Interprofessional Collaboration in Early Childhood Education

ECS 4010 Interprofessional Collaboration Caroline Fabbruzzo, Ed.D (cand)., MA ECS, BA ECE, RECE

Agenda Brags and Drags! (10 minutes) ● Share something you want to brag about OR something that has been a real drag! Update on Guests The Role of the Early Childhood Professional ● The College of Early Childhood Educators of Ontario (CECE) ● The role of the early childhood professional in the Kindergarten program (Ontario) ● Therapeutic schools

The College of Early Childhood Educators of Ontario (CECE) Purpose and Mandate The College of Early Childhood Educators (College) regulates and governs Ontario's Registered Early Childhood Educators (RECEs) in the public interest. The College was established under the Early Childhood Educators Act, 2007 (ECE Act), and came into existence in February 2009. With more than 57,000 members in good standing, the College is one of the largest professional self- regulatory bodies in Ontario and is the only professional self-regulatory body for early childhood education in Canada.

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The College of Early Childhood Educators of Ontario (CECE) The College regulates the profession of early childhood education by establishing and enforcing: ● Registration requirements; ● Ethical and professional standards for RECEs; ● Requirements for continuous professional learning; and ● Complaints and discipline process for professional misconduct, incompetence and incapacity. Vision Leadership in early learning and care by trusted, accountable professionals Mission Serve and protect the public interest by regulating the profession of early childhood education

What the research says... “ Despite the popular rhetoric from governments about the importance of the early years and investing in early childhood education, and the substantial body of research that indicates educational qualifications, pay and working conditions of child care program stafF as the most important indicators of quality, no province or territory has adequately dealt with these issues” (Halfon & Langford, 2015, p. 132). Three contributing factors that act as barriers to action: 1) a child care market model; 2) the devaluation of caring work and; 3) increasing professional expectations without sufficient workforce advocacy.

What the research says... 1) a child care market model; ● child care as a social program to support working parents is predominantly viewed as a private and individual family responsibility ● child care delivered through a market essentially works against supporting trained and skilled professionals. The true cost of a professional workforce is too much for the market to bear ● the marketization of a public service, fewer costs, increased profit (neoliberalism) (Halfon & Langford, 2015, p. 133) 2) the devaluation of caring work ● “The early education and child care field has actively worked to manage the devaluation of care work, in part by with a significant shift towards framing the work and the services of child care as educational” (Halfon & Langford, 2015, p. 136). 3) increasing professional expectations without sufficient workforce advocacy. ● “Coast to coast to coast, there has been a significant push to professionalize the child care workforce resulting in increasing professional expectations for it. The critical role that staff in early childhood programs play in providing high quality education and care is now acknowledged“ (Halfon & Langford, 2015, p. 139).

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The College of Early Childhood Educators of Ontario (CECE) Let’s Discuss… Why is the CECE, a self-regulating body critical to our roles as early childhood professionals? Why is this critical to our roles as early childhood professionals in interprofessional collaborations? What role does Continuous Professional Learning (CPL) play?

The role of the early childhood professional in the Kindergarten program (Ontario) Ministry of Education (2016). The Kindergarten Program. Search for the term early childhood educator. In the 330 page document these are the results: In Kindergarten classrooms that have an educator team, with a teacher and an early childhood educator, the team members have the benefit of a collaborative and reflective partnership. Educator team members have complementary skills that enable them to create a nurturing and stimulating learning environment that supports the unique needs of each child. While an educator team will reflect the uniqueness of its members, the hallmark of all successful partnerships is an atmosphere of mutual respect, trust, and open communication. (p. 112)

The role of the early childhood professional in the Kindergarten program (Ontario) Teachers and early childhood educators work together to plan and implement the program and to maintain a healthy physical, emotional, and social learning environment. They collaborate in observing, monitoring, and assessing the progress and development of the children in Kindergarten and in communicating with families. The teacher ensures that the appropriate Kindergarten Communication of Learning templates are fully and properly completed and processed. (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2016, p. 112). Principals support and value the development, implementation, and evaluation of coherent programs, and provide leadership in developing a vision and philosophy to guide pedagogy. They create a positive school climate by implementing school-wide policies and practices that respect all educators and children and their families. Principals also ensure that the work environment throughout the school is one in which the practice of both Kindergarten teachers and early childhood educators is valued and supported, and that the benefits of play-based learning and learning through inquiry are recognized and supported . (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2016, p. 113)

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The role of the early childhood professional in the Kindergarten program (Ontario) The Designated Early Childhood Educator (DECE) partners with the Kindergarten Educators to plan and implement a full day Early learning program; within both a classroom setting and; as a part of the Extended Day Program, to provide supervision and age appropriate programming for groups of students. The DECE collaborates in the design of programs and environments which will enhance children’s cognitive, physical, social and emotional development. • Partnering with the classroom teacher to implement and plan developmentally appropriate large and small group activities • Providing supervision and age appropriate programming for groups of students as part of the Full Day and extended day program as required • Collaborating to implement the curriculum and to address individual student’s identified needs, stages of development, and interests • Communicating with parents/guardians, students, staff, and others https://www.tdsb.on.ca/Portals/0/aboutus/employment/08-2019%20-%20DECE(1).pdf (Job posting)

What the research says... In 2010, the province of Ontario began implementation of the Full-Day Early Learning – Kindergarten Program (FDK), a two-year kindergarten program for all 4- and 5-year-olds in Ontario ( Pascal, 2009 ). A critical component of this program is the co-teaching structure , with one Ontario-certified teacher and one registered early childhood educator (ECE) who share responsibility for each kindergarten classroom. This blended staffing model was articulated as the preferred model to “add to the strengths of the professional preparation and skill sets of both teachers and ECEs” (Pascal, 2009, p. 33). This model followed investigations that indicated that “children benefit and staff satisfaction is enhanced” in full-day programs (Pascal, 2009, p. 33). (Underwood et al., 2016, p. 36)

What the research says... Challenges to the model ● Power imbalance in the educator partnership ○ difference between a teacher and an ECE’s qualifications ○ difference between a teacher and an ECS’s salary/pay ○ difference in planning time ● Varying expertise and approaches ● Lack of clarity on each others roles in the classroom ● Professional recognition; teachers have a long history of working to identify themselves as a professional group. It was not until 2008 that the College of Early Childhood Educators was established ● Teachers have historically worked independently in classrooms, whereas ECEs have often worked in collaboration with other ECEs in childcare settings (Underwood et al., 2016, p. 36)

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What the research says... Let’s discuss… How can these challenges be addressed? What has your experience been as an early childhood professional in FDK? Benefits to FDK? Challenges? For the professional? For the child? For the family?

Break

Read Gananathan, R. (2016). Negotiating Status: The Impact of Union Contracts on the Professional Role of RECEs in Ontario’s Full-Day Kindergarten Programs. Journal of Childhood Studies (Prospect Bay), 40 (1). https://doi.org/10.18357/jcs.v40i1.15209 In your groups discuss ● How has legislation impacted the professional role and status of RECEs in the education sector? ● Do union contracts support or hinder the power imbalance in educational partnerships? ● How have union contracts impacted the new professional role and status of RECEs in the education sector? ● Your experiences working in FDK or the education sector as an RECE?

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Therapeutic schools A therapeutic school is designed to support children’s learning, behaviour, and emotional development through accommodations and modifications. Therapeutic schools specialize in supporting children with special needs; however, some therapeutic schools, believe everyone has special needs, everyone has exceptionalities. Therefore, the curriculum is individualized to meet the needs of all children. Services provided at a therapeutic school will vary from school to school. Links Mindwerx4kids Applewood Academy (University of Guelph-Humber, 2021)

Therapeutic schools Therapeutic schools ● Provide an individualized model of group care for children aged between 1 – 6 years of age (typically) ● Provide enriching experiences to enhance cognitive development and also encourage social and emotional development and developing capacities such as caring, having positive relationships, and regulating negative behaviour and emotions. ● Utilize a relationship-based curriculum with attentive caregivers ● Have a small teacher – child ratio (one teacher to four children, this varies) ● Conduct developmental screenings of each child at entry and periodically throughout stay ● Assessments may be multidisciplinary and test the child in skill-based areas and in other domains of emotional and social development. (University of Guelph-Humber, 2021)

Therapeutic schools Kids with all abilities learn and grow in school together - Holland Bloorview (1 min)

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Therapeutic schools Let’s discuss… What are your experiences with therapeutic schools? Benefits? Challenges? How do these schools align with your understanding of inclusion?

References Halfon. S. & Langford, R. (2015). Developing and supporting a high-quality child care workforce in Canada: What are the boundaries to change? Our Schools, Our Selves, 24 (4), 131–144. Gananathan, R. (2016). Negotiating Status: The Impact of Union Contracts on the Professional Role of RECEs in Ontario’s Full-Day Kindergarten Programs. Journal of Childhood Studies (Prospect Bay), 40 (1). https://doi.org/10.18357/jcs.v40i1.15209 Ministry of Education (2016). The Kindergarten Program . Queen’s Printer for Ontario. https://files.ontario.ca/books/edu_the_kindergarten_program_english_aoda_web_oct7.pdf Pascal, C. (2009). With our best future in mind: Implementing early learning in Ontario. Queen’s Printers of Ontario. Underwood, K., Di Santo, A., Valeo, A., & Langford, R. (2016). Partnerships in Full-Day Kindergarten Classrooms: Early Childhood Educators and Kindergarten Teachers Working Together. Journal of Childhood Studies (Prospect Bay), 41 (1), 36–. https://doi.org/10.18357/jcs.v41i1.15696 University of Guelph-Humber. (2021). ECS*4010 (S2DE2) S21 - Inter-Prof Collaboration. https://courselink.uoguelph.ca/d2l/le/content/698040/Home

ECS 4010_Early Childhood Professional_2_CF

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