Conversations with the Dean ft Dr. Dina Castro

Learning Starts with Connection: Protecting Young Children in Uncertain Times

How can educators, families, and communities support the youngest learners during times of uncertainty? That’s the question at the heart of the latest Conversations with the Dean webinar featuring Dr. Dina Castro, our director of the Institute for Early Childhood Well-Being and the Bahamdan Professor in Early Childhood Well-Being.

In this session, Dean Penny Bishop is joined by Dina Castro and Min-Jen Taylor (Wheelock ’00, ’03), principal at the Baldwin Early Learning Pilot Academy in Boston. Given how the political climate exposes young children to toxic stress and trauma, they explore why emotional safety is foundational to learning and what adults can do to help children feel secure, supported, and seen.

Key themes from the conversation include the role of the “affective filter” in learning, the importance of adult presence in helping children regulate stress, and how families, educators, and communities can work together to build environments where all children can thrive.

Read the full blog post and watch the recording here.