Early Childhood

Learning Starts with Connection

Exploring why young children learn best when they feel secure and supported.

In a time of uncertainty and change, how can educators, families, and communities support the youngest learners? One way is by helping children navigate uncertainty, regulate stress, and build the emotional security necessary for learning and growth.

In this Conversation with the Dean, Dean Penny Bishop is joined by BU Wheelock’s Dina Castro, director of the Institute for Early Childhood Well-Being and the Bahamdan Professor in Early Childhood Well-Being, and Min-Jen Taylor (Wheelock’00,’03), principal at the Baldwin Early Learning Pilot Academy in Boston.

Reflecting on their shared experiences as experts in supporting young learners, Castro and Taylor explore the vital role that families, educators, and communities play in creating environments where children feel safe, supported, and seen. 

Highlights from the Conversation

It takes a village to support all children

“Young children are the foundation for everything. It’s like building a house—you need a strong foundation. Right now, many children are feeling scared because of conversations happening within their families, what they see on TV, or what they hear in the news. […] I also believe it takes a village to raise a child—and even more so to support all children. The more people who are aware of what’s going on and how to help one another, students, and families, the better our world and community can become. We can build stronger, more supportive communities together.”

Min-Jen Taylor

Learning happens best when least stressed

“There is a concept that we use in psychology called the affective filter. How that works is that when children are under higher levels of stress, learning cannot happen.

For learning to happen, levels of stress need to be low. Children need to feel safe and calm, and that’s when this wall goes down. Knowledge and information can then go through in their brains. That’s why it’s so important that children feel emotionally well, because high levels of stress and being in stressful situations are going to prevent them from learning. So, feeling safe is critical at this age.”

Dina Castro

How adults can help children feel safe

“We shouldn’t leave children to try to handle their emotions by themselves or process their emotions by themselves. The presence of another human being on their side is going to be very important. It’s important to enhance the time spent in contact with them and the interactions children have with adults—their caregivers, family members, early educators, and people in the community more broadly.”

Dina Castro

Conversations with the Dean are a series of webinars hosted by Dean Bishop that explore some of the most pressing topics in education. Learn more about Conversations with the Dean.