Hi! I’m Ron Grady, a preschool teacher by trade who now does research, art, and ongoing professional and pedagogical development related to all things early childhood.

I support teachers, schools, and organizations who are interested in listening to and learning from children’s voices, who care about tapping into the creative and intellectual capacities of their communities, and who care deeply about listening children and to approaching their lives and worlds with deep care and sustained attention.

My educator-oriented work—keynotes, workshops, and other consultations—takes a collaborative and reflective approach. In my view, teachers are not only educators, but also and as importantly, vibrant creatives, thoughtful intellectuals, and attentive translators of the experiences and worlds of the children in their care. When educators feel confident in and excited about the work they do each day, they not only feel better about themselves, but can also create more meaningful experiences for the children in their care and help families and the broader community see, value, and seriously respond to the richness of children’s worlds.

My research with children and my scholarship on the ways that they make meaning of and in their worlds (both educational and beyond) emerges from the premise that children are full human beings whose rich, layered experiences merit close attention and consideration. Another central thread of my work involves co-creating meaning with children through art, story, and image—each of which contributes in its own way to an ever-expanding constellation of understanding that helps children feel seen and the grownups that work with and care for them appreciate them all the more.