By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. Stories spiral in and out of my mind when I visit the pond near my house. These stories are woven together by threads of relationships. There are stories within stories that relate to my professional and personal growth in my final season. The pond is the backdrop to a documented … Continue reading
Filed under Inquiry …
Continuous Professional Learning for Early Childhood Educators: Reflective Practice and Collaborative Inquiry
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. When I started this series focused on the six pedagogical approaches of How Does Learning Happen? Ontario’s Pedagogy for the Early Years (2014) it was my way of giving back to early childhood educators who were looking for professional learning opportunities during quarantine especially those in my home province of Ontario, … Continue reading
Continuous Professional Learning for Early Childhood Educators: Creating Environments as a “Third Teacher”
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. and Laura Salau, RECE. To early childhood educators around the world, but especially to those in our province, Ontario, Canada, this blog post is designed to support your continuous professional learning. It is the fourth post in a series focused on the pedagogical approaches from How Does Learning Happen? (2014). These approaches … Continue reading
Continuous Professional Learning for Early Childhood Educators: Educators as Co-Learners
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. I have always believed that early childhood educators are the salt of the earth, a phrase that refers to groups of people who have great worth to society. In my long career as a proud early childhood educator, never has this been more apparent to me than during this unprecedented … Continue reading
Continuous Professional Learning for Early Childhood Educators: Learning through Exploration, Play and Inquiry
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE This is the third blog written during self-isolation imposed by the spread of COVID-19, intended to support early childhood educators committed to continuous professional learning. It is the second in a series focused on the pedagogical approaches from Ontario’s pedagogy for the early years: How Does Learning Happen? (2014). The … Continue reading
Continuous Professional Learning for Early Childhood Educators: Responsive Relationships
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE When I went into self-isolation, I was worried about what I would do to keep myself motivated and busy. I wondered whether I could keep blogging in this time of COVID-19. I wrote one post, Early Childhood Education: Making Sense of Our Life’s Course but didn’t know what to write … Continue reading
The Image of the Early Childhood Educator: Learner, Researcher and Innovator
By: Diane Kashin, Ed. D, RECE. When I was a teenager, my career goal was to be a high school history teacher. At a time of declining enrolment, the goal could not be achieved and instead I chose a different path after university. I found office jobs which I hated and wasn’t that good at, … Continue reading
Meta, Meta, Meta: Higher Perspectives in Early Learning
By: Diane Kashin, Ed. D, RECE. According to the urban dictionary, the definition of meta is about “the thing” itself. It is seeing the “thing” from a higher perspective instead of from within the “thing”, like being self-aware. I have written before about seeking multiple perspectives in early learning as inspired by the Reggio Emilia … Continue reading
Give the Gift of the Classics: Using Children’s Books to Spark Inquiry
By: Diane Kashin, Ed. D, RECE. A classic children’s book is one that has endured the test of time. These books have endearing qualities that make them interesting to children today and nostalgic for teachers and parents. Think back to your childhood. Is there a book that evokes that wistful feeling that makes you want … Continue reading
Thought Provocations: The Teacher as Provocateur
By: Diane Kashin, Ed. D, RECE. Recently I wrote a provoking post about provocations that has continued to stimulate thought on the role/image of the teacher. As provocateurs, teachers are in a position not to make learning “smooth or easy for children, but rather to stimulate it” by making it “more complex, involving and arousing” (Edwards, … Continue reading