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
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 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
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE Exactly two years ago, I was in Reggio Emilia, Italy attending a study tour, enjoying the deep thinking, dialogue, food, drink and ambience with cherished friends. Exactly one year ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. With my last treatment coinciding with the end of 2019, I was very hopeful … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE and Cindy Green, BSc, RECE. Block play is centuries old. Blocks were part of a historical movement that focused on building a child-centred culture that began in the late 1700s (Dietze & Kashin, 2019). There was John Locke (1632-1704), the English philosopher who recommended the use of alphabet blocks for … 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. This past year has been a difficult one for me. Early in 2019, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Between surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments, my year was about healing and recovery. Normally, I would have been traveling and presenting workshops to the early learning community. I missed this … 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
