Anthropology master’s student Nichole Blum is exploring how young children express emotional stress through “body mapping”
Nichole Blum
By Taylor Pedersen, CLA Student Writer - May 14, 2025
Nichole Blum has spent her career at the intersection of education, equity, and advocacy. With nearly two decades of experience in early childhood education—including time as a director, program leader, and educator—she has seen firsthand the challenges facing both young children and the professionals who care for them. Now, as a graduate student in the College of Liberal Arts’ OSU’s applied anthropology program studying alongside Dr. Melissa Cheyney, Blum is diving deeper into the structural issues she observed in the field, using innovative research methods to explore childhood stress, communication, and the wellbeing of the workforce.
Blum knew from an early age that she wanted to work with children and families, but she was also certain she did not want to teach in a traditional school system. A guidance counselor placed her in a preschool classroom during her senior year of high school, and she was hooked. She pursued a Child Development Associate credential immediately after graduation, launching her into the world of early childhood education.
Her career took a pivotal turn when she began working at the YWCA in Kalamazoo, Michigan. This was her first experience not only in nonprofit work but also in addressing domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking through early childhood programming. “That changed everything for me,” Blum recalled. “I started to see early childhood education as a vehicle for change. It’s not just about childcare or learning—it’s a safety net for families, a way to connect them with resources and become a trusted part of their lives. That’s when I started approaching my work differently.”
While building her career, Blum was also slowly working toward her bachelor’s degree at Central Michigan University—one class at a time. She became a mother at 21, and with the need to provide for her son while continuing her education, she made strategic career moves. Her Child Development Associate credential allowed her to advance into leadership positions, doubling her income while she chipped away at her degree. When the COVID-19 Pandemic began, Blum saw an opportunity. She continued to finish her degree online at her own pace while also working full-time. But the real challenge came when she moved across the country to attend OSU in person for graduate school.
“I was hit in the face with the reality of being a first-generation college student,” she said. “It was my first time in an on-campus academic setting like that, and I didn’t know anyone here. But I had this inner knowing—I needed to go and I saw anthropology as a way to bring a kind, human-focused science into the early childhood space.”
At the School of Language, Culture, and Society, Blum’s research focuses on non-language childhood communication, particularly how young children express emotional stress. Her ethnographic study employs a technique called “body mapping,” an art-based method traditionally used with adults in trauma-exposed populations, such as HIV patients or survivors of violence. Now, Blum is adapting it for young children. Her study asks children to draw on outlines of their own bodies, marking where they feel stress and how they experience emotions physically. Through this process, she is uncovering new insights into how young children process stress—insights that could have broad applications for early childhood education and mental health support.
“Three- and four-year-olds don’t always have the words to describe their experiences,” she explained. “We’ve been socialized out of some of the ways we naturally communicate. Body mapping gives them a different way to express their emotions—it allows their voices to be heard in a way that isn’t restricted by language.”
Blum’s work also extends beyond theory. She uses a community-based participatory research model, meaning she doesn’t just study early childhood professionals—she works alongside them. Over the past year and a half, she has volunteered in an early childhood program, trained staff in body mapping, and involved them in every stage of the research process. “I didn’t want to be the researcher who just comes in, collects data, and leaves,” she said. “I wanted to ensure that the workforce itself saw the value in the research—that they saw themselves as researchers, too.”
By integrating educators into the research process, Blum hopes to shift the perceptions of early childhood professionals. Too often, she argues, they are undervalued, underpaid, and left out of policy conversations despite their critical role in child development. She hopes to bridge the gap between policy and practice, making systemic issues more tangible and actionable for educators, parents, and advocates. “There’s been so much focus on children and families, which is obviously important,” she said. “But early childhood professionals spend eight hours a day with these kids. Sometimes they see them more than their own families do. If we really want to support children and families, we need at minimum an equal focus and effort on supporting the workforce.”
Her long-term goal is to improve working conditions for early childhood educators, particularly the 98 percent of the workforce who are women—many of whom are women of color. “This is domestic work, and we have a social bias against that,” she noted. “These professionals are being asked to create environments where children feel safe, trusted, and free to explore, yet they themselves are working under stressful, unsupportive conditions. That has to change.”
As she continues her graduate studies, Blum remains committed to that mission— working to reframe early childhood education not just as a stage of learning, but as a powerful force for equity, well-being, and systemic change.