Denisha Jones
Something terrible is happening in education.
My research on teaching and learning has inspired me to search for ways for teachers to stay grounded in their calling to educate young people. Though teachers lack the power to fix education, they can do things to reclaim their motivation, increase student engagement, and create joyful classrooms.
My keynotes inspire educators to reimagine their pedagogy as a tool for centering freedom, liberation, and joy. Instead of giving in to the academic push-down and developmentally overwhelming mandates threatening early childhood education, I encourage teachers to lead with play, focus on authentic development, and promote student agency.
Before you give up on the profession you once loved, I invite you to consider the possibility of joyful teaching and liberated learning.
I help teachers improve their pedagogy so they can increase student engagement and reclaim their motivation and joy.
Joyful Teaching, Liberated Learning
About Denisha
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.
After 21 years in education, she discovered that too many teachers are demotivated, uninspired, and ready to leave the profession they once loved.
Combining her research and desire to help, she took to the stage with the goal of reaching as many people as possible in the field of education.
Today, her talks will inspire teachers to reclaim their passion for education and discover the power of joyful teaching and liberated learning. Her courses will provide the support needed to lead with engaging developmentally appropriate child-driven pedagogies that foster liberation, joy, and thriving.
Denisha’s Keynotes
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.
Courses and Professional Learing Communities (PLCs)
Liberated Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC): A Reflective Practice Course
Are you ready to transform your early childhood education practice into one that fosters liberation, joy, and thriving for both children and educators?
Liberated ECEC is an inspiring and deeply reflective journey designed for early childhood educators who want to lead with engaging, developmentally appropriate, child-driven pedagogies. This course invites you to explore how to create learning environments where children’s voices, agency, and well-being take center stage.
Through a combination of insightful knowledge-sharing and meaningful reflection, you’ll uncover obstacles that may be limiting your practice and develop real-world solutions to bring freedom and empowerment into your pedagogy. Whether you're looking to deepen your impact, reignite your passion, or break free from outdated constraints, this course will provide the tools and support you need to embrace a more liberated, joyful, and thriving approach to early childhood education.
Join us and become part of a movement that is reshaping early childhood education—one that celebrates curiosity, honors the child’s voice, and nurtures a future where every child and educator flourishes
Fostering Healthy Identity in Early Years: A Reflective Practice Course
How can we, as early childhood educators, create environments where every child develops a strong, confident, and healthy sense of self?
Fostering Healthy Identity in Early Years is a transformative course designed to help educators nurture identity development in young children—empowering them to reach their full potential and build the confidence needed for success in school and life.
Through deep reflection and guided exploration, you’ll examine your own identity development and uncover the ways in which socialization has shaped your perspectives. By recognizing how your instructional strategies and curriculum choices influence the children you serve, you’ll gain the tools to intentionally foster inclusive, affirming, and identity-empowering learning experiences.
This course is an opportunity to grow both personally and professionally, ensuring that your teaching practices actively support children in developing a positive, resilient, and thriving sense of self.
Join us 0n this powerful journey toward equity, belonging, and identity-affirming early childhood education—because every child deserves to see themselves reflected, valued, and celebrated in their learning.
Teacher Researcher Professional Learning Community: Uncovering the Power of Play
Are you ready to dive deeper into the transformative power of play and discover how it shapes children’s learning and development?
Join our Teacher Researcher Professional Learning Community, where educators become action researchers, exploring how play can be a powerful driver of growth, curiosity, and engagement. Through a supportive and collaborative space, you’ll learn how to design and implement teacher-led research projects that examine the impact of leading with play in your classroom.
This dynamic professional learning experience will empower you to:
✅ Develop research-informed teaching strategies that enhance learning through play.
✅ Reflect on and refine your practice using evidence-based insights.
✅ Connect with like-minded educators who share a passion for child-driven, developmentally appropriate learning.
✅ Become a leader in advocating for play as an essential part of early education.
By actively investigating your own teaching, you’ll not only deepen your understanding of how play supports learning but also become an agent of change—equipped to elevate play-based education in your school and beyond.
Looking for a custom designed course or PLC? Contact Denisha Jones today!
“Denisha is an essential voice in the early childhood education field. Her passion for equity and racial justice is evident in all she does. Denisha uses research and experience to back up her advocacy. Her scholarly work and speaking engagements focus on how educators can be equipped to engage in anti-bias and anti-racist practices in the classroom, build partnerships with families, and cultivate critical analysis among teaching staff. If you invite her to lead a session, you will witness shifts necessary for effective change.
Makai Kellogg, Early Childhood Educator, Equity & Diversity Coordinator
Testimonials
“I have learned so much from my opportunities to sit in spaces where Denisha shares her knowledge. She has a way of naming the big issues that allow folks to lean in and learn together. Her voice should be at every table, full stop.”
Rixa Evershed, Beginning School and Auxiliary Programs Director at Charles Wright Academy
“I've heard Denisha Jones speak numerous times. Her depth of knowledge, passion, and ability to communicate clearly and succinctly impress me. She knows her audience and finds the best ways to connect with them, using well-chosen anecdotes and stories that reinforce her message.”
Lisa Guisbond, Executive Director, Citizens for Public Schools
“I have had the pleasure of hearing Denisha speak on multiple occasions, and each time, I come away from the experience feeling reinvigorated, grounded, and inspired. She frames information in an easily digestible way and makes clear the relevance of each topic to her audience's professional and personal lives. Any educator, parent, or advocate would benefit from her lectures.”
Zoe Kim, Project Coordinator, Defending the Early Years
Making Black Lives Matter in the Early Years: Centering Anti-Racist Approaches in Early Childhood Education and Care
Dr. Denisha Jones
The Black Lives Matter at School Guiding Principles: Fostering Black Cultural Citizenship Through Critical Civic Empathy
Denisha Jones and Sarah A. Mathews
Books
Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice
Edited by Denisha Jones and Jesse Hagopian
Black Lives Matter at School succinctly generalizes lessons from successful challenges to institutional racism that have been won through the Black Lives Matter at School movement. This book will inspire many more educators and activists to join the Black Lives Matter at School movement at a moment when this antiracist work in our schools could not be more urgent and critical to education justice.
Published by Haymarket Books in 2020.
Book Chapters
Black Lives Matter at School and the Ongoing Pursuit of Educational Justice for Black Lives
Denisha Jones
The Freedom to Play: Play as a Tool for Liberation
Denisha Jones
Activist Research in Social Studies Education: Renewed Scholarship for a Better World
Denisha Jones
Resisting Neoliberal Reforms in Early Childhood Education: Play Pedagogy as the Antidote to GERM
Denisha Jones
Articles
Kramer, B., Jones, D., & Broadbent, C. (2023). Teacher autonomy and agency during the COVID-19 pandemic. SSRNhttp://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4450519
Mathews, S. A. & Jones, D. (6 April 2022). Black lives matter at school: Using the 13 guiding principles as critical race pedagogies for Black citizenship education. Journal of Social Studies Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssr.2022.03.001
Jones, D. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 on young children, families and teachers. Defending the Early Years, Inc. https://dey.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/The-Impact-of-COVID-19-on-Young-Children-Families-and-Teachers-A-DEY-Report-9-8-20-FINAL.pdf
Jones, D., Khalil, D. & Dixon, R. D. (2017) Teacher-advocates respond to ESSA: “Support the good parts—Resist the bad parts”. Peabody Journal of Education, 92(4), 445-465, DOI: 10.1080/0161956X.2017.1349479
Jones, D. (2017). From theorizing in the ivory tower to creating change with the people: Activist research as a framework for collaborative action. International Journal of Adult Vocational Education and Technology, 8(2), 29-41.
Jones, D. (2017). When all else fails, we must protect childhood. Global Education Review, 4 (3), 14-16. https://ger.mercy.edu/index.php/ger/article/view/403
Jones, D. & Levin, D. (2016). Preschool suspensions do more harm than good. Education Week, 35(22), 26. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-heres-why-preschool-suspensions-are-harmful/2016/02
Lets Connect
I offer keynotes, workshops, courses, and professional learning communities. Contact me today so we can discuss how I can help your teachers improve their pedagogy, increase student engagement, and reclaim their motivation and joy.
denisha@djonesconsultant.com
(202) 240-8927
