Webinars, podcasts, and talks
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 gave the keynote address at the Play in Education, Development, and Learning (PEDAL) conference in at Cambridge University. His talk, titled, “Universality without Uniformity: Appreciating High-Quality Practices in Low-Resource Settings,” focused on re-imagining quality in the context of inequitable resources, relating to this past article. Traditional quality measurements in educational contexts are often tied to material resources or educational credentials. Instead of focusing just on these aspects, however, we can appreciate the ordinary magic of everyday interactions and relationship building across both high- and low-resource settings.
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 gave the keynote address at the Play in Education, Development, and Learning (PEDAL) conference in at Cambridge University. His talk, titled, “Universality without Uniformity: Appreciating High-Quality Practices in Low-Resource Settings,” focused on re-imagining quality in the context of inequitable resources, relating to this past article. Traditional quality measurements in educational contexts are often tied to material resources or educational credentials. Instead of focusing just on these aspects, however, we can appreciate the ordinary magic of everyday interactions and relationship building across both high- and low-resource settings.
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 video below is from the 2021 Simple Interactions Virtual Institute.