In this episode we talk with Dr. Junlei Li, the Co-Chair of the Human Development and Education Program and the Saul Zaentz Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. As a developmental psychologist, Dr. Li’s research and practice focus on understanding and supporting the work of helpers – those who serve children and families on the frontlines of education and social services. He says, “I think they are the ultimate people who link developmental science to practice in order to make a real difference…I studied and learned from children’s “helpers” across a wide range of developmental settings with low resources but high-quality practices, including orphanages, childcare, classrooms, and community youth programs.” From that work, Dr. Li and his colleagues developed the “Simple Interactions” approach (www.simpleinteractions.org) to help identify what ordinary people do extraordinarily well with children in everyday moments and made that the basis for promoting positive system change.
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Have a listen to Episode 1 at any of these locations: Youtube (includes captions), Apple, Spotify, Website (and scroll down). Sacred is hosted by executive producers, Angela Carolina Garcia and Lauren Stauble, and produced by RJ Bee. It’s brought to you by Engage: feel.think.connect.
Episode 1 Reflection Prompts:
- What ideas, concepts, and/or feelings are resonating from this episode?
- How are your ancestors with you right now?
- Take a few minutes to slow down and use your senses to take in what the earth’s rhythms have to offer you. What do you see/hear/smell/taste/feel?
- How would you define play? When’s the last time you played? Is there an aspect of life where you would like to cultivate a sense of play in order to seek a third space?