Guiding principles for professional learning

The following criteria were developed by the AECEO in consultation with sector stakeholders to help ECE professionals identify professional learning opportunities of the highest quality. As well, the guiding principles support ECEs to successfully meet the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice established by the College of ECEs through their continuous professional learning.

• Supports active participation
• Critically identifies, evaluates and challenges thinking about daily practice
• Poses questions about values and beliefs regarding why we do what we do and what we want for children, families, communities and society
• Introduces new and relevant ideas and topics
• Creates and supports a critically reflective community of practice that reciprocally interacts with the changing needs of children, families and society
• Promotes a sense of professionalism
• Easily accessible and affordable
• Delivered using a broad range of informal and formal strategies or activities
• Delivered using a range of formats for different topics including face-to-face, hybrid (combination of face-to-face and on-line), and on-line
• Promotes collaboration between all professionals who work in different early childhood education and care settings (i.e. child care, full day kindergarten, family support programs)
• Engages participants in reflection regarding their daily practice
• Provides diversity to be inclusive of all areas of RECE employment
• Supports participant choice with respect to timing, topic and mode of delivery

AECEO 2023 Provincial Conference Committee

We are extremely grateful to our incredible conference committee for working with us to plan a conference for Early Childhood Educators by Early Childhood Educators. Please take a moment to read the short biographies attached to learn more about each of the members of the conference committee who will be working together behind the scenes to make this conference happen.

AECEO 2023 Provincial Conference Theme

The theme of our 2023 virtual provincial conference is We Raise Each Other Up: ECEs building leadership and learning communities of joy, curiosity and hope. In this conference, we strive to reaffirm and reclaim our roles as educators, learn from each other, and center the voices of educators through knowledge sharing and learning. ECEs will build leadership and learning communities to create spaces that celebrate educator joy, curiosity, and focus on finding hope in the strength of each other and our work. It will be an opportunity to share and learn from each other’s stories, learn through connection and collaboration, raise each other up, and support each other in exploring ways to re-think, unlearn, and disrupt the status-quo.

The conference aims to enable early years professionals to:

• explore, present and exchange their knowledges, experiences, ideas and aspirations;
• foster an emerging community with other early years professionals concerned with social justice issues;
• take the impassioned early years community and provide the tools to imagine and transform the sector into an active space of resistance to structures of oppression; and
• to create a space where “We Raise Each Other Up” through centering the voices and stories of early years professionals.

We know we need our community partners to help create a sector that everyone can thrive in – all are welcome to attend the conference.

We are truly excited to welcome you at the conference!

Watch the 2023 AECEO Provincial Conference theme video HERE!

AECEO 2023 Provincial Conference Call for Proposals

We are very excited to invite all members of the early years community to submit proposals to present at our 2023 virtual provincial conference. In an attempt to step away from a traditional academic gathering, we especially welcome and encourage submissions from early years professionals who haven’t traditionally seen themselves as conference presenters. The conference will be held online, and all presentations will be on April 29, 2023. Proposal submissions due: Monday, January 9, 2023

The conference will provide a space for presentations, workshops, panel discussions, artistic performances, and/or creative projects. Holistic presentations are also welcome, because ECEs sometimes know a little bit of everything. You may submit a proposal for any of the following formats: presentation, workshop, panel, salon, and gallery. Please see format descriptions below for more information.

It is our goal to keep our professional learning accessible for both attendees and presenters. Honorariums are available to support presenters who may benefit from financial aid to be able to present at the conference. More information on honorariums will be communicated after acceptance.

We encourage submissions from all early years professionals. Remember the conference will strive to be a safe space for sharing, so please consider being a presenter.

The deadline for all submissions is January 9, 2023. Proposals can only be submitted through the online proposal submission form. Submissions will be anonymized and provided to the Conference Committee for blind review. Proposals will be reviewed and selected based on creativity of approach and responsivity to the conference theme. You will be notified of the outcome of your proposal for presentations no later than March 1, 2023.

If you have any questions/concerns or require further information, please contact AECEO Professional Learning Coordinator, Safra Najeemudeen: snajeemudeen@aeceo.ca

For more information and instructions about presenting at the conference, check out the resources below:

• Proposal Submission Guidelines
• Online Proposal Submission Form
• Conference Presentation Frequently Asked Questions
• Dec 1, 2022 Information Session recording
• Dec 13, 2022 Information Session recording

AECEO 2023 Provincial Conference Guidebook

In this conference, we strive to reaffirm and reclaim our roles as educators, learn from each other, and center the voices of educators through knowledge sharing and learning. ECEs will build leadership and learning communities to create spaces that celebrate educator joy, curiosity, and focus on finding hope in the strength of each other and our work. It will be an opportunity to share and learn from each other’s stories, learn through connection and collaboration, raise each other up, and support each other in exploring ways to re-think, unlearn, and disrupt the status-quo.

This conference aims to enable early years professionals to:

• explore, present and exchange their knowledges, experiences, ideas and aspirations;
• foster an emerging community with other early years professionals concerned with social justice issues;
• take the impassioned early years community and provide the tools to imagine and transform the sector into an active space of resistance to structures of oppression; and
• to create a space where “We Raise Each Other Up” through centering the voices and stories of early years professionals.

AECEO Panel Discussion – Joy, Curiosity, & Hope!

The 2023 AECEO Provincial Conference was intentionally planned to be a space for ECEs to learn together and support one another, aiming to bring the Ontario early years community together, regardless of the setting they work in or area of the province they live in. One year later, we revisited the 2023 Provincial Conference with a very special AECEO panel discussion on Joy, Curiosity, & Hope!

Recording of this panel is available to everyone. Watch it here!