Denisha Jones is a teacher-educator, researcher, and advocate. She started her career as a kindergarten teacher in 2003 and became a college professor in 2009. Here are a few of her recent keynotes and invited speaker topics. She can design new presentations to meet your needs. She also offers workshops to take a deeper look at keynote topics.

Keynotes

Workshops

If they are going to play all day what am I supposed to? Rethinking the Role of the Teacher in Free Play Environments

In this workshop, I share findings from my research on the role of the teacher in free-play environments. After spending nearly 20 years preparing early childhood teachers, I recognized the need to better understand what teachers do when children are free to play. Through observations of teachers in China, Pittsburgh, and Maryland I was able to witness how the role of the teacher shifts in free-play environments. We will explore how observation, documentation, and reflection are utilized by teachers during free play to foster deep learning, engagement, and joy.

Leading with Play: The Secret to Joyful Teaching

What if the most effective teaching strategy wasn’t found in structured lesson plans or carefully crafted teacher-led activities, but in the spontaneous, curious, and creative world of free play? This interactive workshop invites early childhood educators to rethink their traditional approaches and discover the transformative power of leading with play. In many classrooms, teacher-directed instruction dominates the day, often leaving little space for the kind of open-ended exploration that fuels authentic learning. But when we shift our mindset to see play not as a break from learning, but as the foundation of it, we unlock deeper engagement, stronger relationships, and more joyful teaching and learning experiences. Leading with play doesn’t mean stepping back—it means stepping in differently: planning, observing, assessing, reflecting, and supporting children’s learning journeys with intentionality and care. We’ll unpack common myths about play and learning, explore the science behind its importance, and provide tools for creating environments where play is prioritized, agency is honored, and joyful teaching thrives. Come prepared to play, reflect, and reimagine your classroom as a space where joy leads the way—and where play isn’t just what children do, but how we teach.

Liberated Learning: How to Unleash Children’s Natural Drive for Learning

Children are born with an innate curiosity and a powerful drive to explore, create, and understand the world around them. But too often, this natural inclination is stifled by rigid structures, predetermined outcomes, and narrow definitions of success. This workshop, Liberated Learning: How to Unleash Children’s Natural Drive for Learning, invites early childhood educators to reimagine assessment and planning through a lens of freedom, trust, and deep observation. Liberated learning begins with believing that children are capable, competent, and full of ideas. Rather than imposing learning from the outside in, educators can unleash children’s potential by tuning into the learning that is already happening—especially through play. This workshop will guide participants in learning how to observe children’s play with intention, curiosity, and respect, using those observations as a foundation for documentation, reflection, and meaningful assessment. Participants will explore techniques for documenting learning in ways that honor children's voices and identities—from anecdotal notes and photos to play stories and portfolios. We’ll discuss how to make children’s thinking visible and how to use documentation as both a mirror for children and a window for families and colleagues. Rather than ticking boxes or chasing benchmarks, educators will learn how to assess skills and knowledge holistically, in ways that reflect the true depth and richness of children’s learning.