Event
How We Play: Co-Creating Outdoor Spaces for Black Children and What They Want

3 children running in a row outside

Date

Event Type

Webinar

Topic

  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
  • Program Design and Management

Tags

  • Children's Health and Wellness

This webinar draws from the extensive research of Dr. Deja Jones, Founder of Honeypot Montessori, and the hands-on expertise of Ashley Causey-Golden, co-founder of Gather Forest School. This webinar will focus on the collaborative creation of outdoor play areas tailored for Black children between the ages of 3 and 6 and explore the practical implementation of research in this domain.

Presenters gave a comprehensive overview of co-creating outdoor spaces with Black children, emphasizing empowerment and understanding power dynamics within these environments. The presentation will also highlight the significance of broadening our conceptualization of nature. We enjoyed a thought-provoking journey exploring the development of inclusive and imaginative outdoor settings.

Below we've shared a recording of the one-hour webinar as well as resources that support culturally responsive and anti-bias education applied in outdoor learning settings.

Deja Jones, Ph.D., Honeypot Montessori

Learn More about Honeypot

Ashley Causey-Golden, Gather Forest School

Anti-Bias and Anti-Racist Education Resources

Curricular Resources

Children’s Books

Speakers

  • Dr. Deja Jones

    Dr. Deja Jones

    Deja L. Jones, Ph.D. founded Honeypot Montessori, a nature-based Montessori school in the Greater Newark area. She recently completed her doctoral degree and works as an Early Childhood Education Sociologist. Deja has worked in education and youth development within the city of Newark, New Jersey, for a decade in the areas of case management, program coordination, program facilitation, curriculum design, and classroom teaching. She is a member of the NYC Early Childhood Research Network where she is conducting research with Bank Street’s Straus Center for Young Children and Families investigating disparities in NYC preschool program ecologies, equitable referrals, and inclusive practices.

  • Ashley Causey-Golden

    Ashley Causey-Golden

    Ashley Causey-Golden is the creator of Afrocentric Montessori and co-founder of Gather Forest School. She has been teaching children since she was 18-years-old and still remembers the student that led her to change her major from theater and communications to elementary and special education as a freshman in college. Ashley has been in traditional learning spaces (public and charter), progressive learning spaces (Reggio Emilia and Montessori), and African-centered learning environments in her 14 years of teaching. Her work with Afrocentric Montessori and Gather is a mixture of a labor of love and an educational home for her children that will keep their Blackness seen and whole. She wears many hats as an entrepreneur but the ones that stay front in center are mother, wife, teacher, steward, and friend.