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Taking care of yourself doesn't mean me first, it means me too.

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Taking care of yourself doesn't mean me first, it means me too.

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L.R. Knost

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Dual Language Learners Modules Flyer SPA final

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Dual Language Learners Modules Flyer Eng final

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Great resource to share with teachers.

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At the Inclusion Lab, we bring you lots of practical posts about enhancing K-12 classrooms with universal design for learning (UDL). But does UDL work equally well in early childhood settings? Yes-and today's post gives you some simple starting points to help all young children be successful and meet learning standards. It's excerpted and adapted from Six Steps to Inclusive Preschool Curriculum (Eva M. Horn et al.), a practical book on building a UDL-based plan for inclusive preschool instruction.

You may already know the three primary principles of UDL (as identified by , the nonprofit education research and development organization that works to raise awareness and use of UDL):

1) Multiple means of representation to give learners a variety of ways to gain access to information and content

2) Multiple means of engagement to gain and maintain learner interest

3) Multiple means of action & expression to provide learners with a variety of ways for demonstrating what they know

Today we'll briefly take you through all three of these principles and give you some quick tips on how to put them into action in an early childhood setting.

Means of Representation

Young learners all process information differently. Some will understand and retain it better by seeing it, some by hearing it, some by touching it-and others will learn best using a combination of means. Reach all your learners by providing two critical things: multiple forms of communication and multiple levels of complexity.
Providing Multiple Forms for Communication
Support all your students by providing information in multiple ways, using auditory, visual, and tactile formats. When you provide directions or instruction for completing an activity or task, communicate the information by

Verbally stating the information

Providing a picture or other visual model of the steps in the task

Presenting the actual tools/materials students will use to complete the task

Providing for Multiple Levels of Complexity
Children come to your classroom with a broad range of prior experiences and knowledge. Some may need very concrete information to understand new tasks, while others may be able to process explanations that use more complex concepts. Take this into account when you give students instructions and introduce an activity, and deliver the information in ways that reflect multiple levels of complexity.

Model the steps for completing a task while verbally describing them.

Read a phrase with a key vocabulary word in a storybook and then stop and show a vocabulary picture card, state the word, and define it.

Repeat and restate key concepts in different ways so that all students understand.

Break instructions into discrete steps: "First, select the color of paper for your name card. Second, select the first letter of your name from the letters on the table. Third, glue the letter on the first space on the name card."

Young children vary greatly in what captures their attention and motivates them to engage and learn. To get children hooked and keep them focused on your lessons, provide multiple means of engagement for them. The concept of engagement can be divided into two big ideas: recruiting children's interest and sustaining their attention and persistence to a task. Here are some practical tips and strategies for both:
Recruiting Children's Interest

Observe young learners at work. Build on your knowledge of the types of activities and materials that intrigue young learners by observing and listening to same-age children in natural play environments.

Think about learners as individuals. Consider the variety of factors that influence child interests, including gender, temperament, life experiences, and family culture as well as the current popular themes, characters, and toys.

Respect differences. Choose materials and activities that reflect responsiveness to children's differences while communicating that the classroom is a place to freely explore.

Give children choices. Something as simple as allowing the children to choose where they will sit as a small group can entice the children to join the storybook reading group.

Make meaningful connections to children's prior experiences and current environments. For example, as children explore the characteristics of rocks, connect the discussion to the children's prior experiences by asking questions: Who likes to collect rocks? What kinds of rocks are your favorite?

Provide a balance between the novel and the familiar. In the rock-exploring activity, for example, you might include an ice cube to add some novelty, which could spark a discussion on changes in size, weight, and solidness as the ice melts.

Sustaining Children's Attention

Keep an eye on difficulty levels-ensure that that children are challenged by activities and tasks but not bored or frustrated.

Set them up for success. Provide some experiences in which you know your learners will be successful. This will encourage them to continue.

Support children's persistence with other experiences that are just beyond their mastery. Give them appropriate levels of feedback, encouragement, and scaffolding so they can complete these tasks and learn new things.

Vary groupings. Use large groups, small groups, and independent time strategically, to complement the content you're teaching. For example, small-group instruction may be better for introducing new skills and concepts.

Implement proven strategies that are known to be effective in preventing wandering attention and supporting children's persistence.

Don't make activities too long. Pay close attention to the length of your activities and alternate between active participation and more quiet observation.

How can you help children organize what they know and then show what they've learned? Every child has different abilities and comfort levels, so it's important to let them express what they've learned in a variety of ways and formats. You can address the UDL principle of means of expression by considering two key aspects- multiple acceptable formats for making responses and multiple acceptable levels of complexity of responding.
Multiple Acceptable Formats for Making Responses
Every learner approaches a lesson differently, so make sure that your activity plans provide multiple options for responding to your questions. These might include verbal responses, gestures, drawing, finger plays, songs, and writing.

Here's a simple example: Say you're reading a storybook to your students. You ask them questions about an object shown on one of the pages-let's say it's a truck. Give children multiple options for responding to your questions; for example, children might reply by:

Pointing to the truck

Naming the truck

Holding up a matching picture card of a truck

Holding up a real object match (e.g., a small toy version of a truck)

Children who use augmentative and alternative communication may also respond by using their communication board.
Multiple Acceptable Levels of Complexity of Responding
Allow for various levels of complexity and length in your learners' responses, to reflect and respect their different preferences, strengths, and abilities. Here's an example: Say you're reading a storybook about zoo animals to your class, and you ask the children what they see on the page. Children's answers will vary in complexity:

One child may be able to provide a basic, one-word response, such as "monkeys."

Another may answer the question in a multiple-word sentence (e.g., "The monkey is eating bananas.")

Another child may add new information that connects to their own experience (e.g., "I like bananas too. I eat them at breakfast.")

For children who need extra support in sharing their understanding and expressing ideas, think about what kind of scaffolding you can use during your lesson or activity. For example, if you ask how many apple slices are on the table as children prepare a snack, some children will be able to independently answer your question, while others will need support. You might encourage the whole group to count the apples together so the children who need support can follow along and strengthen their skills. If a child needs more support with counting, you might try prompting the child by providing the initial sound of each number.

***

This post gave you some quick tips to use as a UDL launching pad in your early childhood classroom. For more information, (a treasure trove of professional learning opportunities and resources) and explore the other UDL posts on the Brookes Inclusion Lab .

Check out Six Steps to Inclusive Preschool Curriculum by Eva M. Horn, Ph.D., Susan B. Palmer, Ph.D., Gretchen D. Butera, Ph.D., & Joan A. Lieber, Ph.D., with invited contributors. Through practical, evidence-based strategies and guidelines, you'll discover how to equalize access to preschool curriculum content while giving young learners multiple ways to access and process new knowledge.

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Enhancing Early Ed Classrooms with UDL - Brookes Blog

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At the Inclusion Lab, we bring you lots of practical posts about enhancing K-12 classrooms with universal design for learning (UDL). But does UDL work equally well in early childhood settings? Yes-and today's post gives you some simple starting points to help all young children be successful and meet learning standards.

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How to Help your Child's Compassion Grow

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How to Help your Child's Compassion Grow

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Greater Good

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How to Help Your Child's Compassion Grow

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Parents can encourage their kids to practice kindness and caring toward themselves and others

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by Kadir Nelson

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Edutopia

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Teaching students U.S. history authentically requires educators to delve into race and racism, invite "complexity and hidden narratives" into the conversation, and give students the tools to navigate and make sense of "the truths that are difficult to reconcile with the messages of freedom and democracy," writes Emily Boudreau for Usable Knowledge, a Harvard Graduate School of Education publication.

"What does it mean to be living on land taken from Indigenous people? How can a nation recognize that many of its institutions were built and made possible by the labor of enslaved people?" Boudreau writes, referencing an inclusive vision of history that asks us to acknowledge the contributions of women, Black, Latinx, Asian, and LGTBQ people, for example. "Because conversations around these hard histories can be challenging, educators need to know how to approach the subject in considered, developmentally appropriate ways."

As schools, and the country, become more diverse, a growing number of educators are working to expand K-12 curricula "to include the narratives of people from a wider range of racial, ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds," writes journalist Holly Korbey. Greater inclusivity in history, she writes, allows young people to "see themselves in the story of our shared past, they not only develop a deeper appreciation of the subject, but become more civically active."

Here are four considerations, culled from Boudreau's article and from our Edutopia archives, for teaching and engaging with the complex narratives surrounding American history.

Feature Stories of Resistance and Resilience

Historical narratives should strike a balance between examining racism and discrimination but also highlighting "the resilience and resistance of communities throughout history," so they're instilling hope in young people, Boudreau writes, but also correcting the narrow, often cursory view of U.S. history that glosses over important figures of resistance like César Chávez, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the disability rights activist Ed Roberts, and Kwame Ture, born Stokely Carmichael. It's an effort that calls on educators to "teach a more accurate history that commonly goes untold: the role of grassroots activists and women, nuanced portraits of leaders like Parks and King, and racial and social justice battles that link the past to contemporary issues of inequality," writes Melinda D. Anderson, a journalist.

"It's imperative that teachers not reinforce a milquetoast version of Black history that is anti-Black because of its erasure of painful truths," writes Rann Miller, an after-school program director. As a student, Miller learned about Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, and Frederick Douglass. "I heard very little of Malcolm X, the FBI's campaign against civil rights leaders, the Rainbow Coalition put together by the Black Panther Party's Fred Hampton, or Hampton's assassination. I learned about the struggles of my enslaved ancestors, but not about Gabriel Prosser, Denmark Vesey, or Nat Turner."

Examine Primary Sources

Textbooks tend to gloss over large swaths of history, "without going into much depth or bringing the voices of those who lived through those times to the surface," writes Boudreau. It's up to teachers to bring those voices into the classroom via primary source documents "that tell the story of an event using the words of the people who are described by the curriculum."

It's important, however, to make sure these materials are developmentally appropriate-teachers can "redact or edit them so students can understand and engage with the texts," Boudreau suggests-and to give kids opportunities to discuss and process "feelings that come up as they learn about these histories." One way to do this is to check in with students via an anonymous Google survey. "A teacher can then validate those emotions-some people might feel angry or sad-but giving students a chance to process the emotions that come up is essential for us to move forward as a country and acknowledge racism," says Adrienne Stang, a K-12 history and social studies coordinator for Cambridge Public Schools.

Meanwhile, the effort to find and work with primary documents presents a valuable opportunity to teach older students how to carefully vet resources-a foundational, critical thinking skill that involves understanding the cultural context and values from which primary sources spring, and determining the credibility of resources. In social studies, for example, "vetting resources is important not just because we want to ensure students are learning from accurate, verifiable materials," writes Paul Franz, an educational researcher and former middle school teacher. "It's important also because the ability to ask questions about sources, bias, and context are at the heart of social studies education and are essential skills for thriving in the modern world."

Make Sure Kids See Themselves in Your Classroom

Books and curriculum should "reflect the diversity of our world and identities of all students," in the classroom, writes Boudreau. In the early grades, check in with families and caregivers to gain an understanding of students' backgrounds, suggests Stang, and make sure kids have opportunities to learn not just about the identities of students in the classroom, but also about diverse cultures and backgrounds that aren't reflected in the room.

And while school and classroom budgets may be tight, even small changes-like sharing one book that references a child's experiences-can make a difference, says second- and third-grade teacher Natalya Gibbs, who hangs posters that reflect her students' identities and experiences such as family and home life structures and languages, and offers skin-toned crayons so her students "can see themselves in all aspects of their classroom." Her approach changes each school year, depending on the students in her classroom. "It's about 'Who is this class? What do they bring?' I'm growing my curriculum based on the community of children that I have each year, which means learning about my students and their cultures and making sure that they're represented."

Teach Hard Histories in Other Classes Too

It's not just the job of history teachers to take on the complex discussions around race and racism. "Including curriculum and sources that deal with both hard histories and narratives of resilience and agency is the job of every teacher, not just those in the history department," writes Boudreau.

In STEM classes, for example, writes scientist Ainissa Ramirez, author of The Alchemy of Us, which showcases little-known inventors, particularly people of color and women, it's critical to "inform [students] about the past." In doing so, educators not only "demystify scientific advancements by revealing their messy historical reality; we show students how science is actually conducted; and we have the opportunity to spotlight scientists who have been written out of history-and thus invite more students into the world of science."

In English class, make texts from authors who represent a spectrum of racial, cultural, and gender perspectives available, and emphasize the contributions of often marginalized people to American history-Bao Phi's A Different Pond, R.J. Palacio's Wonder, and Malinda Lo's Ash, to name a few. "Teach students about the Africanisms in American English when discussing or teaching grammar," writes Miller, who recalls reading Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and William Shakespeare in English class, but never Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, or Toni Morrison. "Students should be introduced to texts by Black authors that speak to Black experiences, Black perspectives, and Black accomplishments. These authors remind children and adults that Black excellence is not confined to athletics and entertainment. How can we promote the academic excellence of Black children without introducing them to Black intellectuals-individuals they can see themselves someday becoming?"

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Addressing Race and Racism Head-On in the Classroom

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From featuring stories of resistance to making sure kids see themselves represented in the classroom, a few things to keep in mind when teaching American history.

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Nature play and learning places. Creating and managing places where children engage with nature

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"Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly." - Langston Hughes

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Brain Break

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Empathy

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The Hollies - He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

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Bill Withers - Lean on Me (Official Audio)

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Brain Break

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Crossover | Brain Breaks | Crossing the Midline | Jack Hartmann

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Friendship Strategies Throughout the Day

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Friendship Strategies Throughout the Day

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CPIN

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Serve and Return  5 steps for Brain Building

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Serve and Return  5 steps for Brain Building

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Center on the Developing Child at Harvard

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Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University

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5 Steps for Brain-Building Serve and Return

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Starters for Giving Positive Feedback and Encouragement

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Starters for Giving Positive Feedback and Encouragement

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Article with strategies

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Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would give to others.  – Christopher Germer-

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Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.  -John Wooten

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Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.  -John Wooten

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Practice is a shared history of learning. Practice is conversational. ‘Communities of Practice’ are groups of people who share a concern(domain) or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better (practice) as they interact regularly (community).-Etienne Wenger

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Practice is a shared history of learning. Practice is conversational. ‘Communities of Practice’ are groups of people who share a concern(domain) or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better (practice) as they interact regularly (community).-Etienne Wenger

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Bhangra Workout At Home | 6 Minutes Fat Burning Cardio | BhangraFit | DJ Frenzy Mix | All The Way Up

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Superheroes Are Everywhere

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Problem-Solving with Little Kids

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Breathe, Think, Do with Sesame (Problem solving skill for kids)

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Harvard University: Center on the Developing Child

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Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University

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Play in Early Childhood: The Role of Play in Any Setting

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Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning

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Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning

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The Pyramid Model for Supporting Social Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children. We have developed extensive, user-friendly training materials, videos, and print resources which are available directly from this website to help early care, health and education providers implement this model.

State Partnerships

Visit our states page to find more information about any of our state partners or new resources and information for all states.

State Partners: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

Stay Connected to CSEFEL: sign up for our electronic updates

Pyramid Model

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CSEFEL: Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning

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The National Center for Effective Mental Health Consultation (CEMHC) addresses the needs of Early Head Start/Head Start (E/HS) staff and families for practical guidance on effective ways to promote young childrenís social and emotional development and reduce challenging behaviors.

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SED: Self: Social and Emotional Understanding

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SED: Social and Emotional Understanding (Perspective Taking)

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SED: Self: Self-Regulation

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Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University

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3. Toxic Stress Derails Healthy Development

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SED: Self - Self-Regulation

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PSA:  Supporting Children to Feel Safe During Stressful and Uncertain Times

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SED: Self - Self-Awareness (Growth Mindset)

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Sesame Street: Janelle Monae - Power of Yet

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SED: Self - Initiative in Learning

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Strengthening Families

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Improving Education for Multilingual and English Learner Students

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Improving Education for Multilingual and English Learner Students

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Tuning in to Others article on Theory of Mind

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Tuning in to Others article on Theory of Mind

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By Lauren Lowry
Hanen Certified SLP and Clinical Staff Writer

If you've ever talked to a young child on the phone, you may have encountered the following situation:

Denzel hasn't yet figured out that he needs to give his dad extra information about what he is doing, because his dad can't see what he is holding. Denzel thinks his dad sees and thinks the same thing he does. The understanding that people don't share the same thoughts and feelings as you do develops during childhood, and is called " theory of mind ". Another way to think about it is a child's ability to "tune-in" to other peoples' perspectives [1]. This ability doesn't emerge overnight, and it develops in a predictable order.

How Theory of Mind Develops in Typical Children

During infancy and early childhood, children learn the early skills that they'll need to develop their theory of mind later on. These skills include the ability to [2,3]:

pay attention to people and copy them

recognize others' emotions and use words to express them ("happy", "sad", "mad")

know that they are different from other people and have different likes/dislikes from others

know that people act according to the things they want

understand the causes and consequences of emotions (If I throw my toy, Mom will be mad)

pretend to be someone else (like a doctor or a cashier) when they play

Between ages 4-5, children really start to think about others' thoughts and feelings, and this is when true theory of mind emerges. Children develop theory of mind skills in the following order [1, 4, 5]:

Understanding "wanting" - Different people want different things, and to get what they want, people act in different ways.

Understanding "thinking" - Different people have different, but potentially true, beliefs about the same thing. People's actions are based on what they think is going to happen.

Understanding that "seeing leads to knowing" - If you haven't seen something, you don't necessarily know about it (like the Dad in the example above on the telephone). If someone hasn't seen something, they will need extra information to understand.

Understanding "false beliefs" - Sometimes people believe things that are not true, and they act according to their beliefs, not according to what is really true.

Understanding "hidden feelings" - People can feel a different emotion from the one they display.

Children's theory of mind continues to develop after age five. For the next several years they learn to predict what one person thinks or feels about what another person is thinking or feeling [4]. They also begin to understand complex language that relies on theory of mind, such as lies, sarcasm, and figurative language (like "it's raining cats and dogs") [4]. Some experts argue that theory of mind development continues over a lifetime as one has more opportunities to experience people and their behaviour [6, 3].

How's your theory of mind?

Imagine you are handed a box of your favourite candy. When you open the box, you see that it is filled with pencils instead of candy. If your friend suddenly came into the room and saw the closed box with pictures of candy on it, what would he or she think was inside?

If you answered "candy", then you understand "false beliefs", which means you know that someone can believe something that is not true because they don't share the same knowledge that you do.

*When 3 year olds are asked this question, they answer "pencils", because they have not reached this stage of understanding in their theory of mind development [7].

Problems with Theory of Mind

When children have difficulty developing their theory of mind, it makes it difficult to:

understand why people do and say the things they do

have a conversation

tell a story

understand characters' perspectives in storybooks

make friends

engage in pretend play

Certain groups of children have difficulty with theory of mind development:

children with autism spectrum disorder

children with social communication difficulties

children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

signing deaf children who have hearing parents who do not use sign language (these children are not exposed to sign language until they begin school, and this late exposure affects their theory of mind development)

These groups of children often need treatment to help them develop their theory of mind.

Children with autism develop theory of mind skills in a different order than in typical development - their understanding of "hidden feelings" emerges before they understand "false beliefs" [8].

Helping Young Children Tune In

Studies have shown that when mothers use words that refer to thinking and feeling when they talk to their child, it helps their child's theory of mind development.

The way parents talk to and play with their child can help children's understanding of others' thoughts and feelings. In fact, studies have shown that when mothers use words that refer to thinking and feeling when they talk to their child, it helps their child's theory of mind development [9, 10]. Here are some simple things you can do at home with your child to promote his or her theory of mind [1, 2]:

Follow your child's lead - In order to tune-in, children need to be paying attention to other people. This can't happen if you are talking about or playing with things that your child is not interested in or attending to. Observe your child's interests and then get down to his or her physical level so that you are face-to-face. This will help your child pay attention to you and tune-in to your facial expression. Give up your ideas of what he should do or how he should play, and join in his play by copying his actions and adding to his or her play ideas. Once you are paying attention to the same thing, you will have an opportunity to use "tuning-in" language.

Use "tuning-in language" - This means putting your own and your child's perspective into words. Imagine what your child is wanting, thinking or feeling, and say something about it, like "oh, you want a cookie", "Don't worry. You thought I was gone, but I'm here!", or "I'm upset because you threw your toy" [3]. You can also explain why other people do the things they do - for example, "Sally looks happy. She must really like her present".

Role play with your child when you pretend together - Role play helps develop theory of mind because it encourages children to think about and act out other peoples' perspectives. When children first learn to role play, they pretend to be individuals whom they have experienced in everyday life, like pretending to be Mommy, a doctor, bus driver or teacher. Stay in role when you role play together. For example, if you are pretending to be a doctor and your child is the patient, say and do things a doctor would do, and avoid being a real-life parent for the moment.

Use books to talk about the characters' thoughts and feelings - Talking about the characters' thoughts and feelings, their different ideas and reactions, and what characters might do next in the story helps promote early theory of mind. But research shows that it is also important to connect these ideas to the child's own experiences [3]. For example, if you are talking about a character that looks sad because she lost her favourite toy, you could connect that to a time when your child was sad because he lost something special.

Every time you interact with and talk to your child, you have an opportunity to put into words what you are both thinking and feeling.

Every time you interact with and talk to your child, you have an opportunity to put into words what you are both thinking and feeling. These types of conversations will deepen his understanding of his own thoughts and feelings, how others may have different thoughts and feelings from his own, and how we all act based on what we are thinking and feeling.

More information about theory of mind development in young children can be found in TalkAbility™ [1], a research-based guidebook and intervention program aimed at promoting the social and special language abilities necessary for conversations and friendships.

References

1. Sussman, F. (2006). TalkAbility™ - People skills for verbal children on the autism spectrum: A guide for parents. Toronto, ON: Hanen Early Language Program.

2. Westby, C. & Robinson, L. (2014). A developmental perspective for promoting theory of mind. Topics in Language Disorders, 34(4), 362-383.

3. de Villiers, J. G. & de Villiers, P. A. (2014). The role of language in theory of mind development. Topics in Language Disorders, 34(4), 313-328.

4. Wellman, H. M. & Liu, D. (2004). Scaling theory of mind tasks. Child Development, 75, 759-763.

5. Peterson, C. C., Wellman, H. M. & Slaughter, V. (2012). The mind behind the message: Advancing theory-of-mind scales for typically developing children, and those with deafness, autism, or asperger syndrome. Child Development, 83(2), 469-485.

6. Miller, S. A. (2012). Theory of mind: Beyond the preschool years. New York, NY: Psychology Press.

7. Perner, J., Leekam, S. R., & Wimmer, H. (1987). Three-year-olds' difficulty with false belief: The case for a conceptual deficit. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 5, 125-137.

8. Kimbi, Y. (2014). Theory of mind abilities and deficits in autism spectrum disorders. Topics in Language Disorders, 34(4), 329-343.

9. Slaughter, V., Peterson, C., & Mackintosh, E. (2007). Mind what mother says: Narrative input and theory of mind in typical children and those on the autism spectrum. Child Development, 78, 839-858.

10. Ruffman, T., Slade, L., & Crowe, E. (2003). The relation between children's and mothers' mental state language and theory-of-mind understanding. Child Development, 73(3), 734-751.

The Hanen Centre is a Canadian not-for-profit charitable organization with a global reach. Its mission is to provide parents, caregivers, early childhood educators and speech-language pathologists with the knowledge and training they need to help young children develop the best possible language, social and literacy skills. This includes children who have or are at risk for language delays, those with developmental challenges such as autism, and those who are developing typically.
Click on the links below to learn more about how Hanen can help you help children communicate:

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Tuning In to Others: How Young Children Develop Theory of Mind

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Having a theory of mind means understanding that other people's thoughts and feelings may be different from your own. Children with autism have difficulty developing theory of mind, which can make social interactions difficult. Find out what you can do during everyday interactions with your child to help him tune in to the thoughts and feelings of others.

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Protocol

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Enhancing Emotional Vocabulary in Young Children

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Enhancing Emotional Vocabulary in Young Children

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Article 31

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International Play Association (IPA World)

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This Is Me : Article 31 and a Child's Right to Play

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Social and Emotional Understanding

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Using Children's Books

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SED: Social and Emotional Understanding

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Mindfulness Meditation for Educators (during the covid-19 period)

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Inspirational

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Award Winning Short Film - Motivational Video for WhatsApp Status

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Dr. Brene Brown

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RSA Shorts: Dr Brené Brown, "The Power of Empathy"

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Sesame Street

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Self-Regulation Skills: Why They Are Fundamental

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Self-Regulation

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Five Finger Breathing | a simple guided breathing exercise for kids

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Conscious Discipline

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The Center for Optimal Brain Integration® (COBI), launched in 2019 is built on over 30 years of experience in the field of trauma-responsive, engaging, strength-based and resilience building practices. When I launched COBI, there was a single objective, and that is to give a VOICE to all children and adults who have experienced trauma.

We wanted to offer an approach that is based in research and evidence informed. It is an approach that holds high quality standards (we call it a North Star approach) without losing the core purpose (we call it the Heart of our work), helping children and adults find a path for healing. With almost half the nation's children having experienced at least one or more types of serious childhood trauma (National Survey of Children's Health, www.childhealthdata.org/learn/NSCH), this translates to an estimated 34,825,978 children nationwide. (Trauma Informed Practices for Early Childhood Educators: Relationship-Based Approaches that Support Healing and Build Resilience in Young Children Nicholson, Perez and Kurtz). We can't afford to wait to build tools in our toolbox of responsive, engaging and healing practices.

At the Center for Optimal Brain Integration® (COBI), we offer many platforms for adult learning for smaller programs to larger counties.

Contact us and together we will design a service delivery that fits your individual and organizational needs.

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Trauma Training | Center for Optimal Brain Integration

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At the Center for Optimal Brain Integration (COBI) we conduct training and consultation internationally. Training can be designed to meet the unique needs of your organization, small or large. We have experienced and master level trainers on our team and together we can meet your diverse needs.

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The scientific case for learning through play

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Play is how children thrive. In our paper ‘Learning Through Play: a review of the evidence’ we look at the science behind the power of play - showing how it helps children pick up the skills to take on the 21st century

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Addressing Trauma in the Early Years

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wenger-trayner - Social learning theorists and consultants

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Introduction to communities of practice - wenger-trayner

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Introduction to communities of practice a brief overview of the concept and its uses Etienne and Beverly Wenger-TraynerJune 2015 Table of contents A community of practice storyWhat are communities of practice?What do communities of practice look like?Where does the concept come from?Where is the concept being applied?Myths about communities of practiceFurther reading A community of practice

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Success Analysis ProtocolWith Reflective Questions

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Description

A process for looking at adult work and learning from our successes with reflective questions.

Last Updated

March 22, 2021

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Title Success Analysis ProtocolWith Reflective Questions Attribution [acf_ProtocolInfo_Attribution] Description A process for looking at adult work and learning from our successes with reflective questions. Last Updated March 22, 2021 [acf_ProtocolInfo_Related Tools]

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Description

The structure of the Consultancy helps presenters think more expansively about a particular, concrete dilemma. The Consultancy protocol has 2 main purposes - to develop participants' capacity to see and describe the dilemmas that are the essential material of their work, and to help each other understand and deal with them.

Last Updated

March 22, 2021

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Attribution [acf_ProtocolInfo_Attribution] Description The structure of the Consultancy helps presenters think more expansively about a particular, concrete dilemma. The Consultancy protocol has 2 main purposes - to develop participants' capacity to see and describe the dilemmas that are the essential material of their work, and to help each other understand and deal with them.

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Supporting Young Children's Learning and Well-being at Home

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Supporting Young Children's Learning and Well-being at Home

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Maslow Hierarch of Needs

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Caring for Each Other

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Your friends on Sesame Street are here to support you during the COVID-19 crisis. Our site is filled with rich content you can use with children to spark playful learning, offer them comfort, and help your whole family thrive.

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California Early Childhood Educator Competencies Supplemental Area -- Adult Learning and Coaching

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California Early Childhood Educator Competencies Supplemental Area -- Adult Learning and Coaching

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Zaretta Hammond on Coaching and Culture

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November 2019 | Volume 77 | Number 3
A Culture of Coaching Pages 12-13

In her book Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain (Corwin, 2018), Zaretta Hammond seeks to direct attention to the "cognitive aspects of teaching culturally and linguistically diverse students." For her, culturally responsive teaching is a multifaceted approach to fostering higher-order thinking and helping disadvantaged students become independent learners. A former teacher, Hammond believes that instructional coaches can play an essential role in helping educators grow in this practice.
You have misgivings about some current tendencies in professional development on culturally responsive teaching. Where do schools most often go wrong?
Culturally responsive teaching is about improving instruction and helping students of color who've historically been deprived due to structural inequities in our education system become better learners. When done right, it can be powerful in helping students improve their learning. But many educators confuse culturally responsive teaching with multicultural education or social justice education. There's nothing wrong with these things, but they're not about teaching children how to learn, which is the key. Unfortunately, in their haste to implement, schools oversimplify the algorithm-all the pieces that need to come together to get impact. Culturally responsive teaching is a multi-pronged methodology that works through synergy. As I detail in my book, it comprises cultural awareness, information processing, learning partnerships with students, and supportive learning environments. That's not the way it's generally promoted to teachers-it's promoted to them as a simple toolkit of strategies or surface content changes like adding diverse authors or including hip hop.
You say it's important for instructional coaches to generate "creative tension" with teachers in their work on culturally responsive teaching. What do you mean by that?
Good coaching is about being in partnership with teachers and helping them see what they need to do differently to get students to step into their learning in powerful ways. By generating creative tension, the coach can help the teacher see with new eyes what's often going too fast in the classroom, so the teacher can understand what's getting in the way. So, creative tension is a kind of gap analysis. We look into the classroom and help the teacher see current reality around the quality of relationships or who is carrying most of the cognitive load during instruction. That way, we are not just offering generic strategies, but truly helping the teacher get a sense of what she needs to keep doing because it's working and what she needs to stop doing because it's not working. What I see happening now is administrators expecting coaches to bring in a set of one-size-fits-all strategies, but not focus on improving ways to get students to actively process new content.
Are there reflective practices you'd recommend for instructional coaches who want to be better prepared to work with teachers on culturally responsive teaching?
Absolutely. Coaches need to sharpen their own equity lens first. They need to do their own "inside out" work around cultural proficiency and implicit bias. But they also have to delve into the science of learning. They have to understand the teaching moves that get underprepared students not only to re-engage, but also to learn at deeper levels. I'd strongly encourage coaches to engage in their own inquiry cycles and their own professional learning communities. Be a hawkish observer of student learning. Smart districts will invest in building capacity among their instructional coaching ranks before they roll out culturally responsive teaching to their teachers. They've typically done it kind of backwards, so that the coach is trying to learn alongside the teacher. That doesn't work.
Are there common red flags, in terms of teaching practice, coaches should be on the lookout for when helping teachers become more culturally responsive?
Yes, there are. Too often, in observations, we look for multicultural artifacts but don't look at whether students are becoming stronger learners. The first red flag is when a teacher makes culturally responsive teaching all about relationships but leaves instruction unchanged. The next one is, who's carrying the cognitive load? Is the teacher doing all the talking, and are the kids only talking when the teacher tells them they can, like in assigned group work? That's another misconception-that group work equals culturally responsive instruction. Doing more group work doesn't make the instruction culturally responsive. The coach has to understand what truly makes instruction "responsive" and assess how is the teacher igniting intellectual curiosity and chunking content so there are cognitive hooks that draw on students' understanding and current experience.
In your experience, what keeps teachers motivated as they do the difficult work of becoming culturally responsive educators? How can coaches help them keep the vision alive?
Well, I think the key is to start small. You can't just go in and say, "We're going to be culturally responsive in these four areas in 2 months." That's too much and unrealistic. You want to focus on a small, high-leverage step. It might be a shift in how feedback is delivered. Or it can be making the classroom an intellectually safe place so students aren't afraid to take risks. Or it might be a change in classroom routines or rituals. Coaches can help teachers find that "lead domino" of success. This creates curiosity and a process of inquiry that honors teacher knowledge and expertise.

Here's the thing: Coaching around culturally responsive teaching is about helping teachers improve the dynamic within the instructional core so that kids learn better, so they want to take on hard things. That's the dance of instruction, and it can be very exciting. That's what coaches are there to promote.
-Anthony Rebora
Editor's Note: This interview has been edited for space.

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Zaretta Hammond on Coaching and Culturally Responsive Teaching - Educational Leadership

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November 2019 | Volume 77 | Number 3 A Culture of Coaching Pages 12-13 In her book Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain (Corwin, 2018), Zaretta Hammond seeks to direct attention to the "cognitive aspects of teaching culturally and linguistically diverse students."

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Culturally Responsive Coaching is More Than Just Good Coaching

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Culturally Responsive Coaching is More Than Just Good Coaching

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A white colleague recently asked me, "Sarah, why do we need culturally responsive coaching? Isn't it just good coaching to be responsive to everyone?"

I had to give some thought to how I framed my response. The crux of the answer is, "No, it's more complex than that, " as is the answer to the parallel question about serving diverse learners: "Isn't it all just good teaching?" But I had to find the right words to explain this to my colleague and the others with whom I work as a culturally responsive coach.

It's true that effective coaching is always responsive and based in listening deeply to each individual. However, what's different for me as a culturally responsive coach is that I regularly set an intention to reflect on the role of social identity; the differences between myself, the teacher, or students; and the social political context in which the teacher is working. Before I open my mouth, I engage in self-talk: What do I think I know, and what might I be missing? How does my cultural lens give me insight, and how does it limit my understanding?

I want the teachers I support to learn about the diverse cultures and world-views of their students, examine unconscious biases, consider gaps in how they understand student behavior, make curriculum relevant and engaging, and raise rigor while cultivating a safe classroom environment. In a parallel process, I strive to model those same skills in working with the teacher.

Culturally responsive adult-to-adult relationships are foundational to forming school community where all adults and all students are able to thrive professionally, academically, and as whole beings. Click To Tweet

Often, the challenges teachers present to me are framed as neutral when they are, in fact, related to social context, culture, or race. Teachers often fail to recognize the assumptions that underlie comments like: "The curriculum is too hard for these students," "The students are too noisy," "They won't do homework," "They just don't have skills based on their home life," or "These parents don't value education."

In these situations, I push myself to move beyond color-blind or politically neutral coaching, to raise questions that help the teacher consider his or her perceptions of student behavior, engagement, or markers of intelligence and how those perceptions are influenced by identity and social location.

I'll admit there are times I'm tempted to respond to teacher frustration or desperation by guiding them toward a quick-fix instructional solution. But this would be a disservice to the teachers and, more importantly, to students.

In a parallel process, I also ask myself about my own perceptions. I reflect on what I think I know about the teacher. I am a white, middle-aged, middle-class, Jewish woman. In what ways are my and the teachers' identities similar or different? What might I need to learn more about the person I'm coaching? What do I know about my own triggers, and how they might surface in conversation?

As a white coach, how do I make it safe enough for teachers of color to share their struggles with me? How do I support white teachers to look beyond the lens of "whiteness" as they look at behavior and academic skills of racially diverse students and families?

''As a white coach, how do I make it safe enough for teachers of color to share their struggles with me?'' Click To Tweet
Naming identity
While I question myself about many kinds of differences between me and the adults I serve, race is the hardest and takes the most practice. For example, I recently prepared to observe Sally, a new, young, white teacher from a white suburban community working in racially diverse urban area.

Sally had asked me to collect data on a "certain group" of kids that often "call-out to disrupt the lesson." I observed three African American boys who did regularly call-out without raising hands, yet my data showed the comments were relevant and on topic.

My first coaching step was to share the data and then model naming the influence of "whiteness" on my interpretations.

"As a white observer of students of color, I always ask myself what I think I know, and what I might be missing," I said to Sally. "I know that having grown up in a segregated, white, middle-class community can affect my interpretations. I have a lot of influences that prime me to see loud, spontaneous behavior in kids of color as disruptive or threatening, where I might see the same behavior in white kids as merely exuberant. In this case, I have to ask myself, are the comments intending to disrupt, or could this be a learning strategy? The data I recorded shows the call-outs relate to what you're teaching."

Sally read over my notes and nodded thoughtfully. "Why are they calling out then?" she asks. "Why can't they wait for me to call on them like the other students do?"

I responded: "It's interesting. I've been reading and talking to other people who know more about different cultural learning styles than I do. From my own white perspective, I'm coming to understand how various nonwhite communities encourage a highly verbal learning style, where the audience is expected to interact out loud as they learn. I'm curious to see how the boys' exuberance to respond might be channeled into a different sort of participation structure where call-outs are welcomed and encouraged, and you still feel in charge as a teacher."

"What do you think that would look like?" Sally asked, looking perplexed, but still open. Now Sally and I had an entry point to a culturally responsive coaching conversation.
Radical humility
When I work with teachers of color, my self-talk questions are both similar and different from the ones I used with Sally. My starting place is radical humility, as I ask myself what I think I know and what I might be missing. Race is the topic I've been least prepared to talk about in my teacher training, coach training, or life experience.

One year I was assigned to coach Ted, an African American teacher about 20 years older than me. Ted related well to his students, but the curriculum he used in his alternative high school classes was built entirely around rote worksheets, which were not engaging the students or helping their comprehension.

Ted's school was one where most students had been pushed out of mainstream settings. I felt some urgency to see them engaged with curriculum that supported critical thinking and drew on their rich life experiences.

As a teacher and professional learning leader for the California Writing Project, I figured I was just the right person to jump in and demonstrate to Ted how much more his students were capable of when they engaged in writing process lessons. Ted responded politely to my offering but was surprisingly distracted when I came in to model lessons, even though the kids were more engaged than I had seen them previously.

Ted then began to withdraw, missing our appointments and not following up on my gently offered suggestions for follow-up lessons. At one point, after I called him at home to reschedule a missed meeting, he got frustrated with me and asked to have me replaced as his coach.

I was confused - the request seemed abrupt. At the same time, I was relieved. I considered Ted to be a resistant teacher, or one who was just not up to doing the extra work involved in a more engaging curriculum.

However, my supervisor insisted I try to work it out with Ted, starting with an apology. Reluctantly, I agreed.

"Ted, I'm sorry I called you on a Sunday," I said as I sat down at the desk across from him. "I didn't understand. I'm used to teachers working on Sundays. Including me."

"Do you want to understand?" he asked. His tone was calmer, and he looked at me directly. Did I want to understand? The question was uncomfortable. Had I come here to learn something or to defend myself?

"Yes," I said, hesitating. "I may need help to understand."

Ted chuckled. "True. You haven't tried too hard."

It became clear that he had a perception of me not trying too hard as a mentor. Ironically, that was how I had seen him as a teacher.

"I have a big life outside of this job, and Sundays are important to me."

"Oh yes, you must have church on Sundays," I replied.

"Don't put me in a box, little lady. Black people don't do any one thing the same. Do you want to 'figure me out,' or do you want to understand?"

"I do want to understand," I said, uneasy that I still wasn't getting it right. "I know someone like me might be missing a few things." "Someone like me" was the closest I could come at that point to saying "white person." I had not yet learned to use the muscle of naming whiteness. But I did want to make a bridge.

"On Sunday mornings, I do a radio show. It's a mix of my faith, Baha'i, and my own experiences and spiritual path. On Sunday afternoon, I meet with other black Baha'is."

"Really?" My undisguised astonishment was yet another flag of my white ignorance.

"I thought you'd be surprised. People often are. So I brought you something I wrote." Ted handed me a pamphlet he had written about using principles of the Baha'i faith to reach out to black teenage boys.

"You're a writer?" I stammered. "Why didn't you mention that when I talked about teaching the kids writing?"

"You didn't ask."

"No, I guess I didn't."

Did Ted think I assumed he couldn't have had professional writing experience because he is black? And, most difficult to ask myself, was it in any way true that that was my assumption? I hadn't checked for his prior knowledge, even though that's a basic practice in preparing teachers to use any new strategy. Had I even considered the possibility that he would know as much about writing as I did? Would I have asked different questions of a white person 20 years my senior?

I skimmed Ted's pamphlet. It was thought-provoking, clearly organized, with a distinctive writer's voice.

"Why didn't you tell me about your writing skills?" I asked.

"You didn't ask," he repeated. "You just jumped right in like you knew it all."

"That's true. I thought you only knew how to teach from worksheets. Why did you use so many worksheets when you know so much about how to write?"

"I was trying to do well with what they gave me to use. That's what I thought the job was."

I wasn't wrong about the need to move on from the worksheets, but I had been wrong about his motivation for using them. I had jumped in with the "best" way to teach without expressing curiosity about what Ted knew.

And I hadn't considered that Ted viewed our interactions through the lens of his own life experience, in which he had frequently received the message that the "white way" of teaching was presumed to be best by the majority of white teachers, school leaders, and other authorities he had worked with and studied under, and the myriad books about education that are written by white authors.

I felt embarrassed, especially because, as a former bilingual teacher, I had worked with many students and families from backgrounds different from my own. Now I wondered: What else had I missed?

"Do you ever share any of your journalistic work with your students?" I asked.

"No." Ted smiled and looked directly at me. "Do you think I should?" It was a genuine question.

I paused to take a breath. This was the first time in months of working with him that Ted had asked for my opinion on any teaching strategy. "Absolutely! I think the students would love it."

Ted nodded and jotted down a few notes. I breathed out a deep sigh. It was only now that we had begun a culturally responsive conversation and could begin the work of mentoring.
Cultivating awareness
With both Ted and Sally, the process of culturally responsive coaching began not with inquiry-based coaching questions, but with engaging in an internal process of self-talk, reflection, humility, naming race and social identity, and cultivating genuine curiosity. When coaches and teachers cultivate our awareness, we are better positioned to identify the variety of strategies that will support diverse students with rigorous curriculum in a respectful, safe classroom environment.

Engaging in this process with one another allow us to model and reflect on how to engage in culturally responsive practice with students and families. Culturally responsive adult-to-adult relationships are foundational to forming school community where all adults and all students are able to thrive professionally, academically, and as whole beings.
Sarah Young works as a consultant supporting teacher effectiveness for educational equity. She works as a coach and workshop facilitator with a special focus on culturally responsive practice, coaching skills, and adult social and emotional learning. Sarah@sarahyoungconsulting.com

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Culturally Responsive Coaching Is More Than Just Good Coaching | Learning Forward

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A white colleague recently asked me, "Sarah, why do we need culturally responsive coaching? Isn't it just good coaching to be responsive to everyone?" I had to give some thought to how I framed my response.

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Principles for Culturally Responsive Teaching

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There can be no recipe or script for culturally responsive teaching because every group of families and children has differing backgrounds and their own unique needs, capabilities and interests. Early childhood teachers need to know about this diversity in order to adapt their practice to suit the cultural practices, beliefs and values of the child and their family, and to support all children to participate fully and maintain their cultural identities. This guide offers some general, research-based principles and suggestions to empower teachers, in concert with families, to discover different ways of dealing with issues of diversity.

Reflecting on oneself and one's own culture

It is not possible to be sensitive to someone else's ways of being and doing until you are sensitive to the impact of your cultural values, beliefs and practices on your own behaviour with children. Exploration of your own cultural and ethnic identity should be an ongoing and evolving process in which you reflect upon your upbringing and family values, your cultural beliefs and biases, and the assumptions around learning and childhood to which they lead. These assumptions and beliefs will influence your perceptions (for example, of children's competency or agency), as well as your practices (such as soliciting children's opinions). Be aware that the practices and principles that are currently valid according to mainstream culture are not universally true, but also the product of a cultural context.

Reflect on particular decision points or teaching practices and interactions with diverse families that you find challenging or uncomfortable, in order to uncover hidden values and beliefs.

Consider in what ways your practices and routines are influenced by dominant cultural practices, particularly in regard to eating, sleeping, toileting, communication, reading and play.

Notice how pedagogical and bureaucratic practices, for example, valuing children's independence (which marks some children as needy or deficient), or notions of parent partnership (which is not appropriate or easy for some families), privilege some families over others, and critically examine whether your perspective on 'quality' early childhood education needs to be adapted to incorporate diverse perspectives.

Reflecting on other cultures

While ethnicity and culture must be recognised as important in the identity of children and families, stereotypes must be avoided. Gain some knowledge about the cultures of the children and families that attend your setting as a starting point for understanding children and families, but be aware that there are many differences between and within cultural groups, and that cultural identities are complex, fluid and multiple.

Develop your cross-cultural competency by immersing yourself in real life experiences in order to develop connections and deep understanding, and take every opportunity to become involved in family and community events.

Find out about the specific practices, perspectives and beliefs of families, and aim to understand.

Appreciate different ways of viewing children's development, which doesn't mean discarding your own beliefs and practices, but instead stretching your knowledge and thinking to be open to possibilities that are not necessarily incompatible.

Use minority families' multiple meanings and perspectives to help you deconstruct practice and critically challenge the status quo and longstanding pedagogical practices and beliefs.

Developing positive attitudes towards diversity

Attitudes related to being comfortable and supportive of diversity are more important to developing cross-cultural competencies than becoming an expert on every possible kind of cultural practice and belief. Research finds that culturally responsive early childhood settings in New Zealand have high levels of respect for culture. Positive attitudes involve commitment to culturally responsive practices and to social justice, genuine interest and curiosity to learn about families' cultures and lifestyles, flexibility and openness to change, humility, empathy and sensitivity.

Develop positive environments which are inclusive, safe, caring and respectful, where difference is seen as normal and there is unconditional acceptance for all children and families.

Enact values such as welcoming, kindness, hospitality, taking care of and responsibility for others, and respect, and reinforce them daily: for example, you might have a teacher stand at the door as families arrive and as they leave, to secure an interaction with each family for welcome and farewell.

Share a belief that all children can succeed and see success as complex in regard to children and families' diversity.

Working with families as a valuable resource

Genuine and heartfelt, long-term relationships are a key priority for bridging cultural distance and disconnect, and for learning about home practices and beliefs. Research shows that teachers find it difficult to build appropriate knowledge of children from minority backgrounds without parental input. Use strategies such as appropriate verbal and non-verbal communication, attentiveness, respect, sincerity, home visits and invitations for genuine collaboration, and allow lengthy periods for getting to know each other. Be careful that surface appearances do not influence your behaviours, interactions or perspectives, and try to suspend judgement and accept what families tell you as valuable information.

Promote conversation and dialogue through careful use of time and space, and lots of cups of tea or coffee. Convey to families that you really want to understand, and focus on receiving and acknowledging families' perspectives rather than on projecting your own ideas, or trying to interpret the situation from your own cultural, philosophical and pedagogical standpoint.

Engage in discussions about values, sharing your own experiences, beliefs and values, and encouraging families to talk about their own values, perhaps using general knowledge about a family's culture as a basis for conversation. Weave families' values into the curriculum and negotiate goals, pedagogies and programmes. Aim for a paralleling of different perspectives that grants value to each, rather than attempting to merge minority views into the dominant culture or picking the 'best' way.

Acknowledge and address cultural inequities and disadvantage. Be aware of common areas of disconnect and try to be proactive in identifying the critical issues for families. Create opportunities to discuss these in ways that are respectful, non-judgemental and participatory.

Encourage families to play active roles in the setting. Don't pressure families to share or perform aspects of their culture, but focus on valuing the cultural practices of minority families and building confidence in families to share their practices with the setting's community.

Encourage families to participate in constructing knowledge about children, and in decision-making about children's learning and development through conversations or e-portfolio annotations.

Observing and analysing

Analytical approaches which incorporate both observation of children and dialogue with families can be useful to help guide the construction of a culturally responsive curriculum. Theoretical frameworks such as 'funds of knowledge' (which focus on practices that are passed on through families over generations and adapted to new situations) can support you to recognise, value and explore children's interests, skills, knowledge and learning embedded in their everyday practices, routines and activities at home.

Spend time observing what families do and how they talk about what they do, as well as who children are, how they think, what they value and everything they can do.

Respond to conversations initiated by children and ask children about their families, what they did over the weekend, and what they are interested in. Notice the ways children communicate: consider how they do or do not use humour, relate to other people, approach new tasks and react to praise.

Look out for children expressing their working theories about their culture, identity and language, and intentionally plan conversations and provocations to encourage children to share their thinking.

Consider themes of power and inequity when observing children. For example, note patterns in interactions which indicate social exclusion, and ways in which children are using culturally diverse materials.

Responding

Cultural responsiveness involves interpreting and delivering the curriculum in a way that is effective for each child and appropriate to their social and cultural context. This will involve applying deep and critical thinking, and adapting and modifying your approach to teaching and learning as your understanding of the unique and diverse needs of children grows. Recognising all children are different doesn't mean they need the provision of different experiences but rather that you understand the diverse ways they respond to shared experiences. However, basing curriculum on children's lives and building on the social and cultural capital of children, families and teachers will allow for greater multicultural significance in the programme.

Design learning experiences that position children as experts in relation to their particular interests and funds of knowledge from home, and enable them to utilise familiar learning strategies. Make pedagogical decisions that suit children's particular characteristics and learning preferences rather than a generic ideal.

Value playful ways of knowing and being to empower children's language, play and ideas, and to create space for them to explore their home and community funds of knowledge.

Offer various opportunities to learn, including learning through observation, trying things on their own, or with a partner or group. Support children's own strategies for managing interactions and activities in the setting, and encourage the use of cultural strategies (such as home language, social choices such as high respect for teachers, parental practices, and attitudes to learning such as persistence and commitment) as well as interactions and relationships with peers and teachers of a similar cultural and language background.

Negotiate caregiving routines sensitively and use culturally familiar language and cultural norms in interactions with children, for example, using humour, or using direct requests ('put on your coat') rather than indirect requests ('do you think you could put on your coat?').

See all aspects of the curriculum, including ideas of child-centred play and exploration, as open to challenge and reworking, and find relevant, local concepts for responsive curriculum and assessment.

Explicitly interrogate incidents of racism and cultural stereotyping, and engage children's curiosity regarding social and cultural differences and similarities through group dialogue, problem solving and inquiry.

Resourcing

Resources can be found in staff, management committees, children, and families. Teachers and families may have skills that they have not shared, and children too have a high capacity to direct their own learning and play and to support each other. Research shows that, while children's learning experiences depends on the use of the cultural tools of the family, these cultural tools are only employed if the early childhood setting environment is receptive to them. When children can find their family culture in the setting and apply their cultural tools, they are able to mix, transfer and borrow skills, values and knowledges in order to have their needs met and experience success.

Physical resources should be responsive and sensitive to families' cultures and heritages, and embedded into the daily programme, rather than relegated to a wall display that is rarely referred to, or an occasional celebration of a cultural festival. Books, images and posters show children what and whom is valued, so these should reflect and validate children's cultural identities to help children feel emotionally secure, as well as offer them a range of positive identities and possible futures. Be aware that children who are unfamiliar with any of the practices or activities of the setting may be marginalised as they don't know what they are supposed to do. Activities such as hand painting and sand play, or questioning and verbalising opinions, may be unfamiliar to children of particular cultural backgrounds, or children might have difficulty adapting to a self-directed play environment. Providing dress up costumes or food props related to different cultures will do little to mitigate this.

Invite families into the setting and personalise opportunities for them to get involved. Seek people in the community to teach children about a different culture or language, but don't place boundaries around what might be contributed by a visitor, and try to build sustained and reciprocal relationships rather than one-off events.

If you have a minority cultural background, implement your own cultural resources within the setting's programme.

Be careful not to celebrate superficial differences (such as food choices) and dig deeper to identify resources that support children's and families' funds of knowledge.

Employ staff from different cultural backgrounds, and particularly staff who share similar cultural backgrounds to the families that attend your setting. While encouraging children to use their home languages with teachers and each other, also intentionally learn phrases from children so that you can build on their linguistic skills during learning and teaching. Encourage children to teach each other their home languages.

Offer open-ended and manipulative materials for children to construct and express meaning in their own way.

Further Reading

Cooper, M., & Hedges, H. (2014). Beyond participation: What we learned from Hunter about collaboration with Pasifika children and families. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 15(2), 165-75.

Durand, T. M. (2010). Celebrating diversity in early care and education settings: Moving beyond the margins. Early Child Development and Care, 180 (7), 835-48. doi: 10.1080/03004430802466226

Mitchell, L., Bateman, A., & Ouko, A. (2015). Teaching and learning in culturally diverse early childhood settings. Hamilton, NZ: Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research.

Understanding the families you work with: Reflective questions to uncover cultural differences.

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Principles for culturally responsive teaching in early childhood education - THE EDUCATION HUB

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There can be no recipe or script for culturally responsive teaching because every group of families and children has differing backgrounds and their own unique needs, capabilities and interests. Early childhood teachers need to know about this diversity in order to adapt their practice to suit the cultural practices, beliefs and values of the child and their family, and to support all children to participate fully and maintain their cultural identities.

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Virtual Reality & Nature (VRN) Lab, College of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States

Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States

Center for Ubiquitous Computing, Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

Nature exposure in virtual reality (VR) can provide emotional well-being benefits for people who cannot access the outdoors. Little is known about how these simulated experiences compare with real outdoor experiences. We conduct an experiment with healthy undergraduate students that tests the effects of 6 min of outdoor nature exposure with 6 min of exposure to a 360-degree VR nature video, which is recorded at the outdoor nature exposure location. Skin conductivity, restorativeness, and mood before and after exposure are measured. We find that both types of nature exposure increase physiological arousal, benefit positive mood levels, and are restorative compared to an indoor setting without nature; however, for outdoor exposure, positive mood levels increase and for virtual nature, they stay the same. The nature-based experience shows benefits above and beyond the variance explained by participants' preferences, nature and VR experiences, and demographic characteristics. Settings where people have limited access to nature might consider using VR nature experiences to promote mental health.

Introduction

Not everyone has access to natural environments. This is a public health concern because nature promotes human health and wellbeing by mitigating adverse environmental stressors and providing salutogenic experiences ( Depledge et al., 2011; Silva et al., 2018). Nearly two-thirds of Americans live in cities ( Humes et al., 2011) and may have less access to safe green spaces than other citizens ( Wolch et al., 2014; Rigolon et al., 2018a). Americans spend over a million days every two years in hospitals ( Henry, 2016) where most windows look onto grayspace rather than greenspace ( Trau et al., 2016). Over nine million adults in the United States and Europe live in assisted care facilities ( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016) that have limited nearby nature ( Artmann et al., 2017). Approximately 40 million Americans are physically disabled and may struggle to go outdoors ( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). Even people with access to nature do not always feel comfortable going outside or have sufficient time to do so ( Bixler and Floyd, 1999; Browning et al., 2017). These circumstances warrant the development of technologies that facilitate more frequent interactions with the natural world ( Depledge et al., 2011).

One inexpensive and convenient way to provide access to nature is 360-degree videos in virtual reality (VR) ( Depledge et al., 2011; Smith, 2015). VR has been defined as "inducing targeted behavior in an organism using artificial sensory stimulation, while the organism has little or no awareness of interference" ( LaValle, 2017, pg. 1). In spring 2019, all-in-one VR headsets became commercially available for $399 USD or less. Widespread interest and research activity in VR technology, however, began much earlier. The Ultimate Display was demonstrated by Sutherland (1965) to track the head of a user and adjusted the simple graphics on a wearable display, thereby giving the illusion of a virtual environment that surrounds the user. Popular and commercial interest in VR soared in the 1980s and then diminished across the 1990s, mainly because the technology was too costly or ineffective due to hardware limitations. During that time, the cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE) was introduced, whereby users entered a room that had computer graphics projected onto surrounding walls ( Cruz-Neira et al., 1992). The emergence of Oculus VR in 2012 caused a resurgence in popular interest because it delivered lower-cost VR headsets that leveraged the availability of smartphone hardware components, including inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors and displays that tracked movement ( Harris, 2019). In the fourth-quarter of 2018, all-in-one VR devices were announced, which required no additional components. Improvements continue to be made in lowering headset weight and cost, while improving display properties such as resolution and frame rate. Setup and computational demands for panoramic video viewing are lower than many targeted VR use cases. These recent advances make it easier for people to acquire and use this technology for therapeutic uses.

At least some of the benefits of nature exposure can be obtained through the visual and auditory exposure provided by all-in-one VR headsets. Attention restoration theory ( Kaplan, 1995) and stress reduction theory ( Ulrich, 1983) as well as the related scanning for threats theory ( Browning and Alvarez, 2019) explain how visual exposure to natural landscapes capture people's fascination and match human evolutionary history or personal experiences and familiarity. Numerous studies now show that 360-degree nature videos are therapeutic ( Maples-Keller et al., 2017; Jerdan et al., 2018; White et al., 2018) and improve mood within 6 ( Schutte et al., 2017), 9 ( Yu et al., 2018), or 15 min ( Anderson et al., 2017). In addition to improvements in mood, cognitive functioning and physiological stress levels also show some benefit from brief 360-degree videos of nature ( Gerber et al., 2017; Chung et al., 2018; Hedblom et al., 2019).

The literature is not clear on whether simulations of nature serve as substitutes for real nature experienced in the outdoors. On one hand, some participants have reported no difference in energy or stress after exposure to outdoor nature versus exposure to nature videos on TV ( Kjellgren and Buhrkall, 2010). On the other hand, real views of nature seen from windows have reduced physiological markers of stress more than virtual views of nature seen from wall-mounted TVs ( Kahn et al., 2008). VR may provide stronger beneficial effects of nature simulations than TV videos because of VR's high level of immersion. Immersion reflects the extent to which someone perceives themselves enveloped by, included in, and interacting with an environment ( Witmer et al., 2005). Compared to less immersive technologies, VR simulations are more realistic ( Hetherington et al., 1993), provide greater therapeutic benefits ( de Kort et al., 2006), and elicit more feelings of awe that are central to attention restoration theory ( Chirico et al., 2017).

Ultimately, further understanding of whether simulations of nature serve as substitutes for nature is warranted, including consideration of confounding factors. For instance, demographic factors can influence participant responses ( Hordyk et al., 2015; Riechers et al., 2018; Rigolon et al., 2018b; Tanja-Dijkstra et al., 2018). Also, corollaries to connectedness to nature measures, especially emotional reactivity to discomforting things in nature such as stepping in mud or animal droppings ( Shipley and Bixler, 2017; Kharod and Arreguín-Anderson, 2018) and the extent to which someone perceives nature as beautiful ( Zhang et al., 2014a, b; Cleary et al., 2017; Passmore and Holder, 2017), may affect the extent to which someone benefits from a VR nature experience. These latter confounding factors are particularly relevant, because they have been relatively neglected in past research.

Figure 1. Previous literature is unclear regarding the extent to which virtual nature exposure replicates the psycho-physiological benefits conferred by extensive physical exposure to nature.

Materials and Methods

Research Design

The effects of nature exposure on mood and restorativeness were studied with a between-subjects design. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) an outdoor forest setting; (2) a 360-degree video of that same forest setting replayed in a VR headset with noise-canceling headphones; or (3) an indoor setting with no visual or auditory access to nature (see Figure 2). Surveys on preferences toward nature, experiences in nature and VR, and demographic characteristics were conducted before the condition, and surveys on restorativeness were conducted after the condition. Surveys on mood were administered both before and after the condition.

Figure 2. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. Outdoor subjects (A) sat in a foldable chair outdoors in nature and indoor subjects sat in a foldable chair in front of a blank white wall (B) or sat in the same chair with a VR headset and noise-canceling headphones (C) experiencing the same audio and visual as the outdoor subjects (D). Verbal consent for publication of these images was received from each participant.

Physiological indicators of emotional arousal were measured using skin conductivity levels (SCL) to evaluate electrodermal activity. Increased SCL can represent positive or negative affective arousal ( Gross and Levenson, 1997) so self-report measures are required to determine the valence. We were interested in tonic conductance to represent the effect of continuous exposure to stimuli over several minutes ( Dawson et al., 2017). This approach has been previously employed in research that compares 360-degree nature videos with real nature exposure ( Kim et al., 2018). To measure SCL, Shimmer GSR+ sensor nodes were attached to the second and fourth finger of the participants' non-dominant hand, and raw data were processed in ConsensysPRO software ( Koussaifi et al., 2018) (Shimmer, Dublin, Ireland).

The experiment was run between September and December 2017 at an educational center adjacent to a hardwood forest. The center was located approximately 10 min from the university campus where participants were recruited. The indoor activities were conducted in a climate-controlled room with a thermostat set to 72-degrees Fahrenheit. The outdoor activities were limited to rain-free days in September and October 2017 when temperatures were between 70- and 80-degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures within this relatively narrow range are comfortable for most people and have little effect on between-subject analyses of electrodermal activity or affective valence ( Keller et al., 2005; Doberenz et al., 2011; Van de Vliert, 2016). Consistency between the indoor and outdoor activities controlled for potential differences in mood effects based on season ( Brooks et al., 2017), prevented participants from becoming distracted by colder temperatures ( Bielinis et al., 2018), and limited the confounding effects of the nervous system's response to wider temperature variations ( Gladwell et al., 2012). Temperature restrictions outdoors required randomly assigning fewer participants to that condition (see Supplementary Table S1).

An initial sample of 190 participants was recruited from a large university in the United States Midwest with an online pre-screening survey. Using a conservative effect size (Cohen's d = 0.32; Cohen, 1992) relative to past studies on between-condition mood effects of nature exposure in VR ( Schutte et al., 2017), we specified the desired sample size of 30 per condition (90 participants total) at 80% power. Potential participants were excluded if they had a diagnosed mood disorder, took prescription medication for mental health illness, ingested caffeine within 6 h, used tobacco or alcohol or non-prescription drugs that they normally don't take within 24 h, engaged in intense physical activity within 24 h, or had visual or hearing impairments that might interfere with the immersive quality of the VR experience. A total of 143 students were deemed eligible and 98 volunteered to participate in the experiment. Of these 98, several surveys were incomplete and there were cases of equipment failure. Therefore, mood and restorativeness data were generated for 89 participants and SCL data were generated for 65 participants (see Supplementary Table S1).

Experimental Conditions

The VR condition was a 6-min 360-degree video composed of audio and visual stimuli captured at the same location as was shown to outdoor participants. These stimuli were recorded using the Samsung Gear 360 camera and a Zoom H1 external microphone. The videos were stitched together using Gear 360 ActionDirector (Samsung, Seoul, South Korea) and adjusted for brightness and contrast levels in Premiere Pro (Adobe, San Jose, CA, United States). In line with previous research on simulations of natural landscapes, the height of the video was at chest-level (approximately 1.5 m from the ground) ( WallGrün et al., 2019) and filmed from a static location to minimize visual-vestibular conflict ( LaValle, 2017). The soundscape was identical to the outdoor condition; it included bird songs, flowing water, and intermittent distant sounds of people and vehicles. Participants watched this video in the 2015 Samsung Gear VR headset with a Galaxy Note 5 smartphone inserted. They listened to the soundscape in Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7B QuietPoint Active Noise-Canceling Closed-Back headphones. After the video concluded, a researcher took the headset and headphones off the participant's head and administered the post-condition survey. The video shown to participants is viewable online on a two-dimension computer screen or in a headset at https://youtu.be/zjxafEiJkSw. The audio volume levels in this uploaded video are quieter when heard through a computer than when heard through a VR headset and noise-canceling headphones.

Each condition consisted of 6 min of sitting as well as 6 min of walking. For the sitting component, participants were asked to "try to relax and enjoy the setting." We chose 6 min of sitting based on past research showing this length of time is needed to elicit psychological and physiological responses when participants are exposed to natural environments in VR ( Anderson et al., 2017; Schutte et al., 2017). The walking component occurred both before and after the sitting component; 3 min of walking was required to travel to and from the educational building to the site where the participants sat outside. Because walking can improve mood in restorative and non-restorative settings ( Gidlow et al., 2016), we instructed participants who were assigned to the indoor conditions to walk for 6 min on a 4 m × 3 m green rug before and after their sitting session. This study design approved by the Institutional Review Board at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Measures

Benefits From Nature

Figure 3. Study design.

Preferences Toward Nature

Two preferences toward nature were measured: disgust and beauty. The former was measured with the Disgust Sensitivity Scale ( Bixler and Floyd, 1999). Participants rated the extent to which they felt disgusted by experiences encountered in the natural world (e.g., "getting itchy from dust and sweat on my skin," "having to sit on the grounds in the woods," and "finding a tick crawling up my leg") on a five-point Likert scale ranging from "Not at all disgusting" to "Very disgusting." A total disgust score was calculated from the sum of responses to the 15 items (α = 0.93), with higher scores indicating greater levels of disgust.

The extent to which people were associated the natural world with beauty was measured with a four item Natural Beauty Subscale of the Engagement with Beauty Scale (EBS) ( Diessner et al., 2008). These items (e.g., "I notice beauty in one or more aspects of nature") were ranked on a seven-point Likert scale from "Very unlike me" to "Very much like me," and a total score was calculated from the sum of all responses (α = 0.82).

Experiences in Nature and Virtual Reality

Participant's experiences were measured with two indicators. First, we asked participants whether they had experienced VR before, and if so, how often they had used it. Response categories ranged from 1 ("No, never used it") to 6 ("Yes, more than ten times"). Second, we assessed nature exposure by asking participants whether they had visited a natural area like the one utilized in the outdoor condition in the past year from a single-item measure ( Browning et al., 2018). Response categories ranged from 1 ("0 times in the last 12 months") to 9 ("Five or more times per week, for most weeks in the last year").

Demographic Characteristics

We collected data on participant's sex, age, and race. There were two dominant racial/ethnic groups in our sample: non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic Asian. The dummy-coded race variable used to designate non-Hispanic White can thus be interpreted as pointing primarily to differences between non-Hispanic White and Asian participants in our sample.

Statistical Analyses

Most data analyses were performed in R version 3.4.2 (Vienna, Austria). Normality tests on outcome variables were performed using a visual inspection of QQ-plots, Skewness and Kurtosis with a critical value of 3.0 and Shapiro-Wilks and Anderson-Darling tests with an alpha of 0.05. Positive affect values were normally distributed. Ordered quantile normalization, which combines risk-mapping and shifted logit approximation, indicated that Yeo-Johnson transformations would best normalize pre- and post-condition negative affect values and restorativeness values, which were all positively skewed ( Peterson, 2018). Transformed perceived restorativeness values passed all normality tests. Pre- and post-condition negative affect values returned acceptable Skewness and Kurtosis values and relatively normal plots but statistically significant Shapiro-Wilks and Anderson-Darling tests, p < 0.001. Therefore, non-parametric tests and tests of heteroscedasticity for regression models with these variables were used.

Descriptive statistics including mean values and standard deviations for outcome variables at each point in time (i.e., before and after the 6-min condition) were calculated for each group to ensure baseline levels were equivalent. The two control variables with continuous measures (disgust and beauty), were compared across groups using one-way ANOVAs. Frequency counts for single-item measures including VR and nature experiences were examined using chi-squared tests to determine whether these behaviors occurred at different frequencies between groups and to ensure randomized groups had similar experiences. Non-parametric Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to examine within group pre- to post-condition differences for negative affect. Paired sample t-tests were used to compare within group pre- to post-condition differences for positive affect.

To test for a potential novelty effect of first-time VR users ( Leite et al., 2019), we conducted a factorial ANOVA-condition × previous experience with VR-for each of the outcome variables (i.e., perceived restoration, change in positive affect, and change in negative affect; Chirico and Gaggioli, 2019). As a sensitivity analysis, we reran ANOVA models with previous VR experience recorded as a binary variable: "0" no experience ( n = 49), and "1" = any amount of experience ( n = 33).

To test for between-group effects, we performed stepwise regressions with post-condition affect and restorativeness as dependent variables. For positive and negative affect, base models included pre-condition affect scores as well as demographic characteristics. For restorativeness, the first model was the same as the models with affect as the dependent variable, but no pre-condition score was added. Second models added the two nature conditions coded as dummy variables with the indoor control condition used as the reference group. Third models added nature and VR-related individual difference variables, including preferences toward nature and experiences in VR and nature. Differences in model fits were compared with ANOVA. Breusch-Pagan tests were used to determine whether coefficients in regression models with non-normally distributed dependent variables (i.e., negative affect) were robust to assumptions of heteroscedasticity.

Trajectories of physiological arousal were analyzed using growth curve modeling in the HLM software program ( Raudenbush et al., 2017) (Scientific Software International, Inc., Skokie, IL, United States). Participants' repeated SCL scores (i.e., means for twelve 30 s intervals across the nature or the control condition, natural log-transformed to correct skew) were modeled with linear and curvilinear growth terms to describe participant trajectories. Models were centered at the sixth point in time so that intercepts represented estimated SCL levels at the midpoint of the condition. Linear terms represented the tendency to show increasing or decreasing SCL at that time. Quadratic terms represented the overall SCL dynamic across the 6 min (rising and then falling, flat, or falling and then rising). A second set of models was created to include predictors that could explain differences in SCL trajectories across participants. These included: (a) study condition, and (b) post-condition affect, controlling for pre-condition affect. All models controlled for baseline SCL levels (means across two pre-condition 30 s intervals).

Similar to past analytical approaches to evaluate the psychological benefits of nature simulations, we tested for and removed outliers ( Jiang et al., 2016). These were identified by calculating the squared Mahalanobis distance using positive and negative affect, restorativeness, disgust, and engagement with beauty survey responses ( Harris et al., 2017). For non-normally distributed outcome variables, transformed values were used. Using a critical value of 3 × SD of the Mahalanobis Distance, we removed four participants from the dataset. Outlier detection was also conducted for our physiological sample using the same critical value and the SCL levels. We removed five participants from that sample. All analyses were re-run without outliers removed, but no differences in the results were found.

Results

Descriptive Statistics

Our sample consisted of 43 male and 39 female participants with a mean age of 20 ( SD = 1.2). Twenty-nine were non-Hispanic White, 44 were Asian or Asian-American, and the remaining participants were African-American, Hispanic/Latino, or mixed (see Supplementary Table S2).

Participants were slightly inclined toward engagement with natural beauty. Mean scores were 5.3 ( SD = 1.0) on a scale from 1 to 7, with higher numbers representing more engagement. These values did not vary between conditions, F(2, 79) = 0.046, p = 0.95.

Participants reported moderate levels of disgust sensitivity toward nature. Mean scores were 3.0 ( SD = 0.94) on a scale from 1 to 5, with higher numbers representing more disgust. The experiences reported to be most disgusting were not experienced by participants who went outdoors. These experiences included roach crawling across hand ( M = 4.2, SD = 1.0), tick biting scalp ( M = 3.9, SD = 1.2), tick crawling up leg ( M = 3.7, SD = 1.3), and accidentally touching a slug ( M = 3.6, SD = 1.3). Again, the average level of disgust sensitivity toward nature did not vary between conditions, F(2, 79) = 0.071, p = 0.93.

The majority of participants had not experienced VR. Participants reported never using VR (60% of the sample) or using it once (18%), two to three times (16%), four to six times (2%), or six or more times (4%). VR experiences did not vary between conditions, χ ² (8) = 10.5, p = 0.23.

Approximately half of the participants had visited a nature-based park more than once but less than ten times in the last 12 months. Only 6% reported never visiting a park in this period, with 10% reporting one time, 30% 2-5 times, 26% 6-9 times, 15% 10-14 times, and 13% 2 times per month or more in the past year. Reported visitation rates did not vary between conditions, χ ² (16) = 20.9, p = 0.18.

Potential for Novelty Effect

We found no significant interaction effect of condition with previous VR experience on perceived restorativeness, [ F(2,76) = 1.96; p = 0.148]; change in positive affect [ F(2,76) = 2.02; p = 0.118]; or change in negative affect, [ F(2,76) = 1.59; p = 0.210]. In sensitivity analyses with previous VR experience recoded as a binary variable, the interaction terms were not significantly significant in models with perceived restorativeness or in models with negative affect, p > 0.05. We found one significant interaction term in models with positive affect, [ F(2,76) = 4.11, p = 0.0202]. However, Tukey post-hoc comparisons indicated no significant difference in changes in positive affect between people with VR experience and people without VR experience: for the group with no VR experience, −0.22 ( SD = 0.45); for the group with some VR experience, 0.17 ( SD = 0.51); and the difference between the two groups = −0.386 [−0.880, 0.108], p = 0.214.

Mood Effects

The indoor control condition and the outdoor nature conditions - but not the VR nature condition - resulted in statistically significant changes in positive affect. The mean positive affect for the outdoor group increased from 3.37 ( SD = 0.49) before the condition to 3.54 ( SD = 0.66) after the condition, t(21) = 2.14, p = 0.044. In contrast, the mean positive affect for the control group decreased from 3.00 ( SD = 0.68) before the condition to 2.42 ( SD = 0.71) after the condition, t(29) = −4.94, p < 0.001. No change in the VR group was present, t(29) = 0.28, p = 0.78.

Table 1 shows how demographics, nature exposure, and other potential confounders predicted post-condition positive affect. The base model with demographics and pre-condition levels explained 56% of the variance. Adding the nature conditions increased model fit and explained 13% more variance ( Table 1, Model 2), F(2) = 20.1, p < 0.001. Both nature condition effects were positive and statistically significant, p < 0.001, indicating VR nature and outdoor nature resulted in higher positive affect scores relative to the control. Differences between conditions remained statistically significant after adjusting for preferences toward nature and experience in nature and VR experience ( Table 1, Model 3). This fully adjusted model explained 73% of the variance in the post-condition positive affect scores, which was more than the previous model, F(4) = 3.8, p = 0.0073. Engagement with beauty was the only predictor beyond condition and pre-condition levels that predicted post-condition affect, p = 0.001.

Table 1. Results from regression of post-condition positive affect on demographics (model 1), condition (model 2), and additional confounders (model 3) following virtual and physical nature exposure (no nature exposure serves as the control condition).

In contrast to positive affect findings, we found a statistically significant reduction in negative affect across all three conditions. Mean negative affect values dropped from before the condition to after the condition as follows: for the outdoor group, 1.23 ( SD = 0.20) to 1.17 ( SD = 0.23), p = 0.034; for the control group, 1.38 ( SD = 0.27) to 1.20 ( SD = 0.57), p < 0.001; for the VR group, 1.32 ( SD = 0.37) to 1.24 ( SD = 0.46), p = 0.030. Regression models with demographics and pre-condition negative affect levels explained 57% of variance, F(77) = 28.6, p < 0.001; however, adding the two nature exposure conditions to the model did not improve the model fit, F(75) = 1.79, p = 0.17. The variance of the errors in this model displayed moderate heteroscedasticity (Breusch-Pagan test value = 18.7(10), p = 0.045). In combination with paired sample t-tests, these findings suggest no difference between conditions in changes in post-condition negative affect levels was likely.

Restorativeness

VR and outdoor nature exposure conditions predicted greater restorativeness than the control condition even after adjusting for demographics and other potential confounders (see Supplementary Table S3). The model with demographics predicted 15% of the variance in restorativeness and adding the two condition variables explained an additional 14%. This change in model fit was statistically significant, F(2) = 12.5, p < 0.001. Both outdoor and VR nature conditions were positively and statistically significantly associated with restorativeness relative to the control. Adding preferences toward nature and experience in VR and nature explained another 9% of the variance, which was a statistically significant improvement in model fit, F(4) = 2.94, p = 0.026. Similar to positive affect regression models, engagement with beauty was the only significant predictor of restorativeness other than the condition in the fully adjusted model, p = 0.008.

Physiological Effects

Table 2. Study condition and post-condition affect related to skin conductance trajectories.

Figure 4. Skin conductance level (SCL) trajectories differed between control and nature conditions (A) and by post-condition positive affect levels after controlling for pre-condition positive affect levels (B). Lines on the left (A) depict predicted trajectories in the control, outdoor nature, and VR nature conditions. Lines on the right (B) depict high (75th percentile) and low (25th percentile) values of reported positive affect in the two nature conditions (outdoors or VR). In both graphs, time represents 30 s intervals centered on the midpoint of 12 SCL measurements during the 6-min condition.

Discussion

We compared changes in mood, restorativeness, and physiological arousal after 6 min of exposure to outdoor nature, VR nature, and an indoor control in a sample of healthy undergraduate students. Nature exposure outdoors boosted positive affect and VR preserved positive affect compared with sitting indoors with no nature exposure, which diminished positive affect. Virtual and outdoor nature showed higher post-condition positive affect levels even after adjusting for preferences toward nature, experiences in VR and nature, and demographics. Outdoor nature and virtual nature were rated as equally restorative and both resulted in physiological arousal associated with positive affect. Engagement with beauty (i.e., the extent to which someone recognizes the natural environment as aesthetically pleasing) and race measured as the percent not identifying as non-Hispanic White were the only covariates positively associated with mood outcomes, although the effects of race attenuated in fully adjusted models. Disgust sensitivity, experience in nature or VR, age, and gender were non-significant.

This study extends previous research findings on virtual nature and its impact on mood. Similar to other studies with 360-degree videos of VR nature ( Anderson et al., 2017; Schutte et al., 2017), we observed that positive affect remained constant in the virtual condition while negative affect decreased. This finding complements a growing body of research that suggests negative affect is more commonly impacted by simulated nature exposure than positive affect ( Lohr and Pearson-Mims, 2000; van den Berg et al., 2003). There are multiple reasons why positive affect could show little change after a simulated nature experience. Participants might become bored or disconnected while viewing pictures or videos of environments, and boredom and disconnection are incompatible with positive affect ( Kjellgren and Buhrkall, 2010; Brooks et al., 2017). Also, stress reduction theory explains that natural landscapes promote wellbeing in part because of human's unconscious identification with these landscapes for their evolutionary needs ( Ulrich, 1983). Being outdoors in a restorative natural environment with food, water, shelter, and raw materials can help people survive. People would not be able to access these elements in a virtual natural environment. Simulated nature might primarily benefit negative affect because previous research ( Lohr and Pearson-Mims, 2000; van den Berg et al., 2003) and attention restoration theory ( Kaplan, 1995) suggest that if people feel like they are away from their everyday demands through visual access to nature, these feelings can interrupt cognitive demands and maladaptive patterns of thought. Such demands and patterns manifest themselves in reductions of negative affect but not necessarily increases in positive affect ( Golding et al., 2018). We found that positive affect was greater in the VR condition than in the control condition. This aligns more with the findings from outdoor nature research than with simulated nature research ( McMahan and Estes, 2015; Neill et al., 2018). Therefore, it is possible that immersive 360-degree videos of nature, in the absence of cybersickness, provide a more realistic and beneficial experience across multiple domains of mood (i.e., positive and negative affect) than other types of simulations.

Strengths and Limitations

The major strength of this study is our employment of a novel technology that has promise for mental health promotion, given its low cost and convenience. While some recent research has used this technology, the effects of outdoor nature exposure adjusted for a range of individual differences related to nature and VR experience, preferences, and cybersickness have not been examined. Another strength of this study is its comparison between outdoor nature exposures and VR nature exposure using a 360-degree video from the outdoor nature exposure location, which has been done in only a few other studies ( Calogiuri et al., 2018; Yin et al., 2018). Furthermore, we used a between-subject design, which removed cross-over effects potentially present in previous research that has compared virtual nature to outdoor nature.

Ideally, our study would have had a fourth condition-a 360-degree video of a complex scene without natural elements-to test whether nature or novelty was responsible for the observed effects. While the current results suggest previous experience with VR did not influence the restorative outcomes of simulated natural environments, this would have been better tested directly with an additional control condition. Limitations to budget and timeline allowed random assignment of participants to only three conditions, however.

Opportunities for Future Research

This study can serve as a springboard for a line of future research focused on the benefits of exposure to nature through mobile VR technology. We recommend testing the effects of repeated exposures to VR nature. The preservation of positive affect that we observed may have been a result of not just the restorativeness of the 360-degree nature videos but also the novelty of VR. Indeed, past research has found psycho-physiological responses to virtual environments ( Jang et al., 2002; Leite et al., 2019). Incorporating heart rate variability (HRV) would be a useful next step in interrogating mood-relevant arousal because HRV is a low-cost and non-invasive measure to measure parasympathetic activation (see the model of neurovisceral integration, Thayer et al., 2009). Future research should also inform decisions about the necessary "dosages" of outdoor and virtual nature needed to elicit clinical effects. Laboratory studies could incorporate more sensory inputs than we have done, such as the smells of nature ( Hedblom et al., 2019), to create more immersive and potentially restorative experiences, or overlaying complementary therapeutic modalities such as slow-paced breathing and biofeedback ( Blum et al., 2019). Studies in clinical settings or densely populated areas where residents do not have safe access to nature could examine whether these potential users would benefit from VR nature. To control for potential expectancy and smartphone restriction effects, research could combine restorative environmental exposures with opportunities to engage in social media during the control conditions ( Jiang et al., 2018). Alternatively, researchers could use alternative methods to laboratory studies, such as ecological momentary assessments ( Beute and de Kort, 2018; Isham et al., 2018), to reliably capture the impacts of nature exposure during daily living. We are aware of only one study that has compared psychological and physiological responses to both physical and virtual environments that include either predominantly built or natural elements ( Yin et al., 2018). The current study employed a physical control condition, but future work could use a VR control condition to ensure that nature is responsible for the observed affective response. Last, mood changes may not represent the full suite of cognitive and emotional benefits of nature ( Gamble et al., 2014). As such, we recommend additional measures (i.e., attention depletion tasks before each condition and cognitive functioning tasks after each condition) to compare the benefits of virtual and real nature.

Conclusion

Six minutes of nature exposure in mobile VR headsets produced similar effects as 6 min of outdoor nature exposure. Both of these conditions were superior to sitting indoors with no exposure to nature. Both virtual and outdoor nature exposure resulted in a pattern of increasing physiological arousal associated with higher positive affect, although only the outdoor nature condition showed measurable increases in positive affect. Short and isolated exposure to a 360-degree video of nature may provide an emotionally beneficial alternative to visits to outdoor nature in healthy student populations who might not otherwise access restorative outdoor environments. Further research is needed on repeated exposure to virtual versus nature-based experiences in other populations.

Data Availability Statement

The datasets generated for this study are available on request to the corresponding author.

Ethics Statement

This study involved human participants and was reviewed and approved by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign [Institutional Review Board (approval #17488)]. The participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author Contributions

MB and KM conceived of and conducted the study with assistance from SL. HL completed the physiological data analysis. MB collected all data and analyzed the non-physiological data. All authors, including CR and SL, contributed to framing and writing the manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by a pilot grant from the Center for Health, Aging, and Disability in the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as well as support from the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism at the same university.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Urbana Park District for the use of their facilities; Kiel Gilleade for guidance on biosensors and data analysis; Eric Fassbender for consulting on VR equipment and video shooting; Mitchell Fransen for filming, stitching, and editing the 360-degree video; Brian Ogolsky on guidance on data analysis; Gopi Krishna for figure design; and Jake Benfield, Lara Browning, Wonjun Choi, Yichu "Effie" Lu, Mona Jawad, Connie Mutel, Sadia Sabrina, Fatemeh Saeidi-Rizi, Syama Spencer, and Stacey Yu for assisting with guiding participants through the experiment.

Supplementary Material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02667/full#supplementary-material

Footnotes

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Can Simulated Nature Support Mental Health? Comparing Short, Single-Doses of 360-Degree Nature Videos in Virtual Reality With the Outdoors

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Nature exposure in virtual reality (VR) can provide emotional well-being benefits for people who cannot access the outdoors. Little is known about how these simulated experiences compare with real outdoor experiences.

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Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.   -John Wooten

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Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.   -John Wooten

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6 Strategies to support families Wisconsin Center for Education Resource

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A Protocol to Support Professional Visitation

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Title

Appreciative Inquiry: A Protocol to Support Professional Visitation

Attribution

An adaptation of the Inquiry Circle Protocol developed by Betty Bisplinghoff and Frances Hensley.

Description

To generate robust inquiry questions that can lead our work in support of small school conversion and school transformation.

Last Updated

March 30, 2017

[acf_ProtocolInfo_Related Tools]

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Appreciative Inquiry: A Protocol to Support Professional Visitation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Title Appreciative Inquiry: A Protocol to Support Professional Visitation Attribution An adaptation of the Inquiry Circle Protocol developed by Betty Bisplinghoff and Frances Hensley. Description To generate robust inquiry questions that can lead our work in support of small school conversion and school transformation.

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Exploring Nature With Your Five Senses | PBS KIDS for Parents

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Encourage your child to tune into their senses as they experience what the world around them smells like, looks like, feels like, sounds like, and even maybe...

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National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations (NCPMI)

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