Why I Created Connection at the Heart of Practice

Over the years, I have watched early childhood education become increasingly focused on everything that needs to be completed.

Documentation, planning, compliance, routines, expectations and never-ending lists can easily consume our days. While these responsibilities matter, somewhere within the pressure to get everything done, we risk losing sight of what matters most: connection.

I created the Connection at the Heart of Practice conference because I wanted educators to have space to pause, step away from the daily demands and reconnect with the human side of early childhood practice.

Before children can engage in learning, accept our guidance or move through difficult emotions, they need to feel safe, seen and understood. Educators need this same sense of connection. We cannot continue asking educators to support children, families and one another without also considering their own wellbeing, regulation and sense of belonging.

Each presenter has been carefully chosen to explore a different part of this conversation.

I will open the conference by drawing from my book, The Connected Child, to explore why relationships must come before guidance, learning and behaviour support. Later in the day, I will introduce the adapted 8 Stages of De-escalation and consider how understanding dysregulation can help us respond to children with greater awareness, empathy and intention.

Angela May will explore the environment as a pedagogy of connection, helping us consider what our spaces communicate to children and how thoughtful environments can support belonging, engagement and relationships.

Daisyline Austria will bring us back to the importance of connecting through play. Her session will remind us that play is not simply something children do. It is how they communicate, build relationships, explore ideas and make sense of their world.

Kelly Davis will explore self-care through a nervous system lens. Her contribution invites educators to move beyond surface-level ideas about wellbeing and consider what their bodies may be communicating, what regulation can look like and why caring for educators must be taken seriously.

Sheena Yap Chan will bring the conversation to human readiness for early childhood educators. Her session will encourage us to consider the person behind the professional role and what educators need to feel capable, valued and ready to engage meaningfully in their work.

Throughout the conference, Kristel Yangco will guide opportunities for reflection, helping participants pause, connect the ideas to their own practice and consider what they may carry forward.

Together, these voices will explore connection through relationships, play, environments, regulation, guidance, reflection and educator wellbeing.

This conference is not about adding more to an educator’s workload. It is about helping educators look differently at the work they are already doing and return to their practice with renewed clarity, confidence and practical ideas.

I created this conference because connection is not an extra part of our practice.

It is the foundation of it.

Invest in one day. Influence practice every day.

Written by: Janine Kelly