Sparking Conversations on Culturally Responsive Childcare
Oct 26, 2026 · 32 min · 9 segments
What happens when children are not just invited into an activity, but are trusted to shape it from the beginning? In this episode, we sit down with **Kennedy Kozak**, a **play professional and…
Yeah, so let's dive into the topic.
I was really curious to learn about the connections that you make between design, play, and inclusion.
And I was thinking about this show ahead of time.
The only word that came up for me was discovery.
I feel like design is about discovery, play is about discovery, and inclusion, we've heard from our guests on this show many times, is all about discovery and being curious.
So please tell us what does inclusive design mean to you and what does play mean to you? How do those two things come together
in your work? This is an intersection that I really love to explore because like you said, curiosity kind of sits at the center of it all.
Inclusive design at its heart is about making sure that there's nothing about us without us.
And so making sure that what you're doing has whoever's involved in the process from the very beginning.
And especially in education, I feel like the voices of children oftentimes get left out or they're taken as consultants rather than actual experts in their experience.
And inclusive design is grounded in this idea that you are an expert in your own experience.
And so why don't we view children the same way? They are experts in childhood and what it means to be a child at this very point in time.
And so getting to connect the two, you see those parallels between keeping them included and then doing it in a way which is meaningful to them.
And I found that to really be play at the center of it, because play is a language which they communicate.
I'm just curious, is this a really new emerging field to think of design and play and inclusion together? Are you one of the new emerging professionals in this field or is there a bit of a community developing in Canada?
The Kolding School of Design has done some amazing things regarding design for play.
And there are a couple other academics who I found when I was doing my research, I came across a lot.
But I would say that it's being adapted to be more day-to-day person friendly.
Yeah, so let's dive into the topic.
I was really curious to learn about the connections that you make between design, play, and inclusion.
And I was thinking about this show ahead of time.
The only word that came up for me was discovery.
I feel like design is about discovery, play is about discovery, and inclusion, we've heard from our guests on this show many times, is all about discovery and being curious.
So please tell us what does inclusive design mean to you and what does play mean to you? How do those two things come together
in your work? This is an intersection that I really love to explore because like you said, curiosity kind of sits at the center of it all.
Inclusive design at its heart is about making sure that there's nothing about us without us.
And so making sure that what you're doing has whoever's involved in the process from the very beginning.
And especially in education, I feel like the voices of children oftentimes get left out or they're taken as consultants rather than actual experts in their experience.
And inclusive design is grounded in this idea that you are an expert in your own experience.
And so why don't we view children the same way? They are experts in childhood and what it means to be a child at this very point in time.
And so getting to connect the two, you see those parallels between keeping them included and then doing it in a way which is meaningful to them.
And I found that to really be play at the center of it, because play is a language which they communicate.
I'm just curious, is this a really new emerging field to think of design and play and inclusion together? Are you one of the new emerging professionals in this field or is there a bit of a community developing in Canada?
The Kolding School of Design has done some amazing things regarding design for play.
And there are a couple other academics who I found when I was doing my research, I came across a lot.
But I would say that it's being adapted to be more day-to-day person friendly.
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