The AECEO is welcoming submissions for the Spring/Summer 2024 eceLINK Peer Reviewed Collection:

Author Guidelines 

Subject parameters: Early Childhood Policy, Early Childhood Practice, Early Childhood Pedagogy, Social Justice in ECE, Professionalism, Disability and Inclusion in ECE, Environmentalism in ECE, Collaborative Practices, Diversity in ECE, Action Research in ECE, Early Childhood Classroom Issues at the Program Level, Pedagogical documentation, Engaging How does Learning Happen?  

Form and Style 

Style should be consistent with the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th Edition). The journal uses Canadian spelling; please consult the Oxford Canadian Dictionary. The editors welcome manuscripts between 5000-7000 words. 

Submission deadline:  January 26, 2024

Please email submissions to: [email protected]

DOWNLOAD CALL FOR ARTICLES PDF

The AECEO is led by inclusivity and radical care. As the professional association organizing for Early Childhood Educators in Ontario, we denounce any and all discrimination of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, including the protests planned for September 20th, 2023. These demonstrations are led by hate and misinformation.

Our provincial code of ethics mandates that our support extends to all families and children. Additionally, our professional training in early childhood education provides reliable and well researched evidence to support healthy self-identity for children. We also support the authentic selves of all early years professionals.

Our organizational stance is not ambiguous. We will continue to promote the well-being of children and do so by leading with respect and care. We are champions for inclusive education and curriculum for people of all ages.

Status of Process: The hiring committee has concluded interviews. 

Position: Community Outreach Administrator 

Deadline: Friday August 11, 2023 11:59pm

Job Description: As part of the AECEO’s ongoing community organizing work, the Community Outreach Administrator will be responsible for leading the administration of a new parent network, supporting strategy and communications with the parent network and Communities of Practice (CoPs), and coordinating membership outreach and communications. This position reports directly to the Executive Director and is responsible to a volunteer Board of Directors.

Community Organizing 

• Support Community Organizer in the development of new parent network through outreach initiatives and management/analysis of NationBuilder database
• Lead the administrative responsibilities related to a new parent network, including managing emails/messages, setting meetings, creating agendas and organizational tools, tracking and reporting on progress
• Contribute to campaign plans, strategies and materials/tools to support CoPs and parent network
• Contribute to strategy and problem solving discussions, particularly related to community organizing initiatives
• Create and deliver presentations both online and at community events and other outreach opportunities 
• Establish and maintain professional working relations with members, community and sector partners/stakeholders and leaders, organizations, government 

Communications

• Support the AECEO’s Communications and Outreach Coordinator, including the co-development and execution of creative, engaging social media strategies, creating original posts/content, sharing sector news/events, and responding to followers/comments related to the CoPs
• Support the CoPs in managing social media accounts
• Participate in the development and implementation of membership outreach, retention and recruitment efforts
• Support ongoing revamp and updates of AECEO website using NationBuilder 
• Support Professional Learning Coordinator with video production, editing and publishing
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

Degree in Early Childhood Education, Communications, Humanities, Social or Political Science or a related field of study, or equivalent combination of education and experience

Skills, knowledge and experience

Required

• Knowledge of anti-racism work, and the ability to work within racially diverse teams
• Task and time management skills, attention to detail
• Strong written/verbal communication and presentation skills
• Ability to build and maintain strong and collaborative relationships with diverse partners and stakeholders
• Ability to work some evenings and weekends and flexible hours
• Willing to work within anti-racist and anti-oppressive frameworks
• Knowledge of the early childhood sector

Preferred

• Experience building community initiatives and working with diverse community partners
• Knowledge and understanding of critical theories of early childhood
• NationBuilder or similar database management experience

Asset

• Experience communicating with politicians and/government on public policy 
• Knowledge of Public Narrative Framework 
• Website management/maintenance experience including willingness to learn HTML/CSS, NationBuilder platform
• Video creation/editing experience/skills
• G drivers license or equivalent full drivers license

This is a 12 month contract position, with the possibility of renewal. This position will be a part of the bargaining unit for the AECEO after our forthcoming inaugural collective bargaining process. 

If you are contacted by the AECEO regarding this job opportunity and require accommodation due to disability to participate in the recruitment and selection process, please  advise and we will work with you to meet your needs. 

Start Date: TBD (September 2023) 

Salary: $58,000, plus benefits after 3 months

Work location: Remote/from home  

Please submit cover letter, and resume to [email protected] by Friday, August 11, 2023, 11:59 PM 

Only candidates who are selected for interviews will be contacted. A short writing assignment will be requested from candidates when confirming an interview. 

Paid interview policy 

In recognition of the time and labour of preparing for and attending an interview, the AECEO financially compensates interviewees at a fixed rate of $75 per interview. The AECEO will send interviewees the interview questions 24 hours in advance of the interview to allow them time to  process the questions. If a candidate is asked to prepare a presentation or assignment for an  interview, AECEO will financially compensate the candidate for that work at a rate equal to the  hourly rate for the position, based on the number of hours the hiring committee believes the task  should take. The organization will not use ideas from presentations or assignments of candidates not selected for the position.

Download job posting PDF

As part of our ongoing learning and commitment to working within an anti-racist and anti-oppressive framework, the AECEO has committed to the following Anti-racist hiring practices:

• Public commitment to anti-racist hiring practice in job postings
• Share job postings on diverse job boards/through networks
• Create standardized interview questions
• No social media screening of applicants/candidates
• Diversity in hiring committee
• Commitment from hiring committee members to anti-bias and anti-racist hiring

In this issue:

• Worth More Day of Action
• What Kind of Ancestor do you Hope to Be: Responses Part 1 (open access)
• Communities of Practice in BC and Ontario: Sharing our Stories Across Canada
• Provincial and Territorial Government Initiatives to Address Early Childhood Educator Recruitment and Retention Through Postsecondary Early Childhood Education Programs: Are They Viable and Sustainable? (open access)
• Building a Transformative Conference
• The Peer Reviewed Collection (open access): Centring Relational Knowledge in Early Learning And Childcare:  Implications For Pedagogy And Pedagogical Leadership

Our thanks to everyone who contributed!

We would also like to thank AECEO Members, and the following advertisers, for supporting this issue of the eceLINK:

Johnson Insurance

Educators Financial Group

 (AECEO MEMBER ACCESS FOR FULL CONTENT)

Click HERE to become an AECEO member or renew!

The Worth More campaign is going strong, but we are still waiting for Ontario’s child care workforce strategy. So this summer join ECEs, early years staff, child care providers, and families across Ontario for the Worth More Wednesdays: Summer of Action! 

We have been so inspired by the inventiveness we’ve seen from the ECE community on the Days of Action. We want to make sure our message will continue to be heard loud and clear all summer long.  We’ll provide a toolkit of ideas, printable resources, and conversation prompts, you’ll provide the ECE Magic to build stronger relationships with children, families, and your community.

Our Toolkit features 5 weeks of fun and easy ideas and resources to take action with your community.

Of course the activities outlined in our Toolkit are simply examples and your actions may look different to reflect the needs of your community. We hope you'll feel free to adapt our Toolkit as necessary. If your timeline is different, and you will start the actions a little later, that’s OK too. It’s never too late to care out loud! If you are not working directly with children, or you aren’t able to participate in every action, we invite you to think creatively, with the Toolkit as a starting point. 

Be sure to keep an eye on the AECEO and OCBCC accounts, where we will share ideas, including inspiration for actions individuals can take. However you use our Toolkit, we hope that you will feel the message at the heart of it: that relationships are advocacy, and that you already have all the skills and knowledge you need to be a leader in this movement. Every week we’ll send an email reminder, along with resources and prompts for the week to make it as easy as possible to join in because you, and every ECE, child care worker and family are WORTH MORE!

Across Turtle Island, First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples have resisted against colonial structures to preserve  their languages, identities and culture. Today we celebrate their stories, their joys, accomplishments and successes.  

This day is also an opportunity for all educators to reflect on how we can support one another in our reconciliation practice and learning/unlearning journey.

The AECEO is committed to addressing colonial frameworks that have historically failed, and continue to fail, Indigenous children and their families.  The AECEO is dedicated to ensuring First Nation, Métis and Inuit educators have opportunity and support to take the lead in responding to all matters related to their specific communities.

For Immediate Release. June 20, 2023

On the heels of the passage of Canada’s national child care legislation Monday, child care advocates in Ontario are calling attention to the challenges facing Canada’s road to $10-a-day child care. 

On Tuesday June 20, 2023 communities around Ontario are holding a Worth More Day of Action to bring attention to the need to improve access to the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care system by solving the child care workforce shortage with decent work and pay. 

“We’ve promised families affordability, but that means little if they can’t access a space at all. Right now child care programs are limiting their enrolment because they cannot staff,” said Carolyn Ferns, of the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care.

Organizers of the Worth More Day of Action will be making child care visible in their communities, from public rallies and marches to actions at local child care centres. Events are being organized in communities across Ontario including London, Ottawa, Peterborough,Toronto, Sudbury, and Wawa. 

As part of the day, the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care has launched two new petitions: one for families on waitlists and one for families lucky to have a space. Both call on the federal and provincial governments to work together to expand access to child care by solving the workforce crisis and funding more spaces. 

“To solve the workforce crisis, we need a real workforce strategy including a salary scale starting at $30 per hour for Registered Early Childhood Educators and $25 per hour for non-RECE staff,” said Alana Powell of the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario. 

The AECEO and OCBCC have also called for a child care workforce strategy to include: benefits and pensions; paid sick days; professional development time; and paid programming time.

“ECEs and child care workers are worth more. Families on waitlists are worth more. Families needing subsidy are worth more. We need our governments working together to ensure we meet the promise of $10-a-day child care for all.”

Media Contacts:

Carolyn Ferns, Policy Coordinator, Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, 647-218-1275, [email protected]

Alana Powell, Executive Director, Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario, 613-898-9248, [email protected]

LOCAL DAY OF ACTION PUBLIC EVENTS

LONDON

What: Worth More Day event with families

When: Tuesday, June 20th at 5pm-6pm!

Where: Wortley Village on The Green, 165 Elmwood Road, London, ON

Local contact: Jessica Phillips, Early Years Advocates London, 519-452-4430 x 2055

PETERBOROUGH

What: Dots for Spots Rally in the Park

When: Tuesday June 20th, 2023, 5pm-7pm

Where: Beavermead Park, 2011 Ashburnham Dr, Peterborough, ON K9L 1P8

Local contact: Sheila Olan Maclean, co-CEO, Compass Early Learning and Care: 705-927-7336. 

SUDBURY

What: Pick-up, Cool-Down, Speak-Out event with families

When: Tuesday, June 20th, 2023, 4pm-5:30pm 

Where: Discovery Early Learning & Care, 2603 Falconbridge Road, Garson, ON              

Local contact: Tracy Saarikoski, Executive Director, Discovery Early Learning & Care: 705 690 3684.

TORONTO 

What: Pick-Up, Cool-Down, Speak-Out event with families

When: Tuesday, June 20th, 2023, 4pm-6pm

Where: The Neighbourhood Group Bellevue Child Care Centre, 91 Bellevue Ave., Toronto

Local contact: Carolyn Ferns, Policy Coordinator, Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, 647-218-1275

Download Media Release

We welcome Pride Month this year with joy and celebration and with the knowledge that love, care, and community are the building blocks of the world.

At the AECEO we say that educators are world builders. As ECEs we help to craft the worlds that children and families experience. We craft worlds with our intent, with our skills and knowledge, and with our relationships and our care.

In the face of a world that is increasingly, openly hostile to 2SLGBTQIA+ people, it has NEVER been more important that educators step bravely, visibly, and loudly into our obligation to create better worlds for 2SLGBTQIA+ children and families. The AECEO recognizes that being an activist can present risks and we are committed to creating safe spaces for our community and stand together as we advocate for equal access to rights and protections.

We step into this Pride Month with the knowledge that around the world 2SLGBTQIA+ children and families have been forced onto the frontlines of a homophobic and transphobic war of rhetoric that they did not choose, and that offers them no mercy. 

On this continent and others, 2SLGBTQIA+ children, families, and educators are faced with constant and overwhelming news cycles that show those in authority - or those seeking authority - expressing hatred and violence towards them without remorse or redress. Those who hope to sow fear for political gain are silencing queer stories, disavowing trans humanity, and questioning the very right of 2SLGBTQIA+ people to exist. This is not an issue faced only by our neighbours to the south. Here in Ontario, in our home towns, prospective school board trustees ran openly anti-trans municipal election campaigns; library story hours have been picketed by adults chanting hateful and harmful messages; and children, not immune or unconscious to the 24 hour news cycle, are quietly afraid.

As world builders, as educators, our work is clear.

This June we will celebrate Pride with joy, for ourselves, our families, and our communities. 

We will also speak out.

We will keep raising our voices until every 2SLGBTQIA+ child in our care, and every 2SLGBTQIA+ family in our community, and every 2SLGBTQIA+ educator in our sector has a world where they belong. A world where they are safe to engage as their authentic selves, where their expression is gratefully welcomed, and their well-being is assured and nurtured.

With love and Pride,

The AECEO team

Last November, ECEs, child care workers, operators, families and community members came together to talk about the child care workforce shortage and how to solve it. Half a year has gone by and Ontario Child Care is currently facing its worst recruitment and retention crisis to date.

It's crucial that the new Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) system is built right: with better pay, better quality and better access. The child care shortage won’t be solved without a funding formula and workforce strategy that provide decent wages and working conditions for educators and a serious, public plan to expand child care spaces. We need action, NOW! 

Join us on Tuesday June 20th to demand action on the workforce crisis and tell government that child care is worth MORE! 

Click HERE for all of the resources to participate in the Day of Action.

The AECEO is inviting educators across Ontario to create a collaborative visual prose, with descriptions for visually impaired folks. This project will be unveiled at the AECEO 2023 Conference. Join us on March 22nd at 7PM to participate!

This meeting will be an opportunity to reflect on representations of ourselves that we create, identify with, and are imposed on us. We will unpack these themes as educators and our whole selves to reclaim our personal narratives.

We will examine existing images, as well as invite participants to choose self-identified visual representations of themselves. 

This meeting is open to all. AECEO members will be invited to a follow up session to share and discuss their chosen images with peers.

Register here!

The Community of Black ECEs invite you to a virtual meeting on Thursday March 2nd from 7:00-8:00pm.
REGISTER HERE

Issue: Fall/Winter 2023                                                                                                  

The AECEO is welcoming submissions for the eceLINK Peer Reviewed Collection:

Special Issue: Disability Justice in ECE

Guest Editor: Dr. Maria Karmiris

Submission deadline:  August 1, 2023

In “Disability Justice—a working draft” Patti Berne (2015) invites scholars, researchers and activists to consider the following question: “How do we move together - as people with mixed abilities, multiracial, multi-gendered, mixed class, across the orientation spectrum - where no body/mind is left behind?”

Inspired by the ways in which this question desires new and innovative responses to past and present discriminatory practices, this call for papers seeks to foreground the aims of disability justice (Berne, 2015; Mingus, 2018; Piepzna-Samarasinha, 2018) as integral to enacting social justice within ECE.

Download full Call for Papers and submission guidelines

We are excited to invite students from all levels - diploma, Bachelor's, Master's, etc. - and from every region in Ontario to participate in the survey and share it with a classmate.

The student survey was created by the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario (AECEO) and the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care (OCBCC) to better understand the student perspectives on the Early Childhood Education Sector including job prospects, wages, and opportunities to advance. 

Today we’re thinking about the children and families, educators and staff of the Garderie Éducative Ste-Rose. The AECEO extends our deepest condolences to the families who have lost children. We are sending our wishes for healing to the families whose children were injured. We are holding our ECE and child care staff siblings in our hearts.

Child care centres are so often places of community, belonging, and joy, and we mourn with those who have lost their sense of safety in their safest space. We are sending love and wishes for peace to everyone whose lives have been impacted by this trauma. 

Many of us spend so much of our lives, and give so much care, in spaces that are incredibly similar to the Garderie Éducative Ste-Rose. We know that hearing and seeing details of this situation has been heartbreaking and distressing for many educators, child care staff and parents around our province and beyond. We hope that if you are feeling that way, you are able to reach out for help and support. This is a time for all of us to be gentle with ourselves and one another as we navigate these heavy feelings and mourn as a community. 

February is Black History Month. As early childhood educators and as a community, this is a time for us to learn, unlearn, and examine how our actions must work to support racial justice.  The AECEO aims to continuously challenge systemic racism and colonial structures that harm Black children, families, and educators within the early childhood education and care sector. Acknowledging that Black educators also face specific challenges in accessing progressive economic and professional opportunities is important to consider as we aim for transformative change.

We know there’s a lot of work to be done towards justice and equality and there will be uncomfortable and even painful conversations and experiences along the way. We also must ensure that Black community members are not tasked with carrying the burden of everyone’s collective learning.  

We remain committed to building a society that values and celebrates Black history and culture, by promoting Black leadership and actively working against systems that surveil, oppress, and disparage Blackness. On February 28th, we will be hosting a Professional Learning opportunity with the Seneca Early Childhood Educators Black Students Association, and we look forward to sharing more details and registration soon.

Below you will find a list of resources that includes suggested readings, videos and local events for all ages in different regions of the province. We suggest you explore this compilation of resources, attend a local event if you’re able to and share these within your community so others can access them. We encourage all early childhood educators and members of the early learning community to join us in dedicating time and effort to critically examining pedagogy, historical and current narratives and committing to specific work that promotes the participation of Black educators, children and families as leaders in our sector and community.

Local Events in Ontario

• A Celebration of Black History Month Amherstburg, ON
• What Would Ms. Hina Do? Themes and lessons from the novel Scarborough. Allyship, community, in the context of Black History Month Wednesday, February 22nd at 7:00PM at the  Peter A. Herrndorf Place, National Arts Centre - City of Ottawa & Ottawa Public Library 
• Black History Month Events - City of Ottawa & Ottawa Public Library 
• Black History Month Events - London Black History Coordinating Committee
• Black History Month Events 2023 - Rhythm & Blues Cambridge
• Black Histories Wikipedia & Wikidata Edit-a-thon (2023) - Toronto Public Library (online, open to any region)  February 3rd. 8th, 10th, 17th and 24th 1:00-4:00 PM EST 
• Black History and Culture Programming - Toronto Public Library
• Black History Month Events -  Hamilton Public Library 
• Black History Month - Newmarket African Caribbean Canadian Association
• February 2023 Calendar - The Caribbean Canadian Association of Waterloo Region
• Dis/Mantle - Art Exhibit on display until May 28th at Spadina House, Toronto.

Online Events 

• Black History Month Festival - Association for the Study of African American Life and History
• Elinor Williams Hooker Tea Talks 2023 - Bringing it Back: Conversations We Still Need - Sundays, February 5th - March 12th  2-3:30 PM (EST) online attendance available 

Readings

•  Amber Starks on Blackness and Indigeneity - Room Magazine Black History Month Interview Feature
• Being Black in Canada - CBC
• A progress report on anti-racism policy in Canada - People for Education
• Building an anti-racist child care system in Canada - Policy Options
• Jean Augustine, first Black female MP and Cabinet minister - The Canadian Encyclopedia
• British Columbia’s Black pioneers: Their industry and character influenced the vision of Canada - BC Black History Society
• Reading Lists - Toronto Public Library 
  • Black History 2023 - Adult Reading List
  • Black History 2023 - Teen Reading List
  • Black History 2023 - Children's Reading List

Resources for Educators and Caregivers

• Community of Black ECEs - AECEO Communities of Practice are self-determined learning groups that connect folks to supports, resources, and shared experiences to strengthen a unified early years workforce
• A Different Booklist - a Canadian, independent, multicultural bookstore specializing in books from the African Caribbean Diaspora and the Global South.
• Afro Women and Youth Foundation - a Black-Led and Black-Serving organization that provides leadership, empowerment, and mentorship programs to Newcomers, Black Women and Youth
• Centering the Voices of Racialized Mothers and Educators in Shaping Child Care Response and Recovery in Ontario - an Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care Project, funded by Women and Gender Equality Canada
• Haymarket Books - Haymarket Books is a radical, independent, nonprofit book publisher based in Chicago, IL. 
• EmbraceRace - a community space that gathers resources and knowledge needed to meet the challenges faced by those raising children in a world where race matters. 
• Woke Kindergarten - a global, abolitionist early childhood ecosystem & visionary creative portal supporting children, families, educators and organizations in their commitment to abolitionist early education and pro-black and queer and trans liberation.
• The Conscious Kid - an education, research and policy organization that supports families and educators in taking action to disrupt racism, inequity and bias
• Gal-dem - An online media publication, committed to telling the stories of people of colour from marginalized genders.

Video and Film Recommendations

• Why we need to celebrate Black Joy - Valerie June (TEDxNashvilleSalon)
• Black Communities in Canada: a Rich History - National Film Board of Canada
• 5 Black Canadian History Documentaries, compiled by Black in the Maritimes
• The Skin We're In: Pulling back the curtain on racism in Canada - CBC Docs POV
• bell hooks & john a. powell: Belonging Through Connection - Othering & Belonging Conference 2015

The Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care and the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario welcomed Monday’s announcement by the federal and Ontario governments that child care fees will be reduced by 50% by the new year.

“Affordable child care is life changing for families and for our communities. It is great to see the collaboration between the federal and provincial governments making that a reality for Ontario families”, said Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care Policy Coordinator Carolyn Ferns.

Ontario also announced more details of its use of federal expansion funds, with a promise to use $213 million in federal Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care funds for start-up grants to child care programs around Ontario. 

While it is positive to hear the Ontario government speak about expanding licensed child care, advocates cautioned that it will be impossible to increase the number of licensed spaces without addressing the child care workforce crisis. Around Ontario child care programs cannot operate at capacity right now because of the child care recruitment and retention crisis, let alone plan for expansion. 

The Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care and the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario have called for a workforce strategy including:

• A salary scale starting at $25 per hour for all child care workers and $30 per hour for Registered Early Childhood Educators (RECEs);
• Benefits and pensions;
• Paid sick days;
• Professional development time;
• Paid programming time.

“We need decent work and pay. We need the federal and provincial governments to bring the same level of ambition and collaboration that they have brought to lowering child care fees to raising child care worker wages and developing a real workforce strategy” said Rachel Vickerson of the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario.

The Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care also urges the province to increase transparency as the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care plan gets underway in Ontario. 

“We need regular public reporting, accountability mechanisms and transparent, public consultation going forward. How many child care spaces have already been created? And where are they located? How will programs be selected for expansion and how will the government be guaranteeing that we are expanding primarily in public and non-profit sectors as required under the CWELCC agreement? We need to ensure that every dollar going to create spaces for families is well-spent,” said Ferns.

Contact

Carolyn Ferns, Policy Coordinator, Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, [email protected], 647-218-1275

Rachel Vickerson, Executive Director, Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario, [email protected], 647-393-8952

In this issue:

• Day of Action
• Interview with Lyndsay Macdonald
• What Kind of Ancestor do you Hope to Be (open access)
• At the Intersection of Safety, Ethics, Mental Health and Well-being
• ECE Voices (open access)
• Building Leadership & Learning Communities Project
• Call for Proposals 2023 AECEO Conference
• The Peer Reviewed Collection (open access):
  • Exploring Histories of ECEC to Reconceptualize “Normalcy” through Mad Studies
• List of AECEO Certified Members

We would like to thank AECEO Members and the following advertisers for supporting this issue of the eceLINK:

Johnson Insurance

Wintergreen

 (AECEO MEMBER ACCESS FOR FULL CONTENT)

Click HERE to become an AECEO member or renew!

JOIN OUR CAMPAIGN TO SOLVE THE CHILD CARE WORKFORCE CRISIS.