Steve Zwolak: Developing Emotionally Responsive Educators - Part 1

Karen welcomes LUME CEO Steve Zwolak to the show for part one of their conversation about developing emotionally responsive educators. Part two will be released on January 31st.

Steve Zwolak is the CEO of LUME Institute and Executive Director of University City Children’s Center. He has over 50 years’ experience as a student of children, tirelessly advancing and advocating for early childhood. Steve’s years as a classroom teacher and leader in the field of early childhood enabled him to build the LUME Approach to education, which focuses on Emotionally Responsive Teaching. The Approach emphasizes that the emotional development of children is critical to a child’s future success.

In addition, there is preliminary evidence that his work has the potential in closing the racial and socioeconomic achievement gap. We know the foundation for diversity, inclusion and equity are embedded in the emotional development of children in the first three years of life. Steve teaches teachers that there is a major watershed from 3 through 5 years of age, where children must begin to socialize their internal understanding of diversity, inclusion and equity to make it an embedded way of life.

Steve believes that as children are physically safe, they will feel emotionally safe, and then they can take social risk as they feel socially safe and finally they will be confident in their own competencies to take academic risk. “All learning happens in relationships."

Part One:

For More: LUME Institute

TEDx Talk- Steve Zwolak- Early In Life & The Importance of Early Childhood Education