Inquiry Based Learning with Dr Claire Warden

Fire is often met with fear and hesitance but this week we sit down to explore the element of fire in order to understand it from the widest perspective. We hope that you'll join us in building your own confidence and understanding as we share memories from our childhoods in order to see the beauty of fire and how important it is that we make sustainable choices in everything that we do. Hosted on...

Dr Claire Warden shares her thoughts on how we, in early years, can have an impact on climate change and sustainability in relation to the COP 26 conference in Glasgow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr Claire Warden shares her thoughts on how we, in early years, can have an impact on climate change and sustainability in relation to the COP 26 conference in Glasgow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're flipping the show on its head by interviewing Dr Claire Warden. The group pose a number of questions Claire has never been asked before! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the show this week we discuss the language we use, or no longer use, in our practice. We start off by challenging the use of the word "naughty". Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we're discussing summertime! It's often thought that spending summer outside is easy, but it can throw up its own challenges and that's what we're exploring tonight. We look particularly at the impact the sun can have on us as we work outside. The rating of sunscreen, the importance of working in collaboration with families to make sure children are protected as well as trees and how they ab...

On the podcast this week we look at the balance of technology and the natural world. We exploring whether or not it is a conflict, a tension or a positive way forward. Our discussion looks at the communities of practice we have created using technology in the Virtual Nature School, and how they have inspired children, families and practitioners to create a global community who are passionate about...

In this episode, we tackle the difficult issue of racism. We discuss the possibility of the impact that your racial identity or cultural beliefs have on your access to the natural world. We have an amazing conversation in which we put ourselves in the position of practitioners who want to look at conscious or unconscious bias in the form of racism, sexism or ageism and it makes us understand that...

This week, we discuss social justice, particularly surrounding gender. We discuss what that even means when we're working with very young children, and whether or not we should even have a thought process that explores these issues at such an age. We dig deeper into gender identity, think about social justice as well as how poverty has an effect on children's ability to enjoy the outdoors. Hosted...

In this episode, we think about the creative environment and how it moves beyond just the arts-based environment to that of creative thinking. We want to unpick the characteristics of an adult who can support that style of working in the early years. We discuss the capacities we have within us as practitioners, whether it be listening, celebration, calmness or enthusiasm, all of these things make...

This week we continue our conversation looking at our favourite children's books that have a connection to the natural world. This time we discuss books about sustainability, diversity and the joy about the way we interpret the natural world. In this episode we're treated to"Hairy Maclary and Zachary Quack" by Lynley Dodd, "Diary of a worm" by Doreen Cronin, "The Last Tree" by Emily Haworth-Booth...

This week our conversation centres around our favourite children's books that have a connection to the natural world. We really want to look at books that have been published in multiple languages and dialects including those in Scots and Gaelic. We've been able to understand the power of story and how we forget as adults to listen to stories and how we need to make sure that we take time to enjoy...

Today we're exploring the issue of communicating with parents and families of the children we work with. We discuss the balance that needs to be found between digital and hardcopy communication with families and debate whether the world will become a visual communication system. We begin to understand the power or words, relationships and the times we spend with speaking with parents at the gate a...

We're going to explore the idea of balance of ritual, routine and freedom by thinking about the place they have in the lives of children. We question of role of structure and routine in early years. There's often the opinion that outdoor nurseries just run a muck in the forest and that children can do whatever they like. So we ask, what is the place of intent and structure in children's lives and...

In this episode we start exploring maths in the moment. How can we put aside our apprehension around maths and embrace the moments we engage with when we're outside? We start of by sharing our own memories, experiences and in some cases fears of mathematics when we were younger. We go on to discuss how the teaching of maths has changed over the years, especially in primary school environments. Hos...

This week we are going to be exploring the idea of mathematics and the relationship it has with the world of inquiry based learning. We start off by discussing an article aimed at involving STEM in our environment. A Number Line in the Nursery Classroom: A Vehicle for Understanding Children's Number Knowledge In this discussion we only manage to cover a very small section of mathematics; the idea...

This week we're looking at how we can explore language in nature. I'm often asked how you can teach language and nature outside in the natural world. My friends and I are going to break it down and look into the lost arts of storytelling and book reading. We start off with some research by Robert MacFarlane in his book The Lost Words: A Spell Book. We discuss the balance of story reading and the i...

This week have a great discussion for you in which we explore the adult sense of wonder We kick things off with a quote from Rachel Carson's book The Sense of Wonder. "A child's world is fresh and new and beautiful. Full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring is dimmed, and even lost befo...

This week we're taking a look at the impact of culture on our love of outdoor play. This is a sensitive subject, and one that some people find difficult to explore but really it's all about one human being reaching out to another and embracing the diversity of people on the planet and really relish the different forms of culture and experiences that we bring to the learning moments when we engage...

Creating a culture of inclusion is what we're talking about this week. We dissect the difference between the idea of a need and a right and look at how we can support children and their parents when they're experiencing the need for special rights. We consider time in a new way. As something that goes at the at the pace of children's thinking and enjoyment and how we can adapt the way we work with...

Thinking about our own health and wellbeing is the topic of discussion today. We consider how we can help ourselves through some of the stresses we're feeling at the moment about business, professional growth or the stresses of a global lockdown. We talk about finding moments of joy, building ourselves and ways we can reconcile, affirm and be forward thinking together in our practices as a profess...

Join us as this week we take a look at behaviour. We think about how we can support our children to self regulate and hear practitioners and their experiences of the needs of 2 year olds. We address behaviour management both inside building and out in the natural word. It's important to remember to remain calm and offer consistency by putting in positive boundaries. Download a free practitioner pr...

Interaction vs Interference - that's what we're debating tonight. We discuss the effect that words like dominate, reflexivity and reflection have in our work as practitioners. We want to be warm and caring practitioners and to understand the power balance that can take over in an early years environment. We also talk about the place that silence has in our role and gentle moments we have everyday...

This time on Conversations with Dr Claire Warden we're talking all about the things we might fear about going and working outside. As a group we've had to face fears of mice, being bitten by midges, encountering a worm and even having to face the cold. Join us as we tackle our fears and the things that offer us challenges and together we can come to a point that we can overcome them with tenacity...

This week we continue our discussion from the previous episode about leadership for change. We focus on how we can really make a difference to our setting by creating a narrative that engages everyone in understanding our vision and value. We continue by discussing the difference between a growth and fixed mindset and what we can do when we work with people who display those two characteristics. A...