective Practice
At Natural Start, we’ve been exploring ideas and practices that can provide support to early childhood educators during one of the most challenging times ever for the profession. Reflective practice is an approach that has been gaining traction in education, and has long been used in mental health professions.
Natural Start leadership team member Diona Reese Williams is an administrator of a nature-based preschool and a former mental health clinician who has successfully used reflective practice to work through difficult and emotional professional challenges. In this forum, she discussed:
What is reflective practice?
Why is it important for early childhood educators?
How can it help ease some of the stress of teaching in today’s world AND make you a better educator?
In addition to addressing these questions, Diona provided examples of reflective practice in action, and shared tips for using reflective practice as a supervisor or peer. The forum took place on Thursday, April 21. View a recording and additional resources below.
Additional Resources:
- Carving out Time for Wonder: Reflective Practices in Early Childhood Pedagogy by Ron Grady M.S.Ed.
- A Thinking Lens for Reflection and Inquiry (adapted from Learning Together with Young Children)
While not directly connected to Reflective Practice, we also encourage you to check out this NAAEE webinar, "Climate Emotions in Education." The panelists shared quite a few resources that address dealing with big emotions, how stress and anxiety impact the classroom, and shared tips for attending to your needs as an educator. Here is a slide from Leslie Davenport (psychotherapist and leading expert in eco-anxiety) that felt particularly relevant here:
Meet the Presenter
In September of 2019, Diona became a Business Owner & Educator of Out Back Learning, LLC an outdoor (home-based provider) part-time nature preschool. She was inspired to open Out Back Learning LLC by her desire to grow her knowledge in the profession of Early Childhood Education and discover new and innovative ways to work with young children. After attending the Summer Institute for Nature and Place-Based Learning at Prescott College, she was so inspired that she implemented the ideas and knowledge with her students the following school year. She decided to leave public education to pursue higher education and to start Out Back Learning, LLC, her nature-based preschool program. Diona has worked with children from birth to age 8 for the last 20 years in many different capacities–as an Infant/Toddler Mental Health Clinician II (behavioral health), Arizona Early Intervention Program, and CHILD Find Team/Public Educator as an Early Childhood Special Education Teacher. Diona is also a full-time Early Childhood Education Professor at Tohono O'odham Community College.
