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
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
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
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
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
By Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. I have been doing a lot of thinking about inquiry lately. In my capacity as the chair of the York Region Nature Collaborative I was invited to take part in a pilot environmental inquiry project with the York Region District School Board, which involves two different full day kindergarten classes. The … Continue reading
By Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. A few weeks ago, Rosalba Bortolotti the director of Acorn School posted an announcement on Facebook that the school was closing. This wonderful site for joyous learning and teacher research has been instrumental in my own journey as a Reggio inspired educator and I wanted to thank and pay tribute … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. In 2012, I ventured into the unknown when a group of students encouraged me to enter the world of social media for the purposes of professional learning, communication and collaboration. Previous to that I was not aware of what the significance of the passage of one century into another would have … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. I have been an ardent proponent of emergent curriculum in early childhood education well before I became Reggio inspired. In the early nineties I became aware of the work of Elizabeth Jones and John Nimmo and used their textbook, Emergent Curriculum as the foundation for the curriculum courses that I taught to … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. I am fortunate to have colleagues and critical friends in my life that motivate me to think. As an early childhood educator and teacher of teachers, thinking about practice and theory, leads to new knowledge and understandings about the way children learn, the way adults learn and the way I learn. … Continue reading
Technology Rich Inquiry Based Research 