I'm Rachel Jordan Kingstone, a graduate student based in Toronto. I'm currently working on a Master's in Early Childhood Studies. I'm interested in how children and families cope with serious childhood illness, and how non-medical, psychosocial interventions can support resilience during and after diagnosis and treatment. I'm also interested in professional practice in therapeutic pediatric care (eg, Child Life) and how early-career professionals navigate barriers to certification and practice. My previous research focused on how persistence develops in early learning environments.
What I'm working on:
As part of my MA work, I'm in the early stages of developing resource guides for undergraduate students interested in pursuing a career in pediatric care (Child Life, SLP, or occupational therapy, for example). Resource guides will be aligned with the BA program's existing field placement structure. My project also focuses on the increasing "professionalization" of ECE teacher training and the barriers and supports available to ECE students pursuing unconventional post-graduate pathways.
Previous projects:
Research suggests that when children are praised for their effort, they try harder, generate better problem-solving strategies, and are able to cope with setbacks. Process praise that overlaps with effort and success boosts infants' motor-based persistence, while random process praise is detrimental to persistence. In my undergraduate thesis, I explored whether contingent process praise influences how infants reason about effort expenditure, and whether this mental effort correlates with infants’ physical persistence.
Outside of my graduate work, I'm broadly interested in philosophy of science/history of psych kinds of things like: looping effects and categorical classification, experience-based expertise in survivorship research, the history of infant research and attachment theory, and the intersection of parenting, disability, and complex medical conditions.
I am: looking to start my career in and around pediatric care and family-centred psychosocial interventions, preferably in a non-profit or academic environment. I'm most energized by working directly with kids in clinical and community settings, but I also have experience with administrative roles and would be delighted to work with a team who shares my passion for developing and improving psychosocial solutions for kids and their families. Seeking Toronto-based in-person/hybrid roles, but open to relocating within or outside Canada.