publications and talks
SPeeches, Webinars, and podcasts
Through talks to local and national audiences and through special projects with partners, SI is regularly shared with a wide variety of audiences.
Dr. Junlei Li and Dr. Dana Winters were the keynote presenters at the New York State Education Department's Office of Early Learning's P-3 Summer Virtual Conference. Dr. Li also led the follow-up workshop, with SI collaborators Dr. Beverly Falk, Professor/Director of Graduate Programs in Early Childhood Education, The City College of New York, and Dr. Lisa Kuh, Director of Early Education, Somerville Public Schools, MA. The keynote discussed finding more than one way for helpers to work with children and families through positive relational experiences, particularly during times of uncertainty. The workshop added a practice-based approach to support helpers' reflections on their personal interactions with children and other adults. The Keynote presentation and Simple Interactions Workshop are free to view, but registration may be required.
Dr. Junlei Li and Dr. Dana Winters presented "Children’s Resilience and the Importance of Everyday Interactions" as part of the Glenbard Parent Series. They led a discussion on human interactions and their place when it comes to interacting with children. The presentation video is available for viewing.
Responding to the challenges that COVID-19 brought upon families and educators, Dr. Winters and Dr. Li joined the Education Now webinar series from Harvard Graduate School of Education to discuss the power of human connection in this disruptive time and reasons for hope. They emphasized the power of having at least one caring person, the impact of simple, small moment, and the reminder that none of us need to be perfect to be helpful to the children around us. Full recording is available here (2020).
Listen With More Than Our Ears: Helping children through simple, ordinary interactions (Li, 2019). In the “Learning to Listen” webinar series with the Brazelton Touchpoints Center, Dr. Li gives an overview of the simple interactions approach while celebrating the legacy of early childhood pioneers like Berry Brazelton and Fred Rogers.
“The Difference We Make: The Importance of Simple, Everyday Interactions in Early Childhood” (Winters & Li, 2019). In this episode of the Early Childhood Investigations Webinar series, Dr. Winters and Dr. Li provide an overview of the Simple Interactions work as a response to Fred Rogers’ question to the early childhood profession: “Did you ever wonder if you have made a difference?” This free webinar is generously hosted and shared without charge by the wonderful hosts at Early Childhood Investigations, where you may find many more free, accessible webinars for early childhood professionals.
Putting Mister Rogers’ Deep and Simple Into Practice In this Harvard EdCast podcast, Dr. Li explains Simple Interactions through the lens of what it means to be “deep and simple” in interactions with children (2018).
What Matters for Children's Resilience? The Presence of One In this keynote address for the 2018 Onslow County, NC Partnership for Children State of the Child Breakfast, Dr. Winters talks about the importance of human relationships to resilience for children and youth (2018).
How Does Quality Grow? In a talk at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Dr. Li explores how interactions are essential to growing quality in child-serving settings (2017).
What is Simple and Deep? Plenary Presentation, 2016 QRIS In this plenary presentation for the 2016 QRIS National Meeting organized by the Build Initiative, Dr. Li talks about what is simple and deep in our work to understand and improve quality in early childhood (2016).
Dr. Junlei Li and Dr. Dana Winters were the keynote presenters at the New York State Education Department's Office of Early Learning's P-3 Summer Virtual Conference. Dr. Li also led the follow-up workshop, with SI collaborators Dr. Beverly Falk, Professor/Director of Graduate Programs in Early Childhood Education, The City College of New York, and Dr. Lisa Kuh, Director of Early Education, Somerville Public Schools, MA. The keynote discussed finding more than one way for helpers to work with children and families through positive relational experiences, particularly during times of uncertainty. The workshop added a practice-based approach to support helpers' reflections on their personal interactions with children and other adults. The Keynote presentation and Simple Interactions Workshop are free to view, but registration may be required.
Dr. Junlei Li and Dr. Dana Winters presented "Children’s Resilience and the Importance of Everyday Interactions" as part of the Glenbard Parent Series. They led a discussion on human interactions and their place when it comes to interacting with children. The presentation video is available for viewing.
Responding to the challenges that COVID-19 brought upon families and educators, Dr. Winters and Dr. Li joined the Education Now webinar series from Harvard Graduate School of Education to discuss the power of human connection in this disruptive time and reasons for hope. They emphasized the power of having at least one caring person, the impact of simple, small moment, and the reminder that none of us need to be perfect to be helpful to the children around us. Full recording is available here (2020).
Listen With More Than Our Ears: Helping children through simple, ordinary interactions (Li, 2019). In the “Learning to Listen” webinar series with the Brazelton Touchpoints Center, Dr. Li gives an overview of the simple interactions approach while celebrating the legacy of early childhood pioneers like Berry Brazelton and Fred Rogers.
“The Difference We Make: The Importance of Simple, Everyday Interactions in Early Childhood” (Winters & Li, 2019). In this episode of the Early Childhood Investigations Webinar series, Dr. Winters and Dr. Li provide an overview of the Simple Interactions work as a response to Fred Rogers’ question to the early childhood profession: “Did you ever wonder if you have made a difference?” This free webinar is generously hosted and shared without charge by the wonderful hosts at Early Childhood Investigations, where you may find many more free, accessible webinars for early childhood professionals.
Putting Mister Rogers’ Deep and Simple Into Practice In this Harvard EdCast podcast, Dr. Li explains Simple Interactions through the lens of what it means to be “deep and simple” in interactions with children (2018).
What Matters for Children's Resilience? The Presence of One In this keynote address for the 2018 Onslow County, NC Partnership for Children State of the Child Breakfast, Dr. Winters talks about the importance of human relationships to resilience for children and youth (2018).
How Does Quality Grow? In a talk at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Dr. Li explores how interactions are essential to growing quality in child-serving settings (2017).
What is Simple and Deep? Plenary Presentation, 2016 QRIS In this plenary presentation for the 2016 QRIS National Meeting organized by the Build Initiative, Dr. Li talks about what is simple and deep in our work to understand and improve quality in early childhood (2016).
SI Institute (Recordings)
The following videos are excerpts from the 2021 Simple Interactions Virtual Institute.
articles
This article describes a design study through which library and afterschool staff engaged in Simple Interactions and did a deep dive into their own practice through projects inspired by improvement science: Can We Efficiently Help Adults Strengthen their Relational Practice? (Akiva, White, Covlin, Li, & Wardrip, 2022).
In this randomized control trial study, attending SI workshops increased the degree to which staff prioritized relational practice. In addition, participating afterschool staff expressed very high satisfaction with the Simple Interactions professional learning approach. Reach out to [email protected] if you’d like to learn more about this study. (Akiva, White, Colvin, DeMand, Page, 2020).
The Zero to Three Journal featured this article based on Dr. Li’s plenary address “Achieving Quality with Equity” at the 2019 Zero to Three national conference. This article represents a renewed focus of the Simple Interactions work to support educational equity by affirming and supporting helpers in communities with limited access to material resources. Achieving quality with equity: Recognizing and supporting high-quality practices and professionals in low-resource communities (Li, 2019).
The Child Care Exchange journal published a pair of companion articles by Dr. Li and Dr. Winters that explore an update to the original research for developmental relationships and the practical application of that theory and research in practice in early childhood education. Li & Winters, 2019); (Winters & Li, 2019).
In this Education Dive article, the authors describe Simple Interactions projects and ideas from a number of contexts including early childhood, out-of-school learning, and residential care (Jacobson, 2019).
This paper describes a Simple Interactions professional learning program for library settings that highlights improvement science in the context of SI (Bowler, Akiva, Colvin, McNamara, 2019).
This paper explores opportunity gaps in out of school learning, using data from a study of Simple Interactions to explore interactions in these settings -- Opportunity gaps in out-of-school learning: How structural and process features of programs relate to race and socioeconomic status(McNamara, Akiva, Delale-O’Connor, 2018).
This paper uses Simple Interactions as an example of a psychologically safe professional learning experience for educators: A Welcome Space for Taking Risks: Psychological Safety Creates a Positive Climate for Learning. (Wanless & Winters, 2018).
A special edition of the ALIGN Journal, focused on residential care, featured an article about Simple Interactions in this context -- "Growing Simple Interactions Inside Everyday Practice" (Li, 2017).
The first research paper about Simple Interactions was published in Child and Youth Care Forum -- "Simple Interactions: Piloting a Strengths-Based and Interaction-Based Professional Development Intervention for Out-of-School Time Programs" (Akiva, Martin, Galletta Horner & McNamara, 2016).
A 3-part blog post by Remake Learning highlights the importance of human interactions in an increasingly technological world. (Li, Martin, Palmer, 2016).
A foundational paper to our work that highlights the theory and approach behind Simple Interactions -- "Developmental Relationships As the Active Ingredient: A Unifying Working Hypothesis of 'What Works' Across Intervention Settings" (Li & Julian, 2012).
In this randomized control trial study, attending SI workshops increased the degree to which staff prioritized relational practice. In addition, participating afterschool staff expressed very high satisfaction with the Simple Interactions professional learning approach. Reach out to [email protected] if you’d like to learn more about this study. (Akiva, White, Colvin, DeMand, Page, 2020).
The Zero to Three Journal featured this article based on Dr. Li’s plenary address “Achieving Quality with Equity” at the 2019 Zero to Three national conference. This article represents a renewed focus of the Simple Interactions work to support educational equity by affirming and supporting helpers in communities with limited access to material resources. Achieving quality with equity: Recognizing and supporting high-quality practices and professionals in low-resource communities (Li, 2019).
The Child Care Exchange journal published a pair of companion articles by Dr. Li and Dr. Winters that explore an update to the original research for developmental relationships and the practical application of that theory and research in practice in early childhood education. Li & Winters, 2019); (Winters & Li, 2019).
In this Education Dive article, the authors describe Simple Interactions projects and ideas from a number of contexts including early childhood, out-of-school learning, and residential care (Jacobson, 2019).
This paper describes a Simple Interactions professional learning program for library settings that highlights improvement science in the context of SI (Bowler, Akiva, Colvin, McNamara, 2019).
This paper explores opportunity gaps in out of school learning, using data from a study of Simple Interactions to explore interactions in these settings -- Opportunity gaps in out-of-school learning: How structural and process features of programs relate to race and socioeconomic status(McNamara, Akiva, Delale-O’Connor, 2018).
This paper uses Simple Interactions as an example of a psychologically safe professional learning experience for educators: A Welcome Space for Taking Risks: Psychological Safety Creates a Positive Climate for Learning. (Wanless & Winters, 2018).
A special edition of the ALIGN Journal, focused on residential care, featured an article about Simple Interactions in this context -- "Growing Simple Interactions Inside Everyday Practice" (Li, 2017).
The first research paper about Simple Interactions was published in Child and Youth Care Forum -- "Simple Interactions: Piloting a Strengths-Based and Interaction-Based Professional Development Intervention for Out-of-School Time Programs" (Akiva, Martin, Galletta Horner & McNamara, 2016).
A 3-part blog post by Remake Learning highlights the importance of human interactions in an increasingly technological world. (Li, Martin, Palmer, 2016).
A foundational paper to our work that highlights the theory and approach behind Simple Interactions -- "Developmental Relationships As the Active Ingredient: A Unifying Working Hypothesis of 'What Works' Across Intervention Settings" (Li & Julian, 2012).