Fred Rogers Institute Professional Learning Offerings

In the 1983 publication Mister Rogers Talks With Parents, Fred Rogers and co-author Barry Head wrote: "When I think of what [learning] 'readiness' means, there are six fundamentals that come immediately to my mind. They may not be everything a child needs to learn, but they certainly seem to me to be basic necessities. They are (1) a sense of self-worth, (2) a sense of trust, (3) curiosity, (4) the capacity to look and listen carefully, (5) the capacity to play, and (6) times of solitude." These six fundamentals have served as the basis of the Fred Rogers’ Institute’s programming for several years, and our workshops and speaking engagements on these six ideas have been tailored to classroom teachers, Head Start directors, children’s librarians, child abuse prevention agencies, and more. Sessions incorporate clips from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and other artifacts from the Fred Rogers Archive and consider the six fundamentals through the lens of a young person’s learning and growing, and through the lens of our own learning and growing as caring adults.

Simple Interactions is a practice-based, strengths-focused, and community-driven approach to support helpers by affirming the importance of human relationships in learning and development. This approach is collaboratively developed, broadly applied, and includes a freely accessible set of tools and resources to guide educators, parents, social workers, policymakers, and others to recognize and promote the most important resources in children's lives – their adult helpers. Through the work of Simple Interactions, we draw from the legacy of Fred Rogers and videos of real practice to encourage, enrich, and empower human interactions around children, youth, families, and their helpers in a number of ways including:

• Identifying and capturing developmental adult-child or adult-adult interactions in everyday practice
• Building and facilitating communities to learn and grow from what they already do well
• Communicating the science and practice of human interactions across systems
• Advocating for practices, programs, and policies that empower human interactions

Fred Rogers once said: “A computer can help you learn to spell hug, but it can never help you know the risk or the joy of actually giving or receiving one.” As digital technology continues to advance, families and children’s helpers must learn how to navigate the digital landscape and practice positive interactions within and around it. While we do not know what Fred would do, think, or say about current technology, we do know that he was an innovator in using the new technology of his time as a tool for education and connection.

Our Family Digital Wellness professional learning opportunity provides a number of strategies and insights related to healthy digital practices. Influenced by the Six Fundamentals of Learning and Growing, we welcome participants to reflect on the ways they perceive and use technology in their family unit.

During this professional learning experience, teams of early childhood educators and care providers are invited to join for a half- or full-day retreat focused on team-building and personal and professional wellness. The Fred Rogers Institute will facilitate activities focused on Fred Rogers’ philosophies, applications to practice, and strengthening community among educators who work together. Activities may include the following:

• Collaborative sessions drawing from artifacts within the Fred Rogers Archive focused on the six fundamentals of learning and growing (a sense of self-worth, a sense of trust, curiosity, the capacity to look and listen carefully, the capacity to play, and times of solitude), 
• A team problem solving session around a real challenge identified by each team, grounded in the day’s learning of the six fundamentals of learning and growing.
• Activities to encourage educators to be what Fred referred to as “helpful appreciators” by recognizing their colleagues’ strengths within their practice.
• A reflection session on Fred’s concept of each person being “more than just one thing” for educators to consider the way their professional role connects to their many roles and identities, and consider how to care for each of their identities for personal and professional fulfillment and wellness.

Using resources from the Fred Rogers Archive as a guide, this professional learning offering supports participants in their understanding of the fundamentals of leadership and in developing their personal leadership style and goals. We will explore essential values of leadership, and engage in activities to help participants identify their own leadership values. We will also discuss how to bring those values to the daily work of those serving as a leader in an educational or service-oriented setting. 

“Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we’re not alone.” - Fred Rogers

Fred Rogers did not hesitate to address difficult life experiences or scary news with children. Beyond episodes of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood that spoke to divorce, assassination, and normal childhood fears, Fred wove acknowledgement of truth and real feelings into every show and speech.  In this session, we will consider what we can learn from Fred Rogers about talking to children about the difficult things we all face in our world. We will consider what it looks like to meet children where they are, how we can care for our own feelings of fear and uncertainty, and how these opportunities to connect intentionally even through the most difficult of circumstances can build greater trust, growth, and connection. 

Compassion fatigue is the toll of sharing in the emotions and concerns of the people that you care for. Compassion fatigue is more than burnout or weariness. Drawing from artifacts in the Fred Rogers Archive and a resource developed through conversation with practitioners and experts in fields of education and care, this professional learning opportunity allows caring adults to acknowledge the real challenges of their work and develop practices to seek and experience care, rest, and community.