It was an honour and terrific opportunity to be asked to highlight our ongoing research and the thoughtful work that our network of districts and communities are doing in the premier issue of InspirED, the journal of the British Columbia School Superintendents Association.
There is a sense of pride and collectivity to take and give when we are asked to describe our work, core principles and intent. A confirmation and a prelude to celebrations for another year of observing and learning from our wonder children and each other. Read more…
Here is a peek at what some of our CR4YC communities are beginning to observe in their wonder children and looking to investigate via their inquiry questions and the facets.
These are initial, tentative questions. Educators will refine, revise and even replace them as they learn and think more about social and emotional well-being and their wonder children. Although for this post, we’ve placed each question in a particular facet, we know that they overlap and that one question often reflects as many as three different facets.
Wondering and exploring by some 36 Communities and their educators is inspiring, sharing our work connects us all.
How can I help the child recognize value in his strengths to build his confidence and feelings of self-worth across settings/situations
What happens to M’s social and emotional well-being when I
honour him by his name in our circle time routine?
By helping the children to understand and use the word “proud”, will it increase the children’s ability to self identify and/or self reflect?
How does knowing oneself help child connect to his community?
How do I help A make positive
independent decisions without following others behaviours?
How can I
foster friendship building skills within the classroom that will lead to
healthy communication skills and a sense of belonging for my Wonder Child and
class?
What difference will I notice in the level of engagement and
involvement with both parents and their children if my program is empowering
engaging and fun?
How do I enhance caring for others in my classroom community?
How do I build more connection with A and help foster deeper
connections with her peers?
What will happen to AW’s SEL if we work on building
relationships with older buddies and with peers in our classroom?
What happens to K’s SEL well- being when I provide
activities that promote kindness, friendship and relationship building skills
with the whole class?
How can I support I in developing and expanding strategies
to establish more effective relationships and attachments with other adults and
children?
How does
supporting emotional interconnections (parent/child/staff) affect
self-regulation among children?
What happens when I stop controlling a student’s behavior to
self-regulate and give him ownership to explore his own self-regulation strategies?
What
happens if I focus on creative expression time every day for self-regulation
and body awareness?
What happens if I build rest/relaxation/reflection time
every day for sustaining appropriate energy levels for the day?
What happens to BH’s behaviours when we focus our attention
on positive behaviours and actively praise them? How would focusing on him as a
role model help him to regulate in the classroom?
How does N display “joy”? I notice that she seems content, however she does not show outward excitement. Does she show Joy when she is in a more secure environment? Does she always look serious?
What happens to R’s social-emotional well-being when I teach
basic sign language to him to help him communicate?
What
happens when I explicitly teach how to play and provide time for students to
practice?
What might happen to A’s sense of joy and happiness if she participated instead of led during play?
If we see that adapting materials and equipment can bring confidence and joy to a particular child in our care, then how can we ensure that all of the children in our care are receiving those same opportunities to feel confident and joy.
What would happen if I had dance gatherings, to focus on my
wonder child’s love of dance, and engage children in small groups to open up
about self-regulation, empathy and caring?
What happens when I focus on friendship communication to
build a strong understanding of empathy?
What happens for K’s SEWB when I model and directly teach
empathetic skills, kindness and emotional recognition to the whole class?
How do I help C identify when he is doing kind things and practice kindness?
I wonder how does he sees friendships? Does he need my help
for self- advocacy?
What differences will I notice in personal agency in the
classroom if I encourage individual exploration (self-exploration) as well as
modeling language exploration? (story time/books, visual exploration,
prompting)
How can I reinforce K’s strong moral compass under the
negative influence of peers?
What will happen to my wonder child when I provide
opportunities for J.G. to connect with other children who are not in his
comfort bubble?
How do I help A make positive independent decisions without
following others behaviours?
How we learn is how we are feeling. The research states this unequivocally.
~Kim Schonert-Reichl
On October 4th, 2018 we gathered for the Changing Results for Young Children Network Session. This was an inspirational, fun-filled and busy day spent together.
We were joined by District facilitators, Leads, Ministry staff, BCTF representatives, Early Learning partners. The day was joyfully hosted by Maria LeRose.
Presentations and updates on current and future research as well as early childhood pedagogy were given by:
Kim Schonert-Reichl, Director of Human Early Partnership HELP UBC and Professor, UBC Faculty of Education presented: Promoting Young Children’s Social & Emotional Development and Well-Being.
Jane Bertrand, International expert on Early Childhood Education, MWMFF & Atkinson Centre, OISE and author of the PLAY TODAY Handbook (DRAFT) presented: The Power of Play Based Learning
We finished up the morning with an enlightening panel discussion moderated by interviewer and producer, Maria LeRose. Our panel: Jennifer McCrea, Assistant Deputy Minister, Jane Bertrand and Kim Schonert-Reichl.
It was a day of connections, common understandings and planning as each of the facilitators and leads from the represented 42 districts and communities go back to their teams of educators with this information and to start their research.
School Districts and Communities will meet this Fall and begin the process of finding a focus and wonder child, building relationships with one another and both discovering the commonalities that exist among us in the social emotional realm with young children, as well as observe and understand the uniqueness amongst each other in our respective environments.
This will, and should, look different in every community .
Let’s Share: here are some invitations and plans that the Lower Mainland group consisting of: Burnaby, Richmond and Vancouver as well as West Vancouver have started.
CR4YC focuses on social and emotional well-being to improve outcomes for young children.
One of the CR4YC goals is to identify and apply a strengthened understanding of quality practices associated with improving the social and emotional well-being of young children. Another goal is to increase the coherence in pedagogy between Early Childhood Educators and Primary Educators.
2018-2019 year 2
In year 2, we have 14 sites with 36 School Districts/Communities participating. Collectively these researchers are focusing on observations, relationships, pedagogical practices, collaborations and finding commonalities and unique characteristics amongst each other.
Facilitators and Leads will assemble on October 4th to plan, coordinate, network and learn about the current research and resources available and bring back this information to their communities and members.
Our collective this year includes:
Ministry of Education UBC Horizon Research and Evaluation Maria LeRose and Associates BCTF North Shore Early Years Centre Reach Child and Youth Development Society VCH-rural/coastal Sunshine Coast Community Services Society United Way of the Lower Mainland Fraser Valley Child Development Centre Western Canada WE Schools School District 8/Community: Kootenay Lake School District 10/Community: Arrow Lakes School District 22/Community: Vernon School District 23/Community: Central Okanagan School District 28/Community: Quesnel School District 33/Community: Chilliwack School District 34/Community: Abbotsford School District 35/Community: Langley School District 36/Community: Surrey School District 38/Community: Richmond School District 39/Community: Vancouver School District 40/Community: New Westminster School District 41/Community: Burnaby School District 42/Community: Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows School District 43/Community: Coquitlam School District 44/Community: North Vancouver School District 45/Community: West Vancouver School District 46/Community: Sunshine Coast School District 47/Community: Powell River School District 48/Community: Sea to Sky School District 51/Community: Boundary School District 52/Community: Prince Rupert School District 53/Community: Okanagan Similkameen School District 61/Community: Greater Victoria School District 62/Community: Sooke School District 63/Community: Saanich School District 64/Community: Gulf Islands School District 67/Community: Okanagan Skaha School District 68/Community: Nanaimo-Ladysmith School District 69/Community: Qualicum School District 73/Community: Kamloops/Thompson School District 78/Community: Fraser-Cascade School District 82/Community: Coast Mountains School District 83/Community: North Okanagan-Shuswap School District 91/Community: Nechano Lakes
