Home » ExchangeEveryDay » Teachers of the Year Noted for Play and Inclusion



ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues


<< Previous Issue | View Past Issues | | Next Issue >> ExchangeEveryDay
Teachers of the Year Noted for Play and Inclusion
December 14, 2022
Artists play with color and space. Musicians play with sound and silence. Children play with everything they can get their hands on.
-Stephen Nachmanovitch, musician, author, educator

Join us in celebrating Berol Dewdney, a PreK teacher at the Commodore John Rogers School in Baltimore, Maryland, and Tara Hughes, a special education teacher at the Nye Early Childhood Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, who have joined a small but growing cadre of early care practitioners earning their respective state Teacher of the Year awards. Both are now in the running for National Teacher of the Year. Significantly, these awardees have been recognized for their commitment to early childhood, play and inclusion.

In an interview, Dewdney remarked, “I think about my kids. I think about how they’re the real teachers of the year. I think about Dakari and Kiara and Takai … they bring the leadership, and the love and the joy. It’s our life’s greatest privilege to elevate their power and to work with their families. And this platform, this space, is completely theirs.”

Dewdney continued, “What serves my children best is play-based learning that allows kids the space to learn in the place where they learn best. Play is the language of students, it’s where they’re the experts and it’s where they’re able to have a lot of fun and have a lot of joy, but also develop the critical executive functioning skills that determine life outcomes.”

Hughes commented, “All of these students—with diverse abilities and backgrounds—they play, socialize, they learn together [and] respect, kindness, friendships and understanding of differences really grow.”

ExchangeEveryDay

Delivered five days a week containing news, success stories, solutions, trend reports, and much more.

What is ExchangeEveryDay?

ExchangeEveryDay is the official electronic newsletter for Exchange Press. It is delivered five days a week containing news stories, success stories, solutions, trend reports, and much more.





Post a Comment

Have an account? to submit your comment.


required

Your e-mail address will not be visible to other website visitors.
required
required
required

Check the box below, to help verify that you are not a bot. Doing so helps prevent automated programs from abusing this form.



Disclaimer: Exchange reserves the right to remove any comments at its discretion or reprint posted comments in other Exchange materials.