I’m Jo Grace: a Sensory Engagement and Inclusion Specialist and Founder of The Sensory Projects in this series of 10 articles I am going to share some of my passion for understanding the sensory world with you.

In my last article, I talked about how classroom and nursery environments have gone through something of a 'sensory 180', beginning as barren, boring environments and now potentially sometimes being so stimulating as to be overwhelming. In recognising that children (and adults) experience the sensory world in different ways, we recognise that there is no one right environment. But you may very well just have one room, so what can you do? You want it to be right for everyone, how can you achieve this? 

First up, in the title of this article I referred to our neurodiverse community, sometimes this is taken as meaning children and adults with neurodivergent conditions such as autism and ADHD and whilst autistics and people with ADHD, certainly are a part of the neurodiverse community, they are people with what would be considered ‘typical’ brains.

Neurodiverse refers to the diversity of ways the brain can be wired, in the same way, that biodiversity refers to the great array of plants and animals there are. Sometimes reflections of this kind are prompted by the presence of a particular child in a setting who just cannot cope with the sensory landscape as it is, and so it can feel like the changes are done for that child. Recognising that these adaptations benefit everyone can increase the motivation of staff implementing them. You can think of that child as the tip of the iceberg, they signal the needs of a great many more children who go unnoticed beneath the surface. And it is not just the children, you want your space to be somewhere the adults can feel at home at a sensory level within too. 

In this article, I am going to consider two approaches to doing this, the ‘broad-brush, best bet’ approach and ‘sensory scaping’.  

Broad-Brush, Best Bet 

If you want to go for a broad-brush, best bet approach to the sensory landscape in your space, my advice would be to design along natural themes, use natural tone colours like browns, beiges and greens - create natural textures: the roughness of bark and hessian, the softness of earth and grass, and deploy natural background tracks such as the lapping of waves against the sea shore, or the movement of grasses in the wind. Avoid the loud primary colours. Choose toys made of natural materials that will fit with the design. Keep displays to particular locations and avoid the urge to cover every inch of space. 

Instagram and social media, in general, will give you oodles of inspiration for such an approach, The best thing to Google if looking for inspiration along these lines, is the Danish concept of Hygge. If I had charge of an early years setting and a designer at my disposal, this is what I would charge them with creating. This would not be me imposing a preferred personal aesthetic, it would be me responding to what I know about the sensory world and deploying a broad-brush, best bet approach. 

Often when I am talking to people about the sensory responses of others, I am talking about being a detective, about recognising that not everyone’s sensory perceptions are the same as our own, and encouraging people to try and figure out what sensation is like through that other person’s eyes, ears, mouth, body etc. We are wired differently, we are unique…but… we also have things in common, we are the same type of animal, we come from a shared history, and whilst some aspects of our experience are exceptionally unique, there are things deep wired in us that come from that shared history. 

As a species, we are used to living in nature. Through our shared history, we have dwelt outside, beneath the sky, in the elements, sheltering in trees and caves. Nature has been our home and in nature, our senses will tell us we are at home. We have, in terms of our history as an animal, been living in these concrete boxes for the blink of an eye. I noticed it especially during the first lockdown of the pandemic in 2020 - when people were given an hour to leave their homes they went to nature, they were feeling anxious, rightly so, and they felt safer in nature. 

Creating an environment that resonates with natural experiences can support children in feeling safe at a sensory level, and children who feel safe can connect, engage, and focus. (Children on alert cannot do those things and will be flighty, reactive, and volatile). 

Sensory Scaping 

Some children need more stimulation, feel disconnected and need a big jolt of jumping off a box to realise where their bodies are. Their vision craves stimulation, bright colours, and flashing spinning things, they are still learning to modulate their voices and benefit from things being loud and quiet, from crashing and "woo-wooing". Not every child benefits from the peace of a Hygge-style environment. 

If you are considering how best to provide for a diverse range of sensory needs in your setting and you have space to do so, you might think about sensory scaping different zones. Could you have one zone that was Hygge style as described above, could you keep all the bright loud stimulating stuff in another zone? And perhaps if you still had room, you could have another space that had stimulation for children’s subconscious senses of proprioception and stipulation – this space might have a hammock, or a chair swing that wraps around a child, it might have bungees that the children could pull and ping, it could have a swathe of stretchy cloth tied between two trees or two firm pillars that the children could press against. It could be resourced with body socks and massage brushes and rollers, vibrating pillows and weighted shoulder wraps or lap blankets.  

The added benefit of a zoned sensory space like this is it gives children the ability to not only meet their sensory needs, but to communicate them to you through their choice of where to spend time. I mentioned in a previous article that little children cannot always tell you what is bothering them at a sensory level, This is true if you are only able to listen to words, but if you listen to movements, if you listen by observing, by watching the children, if you listen to their actions, noticing where it is that they are still, where it is that their bodies appear more agitated, then you will find they communicate loud and clear and respond wholeheartedly to the adults who listen and understand. 

This is article five of this series. The first three articles were about how the sensory world can be used to support learning and mental health and how to go about utilising its potential. The previous article looked at how our environments can sometimes be too stimulating, and this one has considered how we can modulate the stimulation we offer. In my next article, I will explore the popular topic of multisensory rooms and look at whether you need one and how you can provide the benefits of one on a shoestring budget! Do feel free to connect with me on social media to watch my current sensory adventures unfold. All the connection links can be found on my website www.TheSensoryProjects.co.uk. 

About the author:

Joanna Grace is an international Sensory Engagement and Inclusion Specialist, trainer, author, TEDx speaker and founder of The Sensory Projects. Joanna draws on her own personal experiences to inform her writing surround neurodivergence, SEN, and inclusion in early years.

About the author:

Joanna Grace is an international Sensory Engagement and Inclusion Specialist, trainer, author, TEDx speaker and founder of The Sensory Projects. Joanna draws on her own personal experiences to inform her writing surround neurodivergence, SEN, and inclusion in early years.

About the author:

Joanna Grace is an international Sensory Engagement and Inclusion Specialist, trainer, author, TEDx speaker and founder of The Sensory Projects. Joanna draws on her own personal experiences to inform her writing surround neurodivergence, SEN, and inclusion in early years.

Nursery leaders typically have wonderful intentions when it comes to creating a positive team culture. Some pitfalls must be avoided to make this a reality. One such pitfall is the ‘executive subculture’ when leaders’ behaviours stand in the way of a positive team culture. In this article, we’ll talk about what the executive subculture is, how it negatively affects a positive team culture in organisations and how to avoid it.  

What is the ‘executive subculture’?  

Edgar Schein, the leading researcher in organisational culture and leadership, came up with the term ‘executive subculture’ to explain how leaders in organisations can sometimes end up trapped in a set of beliefs and behaviours that get in the way of a positive workplace. In this kind of executive subculture, leaders tend to do these four things:  

1. Over-emphasise the financial situation of the organisation. In a nursery context, this might be an owner or manager who focuses almost entirely on whether the nursery is profitable and financially sustainable, rather than concerning themselves with the pedagogical work of the nursery and the day-to-day interactions that matter for children, families and educators.  
2. Believe and act as if the organisation is operating in a hostile environment. A nursery manager with this belief might see other nurseries in the local area only as competition, rather than seeing the potential to partner up and learn from one another.  
3. Behave as though they alone want the organisation to succeed. Nursery owners and/or managers can start to (wrongly) think that only they are invested in the success of the nursery. In their mind, they start to feel like ‘the lone hero’ rather than seeing themselves as part of a team. They underestimate the contribution that other staff make.  
4. Create and strengthen hierarchies in the organisation. A nursery with a strong executive subculture is likely to have a rigid hierarchy in place and this hierarchy will affect the day-to-day conversations and interactions that happen in the nursery. A baby room educator might not feel that they can offer suggestions to the pre-school room leader. The pre-school room leader will feel that they cannot disagree with the deputy manager. The deputy manager will refrain from challenging the manager or owner, and so on. When relationships are hierarchical in this way, it is hard to have honest conversations about what needs to change.  

Why is the executive subculture negative for the team culture across the whole organisation?  

A strong executive subculture has negative implications for the overall workplace culture. It degrades the positive team ethos and ultimately gets in the way of a thriving nursery.  

When there’s a strong executive subculture, employees in the nursery feel a lot of distrust for the owner or manager of the nursery. An owner or manager who seems overly competitive, hierarchical, and focused on making money won’t be someone that employees trust and feel that they can talk to openly. Therefore, the leader ends up feeling cut off from their staff and they are relying only on their perceptions and information to make decisions. These decisions are less likely to be good for the organisation because they are not based on full knowledge and understanding – they are based on hearing only what others think you want to hear.  

How can you avoid executive subculture as a leader?  

Understanding the characteristics of an executive subculture translates into a useful guide for knowing how best to avoid creating one. As a leader, you can:
  

1. Recognise that leadership in nurseries is about far more than finances. The financial backdrop of nursery education is far from easy, and it is easy for a leader to become bogged down in making ends meet. While this is still a necessary part of the job, owners and managers must also always think about the nursery first and foremost as an educational institution and a support system for children and families. Leaders need to have a full presence in the pedagogical dialogues that take place in the nursery; these can’t be delegated to others.  
2. Make partnership and collaboration the priority and avoid thinking in terms of competition. Look around the local neighbourhood and think about the different nurseries close to where you are. How do you think and talk about these settings? How do you speak to staff about these settings? Do you promote a competitive way of thinking or do you look for opportunities to partner with local settings? The answers to these questions are radically different across settings. Some nurseries proactively seek conversations with nearby settings so that they can share resources and work together on local issues. Other nurseries are worried that nearby settings will steal ideas or staff, and this is a barrier to any kind of collaboration. By choosing competition over collaboration, you are not just preventing partnership working but also feeding into an executive subculture that can negatively impact your team in the long run.  
3. Always speak in the language of the team. Catch yourself when you start to think about yourself as ‘the lone hero’ having to do everything yourself and alone. Replace your ‘I’ thoughts with ‘we’ thoughts. If you find yourself thinking something like: "I must sort out this staffing crisis", challenge yourself to shift the narrative: ‘We are struggling with staffing at the moment and it’s a problem we need to solve together’.   
4. Dismantle rather than reinforce hierarchies. Put an explicit emphasis on honesty and productive challenge, encouraging everyone – regardless of roles or qualifications – to speak their mind and share what they think. You can make this way of working part of the induction and training in your nursery, but you also need to walk the walk every day. When honest feedback is given, avoid closing it down or becoming defensive: lean into the feedback and open it up for further discussion.  

About the author: