003: Sparking Change In Early Education Policies With Dan Wuori

Childhoods By Wonderschool

For today’s episode, I had the pleasure of talking to Dan Wuori, a father, former kindergarten teacher, and Senior Director of Early Learning at the Hunt Institute. Dan is responsible for tremendous work with policymakers in education policy, advocating for greater accessibility to early childhood education. As a former kindergarten teacher, he has first-hand experience of the variety of developmental variation in children attributed to differing early childhood experiences. He has made it his life’s mission to help close the achievement gap by preventing it from opening in the first place.

Dan’s major inspiration down this pathway came from his father, a former pediatrician specializing in developmental disabilities. Dan’s father was a highly regarded figure in the various communities that he was called into for work and brought his family along with him each step of the way. While this made for a nomadic childhood, Dan found comfort in the tight-knight bond he shared with his parents and sisters and drew special inspiration from his father’s love for helping children. Dan’s passion for advocating for quality early childhood education stems from this loving upbringing and from his own observation of his father’s specialty.

In our conversation, I had the opportunity to learn more about Dan’s variety of experiences in the education and education policy field, as well as the path that brought him to becoming Senior Director at the Hunt Institute. We also discuss the challenges of early childhood education that he is most passionate about finding solutions for and how these changes could impact so many additional educational components down the line.

In this episode you’ll hear:

• What the Hunt Institution does for education policy
• How developmental challenges can be addressed through quality early childhood education
• What led Dan to break from an early career in radio meeting the Rolling Stones to become a kindergarten teacher instead
• Why it was so important for him to get involved in education policy and advocacy

Resources from this episode: Dan Wuori’s Twitter handle: @DanWuori

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EPISODE CREDITS:

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