By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. I have been reading a lot about tinkering lately. Tinkering is about hands-on experiences, learning from failures, and unstructured time to explore and invent. And through the processes of exploration and invention lies the potential for innovation. When this image appeared on my newsfeed recently, I thought back to the theorist that most influenced my practice as an … Continue reading
Titles and Topics: Emergent Curriculum Projects and Inquiries
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. I have written before about coming to terms to terms and I find myself still grappling with all the buzzwords popping up in my news feeds on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. As another semester approaches and once again I find myself supporting early childhood education degree students in their field practicum I am … Continue reading
Intentionality with Loose Parts: Playing, Tinkering and Messing About
By Diane Kashin and Cindy Green. Cindy and I go way back to the early nineties. As colleagues who became friends and later critical friends, we share a similar passion for anything related to early childhood education curriculum. We also, over the years, have felt strongly about supporting our community by sitting on committees, volunteering on … Continue reading
Emerging with Emergent Curriculum
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. Expertise on emergent curriculum is difficult to attain. It is like a utopian position that can never be realized. Learning about emergent curriculum is ongoing. I remind myself often that I will never get to the point in my professional career where I can say that I have reached the … Continue reading
Reggio inspired Practice: Considering Context and Finding Balance
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. It was in the early nineties that I first heard about the infant-toddler and preschool centres of Reggio Emilia. I was at a professional conference and attended a workshop about this unique approach to early learning. I remember being overwhelmed and feeling uneasy. I was experiencing cognitive dissonance as I reflected … Continue reading
Inspired Professional Learning in and with Nature
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. I have been involved in the early childhood education community in York Region, Ontario for almost three decades. Throughout this time it has been my privledge to support professional learning and training at both the pre and in-service level. I have had the opportunity to build professional relationships with many others … Continue reading
Reggio inspired learning through Multiple Perspectives
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. Perspective is a fascinating word for the many ways that it can be defined. I have been thinking a lot about the impact of perspective on my practice as a Reggio inspired educator after my recent trip to Sweden. Seeing different perspectives or how the different ways others have interpreted Reggio inspired … Continue reading
Perspectives on Reggio-inspired Practice: Making Educational Somersaults
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. It has been a week since I returned from Stockholm, Sweden and my visit with Suzanne Axelsson from Interaction Imagination and a year since Suzanne came to Canada and inspired so many as indicated in this blog post by Tracy Pickard. Suzanne and I became friends through social media when we found so … Continue reading
Journeys of Reggio-inspired Practice: Forging new Paths and Possibilities
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. Technology Rich Inquiry Based is a blog focusing on Reggio inspiration and the integration of new technologies and social media to support professional learning. It was co-constructed a number of years ago as a joint venture fuelled by the desire to share ideas and thoughts about practice and theory. For … Continue reading
Pedagogical Documentation: Why? When? Who? What? Where? How?
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. As someone who has been asked often to teach pedagogical documentation to students and professionals, I grapple with the process and all it entails. It is difficult to define pedagogical documentation as definitions run from the simple to the complex. I like the way Ontario’s Pedagogy for the Early Years, … Continue reading