By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE For my entire career in the early learning sector, I have been focused on how to support others to update outdated practices with the goal to improve day to day interactions with children and their families. Early on I approached this professional goal with bluntness and judgement. Now I recognize … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. Questions can be a wonderful way of supporting children’s thinking, theories, and emerging interests. On the other hand, they can be used to test children’s memory and can end up stifling their language development. Open-ended questions are developmentally more appropriate than closed-ended and testing questions. Open-ended questions are questions that … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. and Rosalba Bortolotti, RECE. Our last post introduced our perspectives on the Studio Approach to Early Learning influenced by the ‘ateliers’ in the infant-toddler and preschools of Reggio Emilia. In North America the term studio refers to what is known as the atelier in Italy. “It is at once an … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. Close your eyes and visualize a coach … what image did you bring to your mind? Now do it again and see YOU! We often hear about images in early learning. An image describes a picture in the mind. If the picture you conjured up was that of a sports … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. How do you see yourself? Are you a mentor? Are you a leader? Are you a supervisor? You have probably thought about these roles and what they mean, but have you considered yourself as a coach? In this blog post, I will be exploring the coaching role in early childhood … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. As many early childhood educators in Ontario are considering their return to programs across the province, we, as a profession, are at a crossroad. To be at a crossroad is to be at a point where you have to make very important decisions. Will you go bravely into this new world of child … Continue reading
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
By: Diane Kashin, Ed. D, RECE. In my last blog post, I wrote about the pedagogical approaches described in How Does Learning Happen? Ontario’s Pedagogy for the Early Years (2014). I believe, that of all the approaches, reflective practice and collaborative inquiry, has the most capacity to impact the others. This post will provide some … Continue reading
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
By: Diane Kashin, Ed. D, RECE. Professional identity is the concept which describes how we perceive ourselves within our occupational context and how we communicate this to others. I have been fascinated by this concept for many years, as in days gone by, I often struggled with my identity as an early childhood educator as I … Continue reading
