In this episode of the #SoMeInsights Podcast, Dante Licona and Matthias Lüfkens talk to Laurens Soenen, the Communications Coordinator for the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU @EU2024BE, and a Communication Strategist for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium.He shared insights about how a team of young professionals carried on the …

In this episode of the #SoMeInsights Podcast, Dante Licona and Matthias Lüfkens talk to Jana Borges, the Head of Audio-visual and Social Media at the World Trade Organization (WTO).She shared how her team works with zero tolerance for jargon for some of the content, and focuses on creating content that is good for WTO, good for their audience, and …

How do world leaders use social media in 2024?In this special episode of the #SoMeInsights Podcast, Dante Licona talks to co-host Matthias Lüfkens, who just released annual DigiTips ranking of World Leaders on Social Media. Matthias has been following heads of state and government and foreign ministers on social media for more than a decade.Social …

In this episode of the #SoMeInsights Podcast, Dante Licona and Matthias @luefkens talk to Steven Hardy, the Head of Social Media at @NATO . Before joining NATO, Steven worked for the UK Foreign Office in their social media communications team.He shared how NATO approaches digital communications, who are the target audiences, how closely they collab…

We discuss the end of year preschool graduation ceremony. Should we do it, how should we do it? Is it adult led or child led? Whose needs are we meeting and how can we find a balance to meet the needs of all stakeholders, children, parents/caregivers and educators? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

In this episode of the #SoMeInsights Podcast, Dante Licona and Matthias Lüfkens talk to Pablo Pérez Armenteros, the Team Leader for Audiovisual, Design & web at @EUIPO, the European Union Intellectual Property Office.Pablo is a social media pioneer. He spent considerable time in the Brussels corridors, where he served as the Head of Social Media fo…

In this episode of the #SoMeInsights Podcast, Dante Licona and Matthias Lüfkens talk to Kristina Belikova, the Communications Adviser to the President of Lithuania.A former journalist and diplomat, she has been supporting President Gitanas Nausėda #DigitalDiplomacy communications since 2019.Kristina shared insights on how #Lithuania - a relatively …

In this episode of the #SoMeInsights Podcast, Dante Licona and Matthias Lüfkens talk to Céline Schmitt, a humanitarian communicator. She recently served as the spokesperson in Paris for UNHCR —the UN Refugee Agency— and is now their Strategic Partnerships Advisor in Kabul, Afghanistan.Céline was recognized as a "LinkedIn Top Voice" and in this conv…

In this episode we talk about STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts and maths) in early childhood education. How and why would should we incorporate more STEAM into our ECEC practice, thinking of technology as more than screens, recognising the STEAM we already 'do' and intentionally extending children's STEAM learning using language an…

In the third episode of the #SoMeInsights Podcast, Dante Licona and Matthias Lüfkens talk to Toily Kurbanov, the Executive Coordinator of UN Volunteers.Toily is a hands-on leader who uses social media to "keep the finger in the pulse" and find the conversations that matter. He is actively present in several social media platforms and was recognized…

We have a really interesting chat with Leah Russell, early childhood lecturer, about what risky play is, how to provide for risky play and whether or not toy guns and gun play should be incorporated into the early childhood education setting. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

Did you hear about Kiribati over the last week? If so, it's thanks to our guest.In this *bonus* episode of the #SoMeInsights Podcast, Dante Licona and Matthias Lüfkens talk to Kabeia Rineaki Brock Sutton Allen, the person behind the @KiribatiGov account on X.com that has gone viral, reaching millions of views, and grabbing thousands of followers.In…

In the second episode of the #SoMeInsights Podcast, Dante Licona and Matthias Lüfkens talk to Aleksandra Kuzmanovic, the Social media advisor to Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO).Aleks shared what it takes to do her job, what it's like to interact with global leaders on a regular basis, and g…

With our guest. primary school teacher Dee O'Toole, we discuss the appropriate age for children to transition from early childhood education to primary school education. Why do children in Ireland start at 5 when most other OECD countries children start at 6 or 7. We wonder why some children don't avail of their second free ECCE preschool year and …

In the first episode of the SoMe Podcast, Dante Licona and Matthias Lüfkens talk to Heorhii Tykhi —Gosha Tykhi for his friends— the communications advisor to Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba. He shared the story behind the most challenging social media activation in recent memory, with the participation of 13 Foreign Ministers around the w…

We discuss implementing and maintaining quality standards in early childhood education and how Paula's new book "Síolta in Practice" can help educators make sense of the Síolta standards and how they are already implementing many of them in their daily ECEC practice. Paula's insightful and practical book has lots of great suggestions highlighting h…

Ever thought about opening up your own preschool ECEC setting and/or afterschool SAC setting in Ireland? Then this is the episode for you! From finding the right location and building to getting planning permission and Tusla certification - we chat about the important practical steps involved in opening up a new setting and making the transition fr…

In this episode we have an engaging and critical discussion as we review the proposed draft for updating the Aistear curriculum framework. We talk about the positives and provide our opinion on the changes including suggestions which we feel we would like to see incorporated into the forthcoming update. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mo…

In this episode we discuss the recent calls within the media for a publicly funded childcare (ECEC) model in Ireland. We discuss what it might look like and how it might be implemented and compare Ireland with Norway who already have a publicly funded model in place. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

In this episode we discuss the possibilities and pitfalls for using artificial intelligence (AI) as a tool in early childhood education and care. We think about how AI could potentially save us precious time on planning and documentation, the possibility of using facial recognition for parent or child access to the building or calculating our atten…

Our guest, Lewis Fogarty, joins us for a really interesting conversation about what professional confidence is and why it is an important skill for ECE educators to have. Lewis runs two early years settings in the UK so we chat with him about his journey as a man into a female dominated sector and how he fosters professional confidence and leadersh…

In this episode we discuss the emerging area of mindfulness based practice in ECEC with our guest Leesa Flanagan who is undertaking PhD research on this topic. Leesa tells us all about what mindfulness it, her journey to a mindful approach both in her life at home and in her ECEC practice and how we can use simple strategies to begin to introduce m…

In this episode we discuss how ECEC children can become involved in their communities, active citizenship and bringing the community in to the ECEC setting. We consider the barriers to Community Involvement and how to overcome them and we also hear about how Celine and her ECEC children get out and about and involved in her locality! Hosted on Acas…

In this episode Paula and Celine discuss how the name for the early childhood education and care sector (ECEC) in Ireland was changed to early learning and care (ELC) by the Government department with responsibility for the sector back in 2019. The internationally accepted term is ECEC, so why are we different? We take a look at the various issues …

In our last episode for 2022 we chat with Mick Kenny from the Men in Childcare network and the Association of Childhood Professionals on two topics: men working in early years and children who are experiencing disadvantage. Come back for season 2 in 2023! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

In this episode we take a critical look at the key person approach and ask if it is still the best approach to underpin interactions and relationships in ECEC and if it perhaps meets the needs of the adult more than the children? Although they key person approach was initially intended to support educators to meet the needs of the child we wonder i…

In this episode we talk to the wonderful Meredith Rose from Nottingham Trent University about pedagogical leadership. We explore what it actually looks like in daily ECEC practice and consider the factors which both impede and help promote pedagogical practice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

Paula and Celine engage in a lively discussion on the topic of a degree led ECE workforce. We wonder what is the driving force behind the decision to pursue a degree? Is it because practitioners want to do it or feel they have to do it? Do we need a 50% degree qualified practitioner workforce across the entire sector? What about the knowledge and e…

In this episode Paula and Celine interview Gillian Powell, author of the Thrive series of books on outdoor play and nature and ECE lecturer. We discuss why access to nature and the outdoors is vital to children's mental health and wellbeing and is a fundamental part of quality ECE. Gillian gives her insights into what a quality outdoor area in ECE …

We chat with Canadian Childcare Federation CEO Don Giesbrecht about Government funding of ECEC, the $10 a day childcare plan and professionalisation. So interesting and lots of parallels with the Irish sector as Canada are on a similar trajectory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

What are the similarities and differences between ECEC and Primary Education. How Aistear was rolled out and implemented differently in both sectors. Should children stay in ECEC until 6? In conversation with Simon Lewis on his podcast called "If I was the Minister for Education". Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.By Paula Walshe & Celine Govern

We discuss whether, by aligning an early childhood setting with a specific curriculum model such as Montessori, Steiner or Reggio, we can truly provide an emergent child led curriculum. Instead we consider a "patchwork curriculum" approach where various elements of many curricula are blended together to create a unique curriculum for each individua…

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.By Paula Walshe & Celine Govern

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.By Paula Walshe & Celine Govern