That Early Childhood Nerd

In a 2026 article co-written with Brianne Kramer and Clint Broadbent, Denisha Jones explores the idea of moral injury in our work in the early childhood profession, writing, ‘Many teachers view their profession as a calling, so they take their work as a personal mission to educate students. Because of this, it is a moral affront to teachers to face daily ‘circumstances that challenge their moral conscience, vocational identity, and the values that got them into teaching in the first place’ (Keefe-Perry, 2018). Santoro (2011) theorized about moral injury by asking ‘What happens when experienced teachers who are fueled by the moral dimension of teaching find they can no longer access the moral rewards embedded in their work?’ Santoro goes on to (2011) argue the moral and ethical dimensions of teaching involve both required and prohibited practices (moral dimensions) and teachers' recognition that their work is in service to a better world (ethical dimensions). Often these are inseparable so that if a teacher is repeatedly forced to do something that they believe is harmful to their students, they may feel they are bad at their job or their job is bad for the world (Santoro, 2011). This creates a moral injury that plagues teachers daily.”

In our conversation in this episode, Denisha defines moral injury and explains how it may be more useful to reframe our current “burnout” conversation as moral injury.

Read The Intensification of Moral Injury in Teachers During the Pandemic here: https://ices.library.ubc.ca/index.php/workplace/article/view/187167

Check out Denisha’s new project the Play Science Institute here: https://playscience.org/

 

Order Heather’s book, Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood, here: https://www.tcpress.com/products/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood_9780807783177

Join our new Patreon community! For just $5 a month you can support all the Early Childhood Nerdwork podcasts AND join our Discord server to chat with the hosts and others who are working for children, their families, and their teachers: https://www.patreon.com/cw/EarlyChildhoodNerdworkbyThatEarlyChildhoodNerd

Thanks for listening!

In this episode, host Heather Bernt-Santy is joined by Kylie Cooper, Jamie Bonczyk, and Lucy Recio to discuss their recent Exchange article titled Reclaiming Our Legacy of Imagining and Building Worlds: Countering Fascism. 

Jamie shares: 

The article discussed in this episode grew out of a conversation that began in January 2025. Listeners can follow the evolution of these ideas through the following articles from Exchange Magazine:

Embodied Advocacy

Taking Stock: Is Personal Grief the Invisible Companion Informing How You Show Up?

What’s at Stake? Professional Loss and Grief in Early Care and Education Workplaces

Taking Action: Channeling Collective Grief Towards Social Justice and Change

To explore these articles and additional resources, begin a two-week free trial of Exchange Press or receive 50% off an Exchange Community Membership with the promotional code FRIEND50.

Connect with Jamie Bonczyk at LinkedIn and Instagram

Find Lucy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucyrecio/

Find more about Kylie and her work here: https://www.riseearlylearningcenter.org/

And find the article here: https://hub.exchangepress.com/articles-on-demand/86844/

Order Heather’s book, Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood, here: https://www.tcpress.com/products/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood_9780807783177

Join our new Patreon community! For just $5 a month you can support all the Early Childhood Nerdwork podcasts AND join our Discord server to chat with the hosts and others who are working for children, their families, and their teachers: https://www.patreon.com/cw/EarlyChildhoodNerdworkbyThatEarlyChildhoodNerd

Thanks for listening!

This week, our guest is Amy Reyes-Hauff, ECE consultant and outdoor play advocate, who recently published the book Why Did They Do That? It's Not a Behavior Problem, It's a Biological Reaction. 

Why Did They Do That reframes the tumultuous preschool years (3-5) as a period of neurological renovation rather than a series of behavior problems. By explaining the biological gap between the fully developed, emotional "downstairs brain" (the amygdala) and the under-construction, logical "upstairs brain" (the prefrontal cortex).

Order Amy's book here: https://a.co/d/0iXTs4sy

Order Heather’s book, Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood, here: https://www.tcpress.com/products/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood_9780807783177

Join our new Patreon community! For just $5 a month you can support all the Early Childhood Nerdwork podcasts AND join our Discord server to chat with the hosts and others who are working for children, their families, and their teachers: https://www.patreon.com/cw/EarlyChildhoodNerdworkbyThatEarlyChildhoodNerd

Thanks for listening!

What is the adult's role if children are allowed to "just play?" It's a question host Heather Bernt-Santy hears often as she talks with early childhood practitioners. Thank goodness Suzanne Axelsson has done a lot of thinking and writing about it!

In a post in her Substack, Suzanne writes about play and adult roles. When is it play and what can we do to support it? How can we learn to be clear and authentic about what is true play and adult attempts at teaching? 

Read the post here: https://suzanneaxelsson.substack.com/p/view-on-play-and-adult-roles

Order Heather’s book, Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood, here: https://www.tcpress.com/products/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood_9780807783177

Join our new Patreon community! For just $5 a month you can support all the Early Childhood Nerdwork podcasts AND join our Discord server to chat with the hosts and others who are working for children, their families, and their teachers: https://www.patreon.com/cw/EarlyChildhoodNerdworkbyThatEarlyChildhoodNerd

Thanks for listening!

Early childhood consultant and author Jacky Howell is this week's Guest Nerd and she's here to talk to host Heather Bernt-Santy about the empathy and kindness she knows young children are capable of. 

The conversation begins with a quote from one of Jacky's heroes, Jane Goodall: 

"You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make."

Jacky and her colleagues Makai Kellogg, Magy Youssef, and Sabina Zeffler shared their stories of children's kindness and empathy in their book Reflection, Perspecive Taking, and Social Justice: Stories of Empathy and Kindness in the Early Childhood Classroom. 

Order their book here: https://www.redleafpress.org/Reflection-Perspective-Taking-and-Social-Justice-e-book-Stories-of-Empathy-and-Kindness-in-the-Early-Childhood-Classroom-P3055.aspx

Order Heather’s book, Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood, here: https://www.tcpress.com/products/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood_9780807783177

Join our new Patreon community! For just $5 a month you can support all the Early Childhood Nerdwork podcasts AND join our Discord server to chat with the hosts and others who are working for children, their families, and their teachers: https://www.patreon.com/cw/EarlyChildhoodNerdworkbyThatEarlyChildhoodNerd

Thanks for listening!