Présenté par: Kelly O'Gorman

Au cours de cet atelier de bien-être physique, social et émotionnel, nous prendrons une pause indispensable pour améliorer le bien-être global grâce à des activités puissantes et rajeunissantes qui visent à encourager l'esprit de collectivité. (Habillez­ vous confortablement).

 Presented by: Jordyn Samuels

This workshop is designed to empower participants to reflect on the power they hold as early learning and child-care professionals who can be the change advocates 2SLGBTQ (2-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, Queer) children need, to support healthy self-images and welcoming environments. Participants will learn about and have opportunities to discuss issues surrounding the current social discourses impacting 2SLGBTQ children in Ontario. These discourses include but are not limited to – assumptions 2SLGBTQ children don’t exist or are “too young to know,” confronting 2SLGBTQ stereotypes and cultural differences seeking to keep 2SLGBTQ children “in the closet,” and challenging ideas that the 2SLGBTQ population is a monolith requiring “one-size-fits-all” approaches to support all identities within it. 

Our social discourse discussion will be followed by an overview of the impacts current issues have on 2SLGBTQ children both in our care and before they show up in the environments we create. These impacts can include – but are not limited to – denial of life-affirming medical care, a lack of identity-specific support for lesser-known identities, low self-image and worsened mental health outcomes from not being seen, supported and positively represented. 

The workshop will end with an interactive discussion and action planning around next steps participants will commit to in creating or maintaining 2SLGBTQ-welcoming environments. Participants will be offered tangible approaches to curb the impacts of 2SLGBTQ erasure. In addition, participants will have knowledge sharing opportunities to share tools which have worked in their own experiences and can be replicated by others, or share changes which have good intent but may need updated approaches. 

• Current issues challenging 2SLGBTQ children in Ontario – social discourse

• Exploring the impact of lack of acceptance on early development of 2SLGBTQ children

• Creating warm and welcoming environments for 2SLGBTQ children

Presented by: Nicole Cummings-Morgan, OCT, MA CSE, BASc, RECE

In this interactive workshop, Educators will gain a better understanding of how racism, anti-Black racism, trauma, and mental health appears in their daily routine, and how it impacts their personal and professional role. With little talk about how prevalent these topics are, it is important for Educators to be conscious and reflective educators. It is a hope that they:

• Remember why they became the educators they are;

• Reflect on how to stay current personally and professionally;

• Change their thoughts and behaviours to ensure they are taking care of their personal and professional spaces; and

• Maintain these changes to support themselves, their families, their co-workers, and the children and families they work with.

Educators will learn:

• How to identify racism, anti-black racism, trauma, and mental health.

• How to understand how it impacts their personal and professional practice.

• How paying attention to these topics will make them better holistically.

Presented by: Randi-Mae Stanford-Leibold

To provide knowledge and tools for individuals to address compassion fatigue. Learn how to recover and prevent it. This session focuses on well-being and thriving throughout your career.

• What is compassion fatigue?

• Why are compassion fatigue and burnout friends?

• What are the signs and symptoms?

• Why are care-givers and educators more susceptible?

• How do you make your well-being a priority?

Presented by: Kim Kirkley

In this workshop we will be exploring Land Based teachings and activities. A discussion on the difference between Land Based and On The Lands programming will occur. The attendees will have the opportunity to learn about and use the seasonal cultural curriculum. We will explore important cultural events while infusing Anishinaabemowin into the program plan. Ontario's Pedagogy for Early Years, How Learning Happens and how it correlates with the cultural curriculum will be infused throughout this presentation. Discussions on how the land is important as it is both a teacher and a healer along with the importance of living in harmony with Mother Earth and all who inhabit will be a continual dialogue throughout this workshop.

Presented by: Elaine Cook, PhD, Dolly Menna-Dock

In this engaging and experiential workshop participants will learn how simple language-based strategies have profound effects on Educator and student wellbeing. These dialogic, solution-focused practices and skills operationalize principles of humanistic positive psychology including: wholeness, agency and autonomy - all of which are highly correlated to wellbeing and optimal functioning. Through small group discussions, activities, and skilled facilitation, participants will gain skills and understanding that enable them to experience their work in a more fulfilling and enriching manner, while also amplifying strengths and resources of students. Learner outcomes include, the ability to re-frame conversations and situations using key words, use generative questioning, how to identify and implement strategies for optimal functioning.

 Presented by: Alison Grbic

Leaders will learn ways to support, guide and build connections that are more meaningful within their teams and intuitively lead their organizations by “tapping in and tuning in” to their own intuitive knowledge and by healing and balancing their emotions and practicing self-care. They will learn how to go within, understand how their unique intuition speaks to them, and take action based on their intuitive promptings, which builds self-trust, confidence and self-reliance in their leadership role. Leaders can then make sound decisions, handle stressful or challenging situations with ease and focus on their goals and objectives with clarity. By doing the inner reflective work, leaders learn about their strengths and areas unknown to them gaining self-compassion and self-acceptance, which in turn, builds a greater level of empathy and acceptance of others. Using the “Intuitive Model”, they will gain practical steps for using their own intuitive development and create intuitive interactions, and connections with staff and the families they serve. They will gain more insight as to how their intuition guides them towards using their own strengths and abilities and then empower others to do the same. As they learn to access their intuition more and more by “going within”, they gain skills to face any challenges or adversity that comes their way. This helps build self-reliance, confidence and self-empowerment when opportunities of all kinds come their way as they are no longer fearful or doubtful and instead know intuitively the best course of action to take. While using the "Steps to Emotional Balance" they will also gain strategies for improving their own emotional balance, self-awareness and reflect on healing any past wounds, beliefs, biases, assumptions or attachments to outcomes that may need working through. This leads to the balancing of their emotions supporting the ability to remain calm, grounded and centered in stressful situations, deepening their level of understanding of supporting others and meeting them where they are at on the continuum of their own healing journey. This then creates intuitively aware and emotionally intelligent leaders who are better “equipped” to help, support, guide and listen to others who have experienced traumatic or adverse situations creating a ripple effect of the uplifting of teams, families and an overall positive impact on communities.

Presented by: Shawnee Hardware, PhD; Gail Hunter, RECE; and Bernice Capparrone-McLeod, RECE

Over the past two years, there has been vociferous calls for the integration of anti-Black racism pedagogy in the field of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). These anti-racist calls serve to dismantle the predominance of Eurocentric values in ECEC as evidenced in developmentally 'appropriate' practice (DAP) theorizing which centers two parent, normally heteronormative, homes and child rearing practices. For decades, DAP has invalidated the child-care practices of non-White groups, particularly those from Black and Indigenous homes, as these were seen as inappropriate. Following anti-Black racism, reconceptualise and culturally responsive scholars, this presentation will posit ways to integrate a more critical, anti-racist approach to ECEC. While we will be focused on anti-Black racism, we take an intersectional approach to racism, hence, we will also highlight racism faced by other groups as a form of solidarity. Before discussing our strategies to create an anti-Black racism approach, we will:

1. Overview our anti-racist education framework to provide a mutual understanding of the concepts discussed.

2. Detail how entrenched racism is in the ECEC field and how racism impacts on Black, Indigenous and other racialized families' health, and well-being.

As mentioned above, the central focus of our presentation will be on effective practices that educators can employ to create anti-racist ECEC spaces which affirm racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse families' lived realities. These effective practices include:

1. Intentionally selecting resources that showcase the value of diversity in our centres and society 

2. Having critical conversations with children about race and racism

3. Creating opportunities where families can make meaning in their ECEC spaces

4. Becoming more entrenched in community learning.

Presented by: Karen Chaboyer

Karen attended residential school for 9 years. Karen shares the effects Residential School had on her and how she lost her identity, her roots, her culture and language. Karen's goal is to educate people on the impacts Residential School had on her.

Presented by: Chris Leonard

Connection is key to navigate moving forward from these extraordinary times of loss, change, transitions. This interactive session will provide a brave space for participants to identify, "Who have I been?” during the pandemic, and Who am I becoming?" as they are moving forward. Intentional processing time to reflect on the impact of working through a global pandemic will include discussions on how they were impacted, how the work was impacted, and on how their connection with the community and with each other were also impacted, during the past twenty-nine months. The session will also provide space to celebrate individual strengths and collective team resilience that supported and got them through the stressors and challenges. The session will wrap up with discussion and practice time with tools and strategies for coping with complexities and the mental/emotional cost of caring for the communities being served. Various interactive methods, including embodied practices, will be integrated to keep participants engaged throughout the session. "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced" (James Baldwin)