THE COURAGE TO CARE:
YOU. CHILDREN. LAND.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2023
8:30 AM – 4:30 PM
If you have questions about attendance, please email Bre at breanna@striveswo.ca.
The recordings of the day are available to view on Strive Online. Please click the links below to view (NOTE: You must be signed in to your Strive Online account).
This event was made possible by funding from the Province of Ontario, City of London, Middlesex County, Elgin County, and Wellness Together Canada.
This opportunity brought the London-Middlesex-Elgin early years systems together to reflect, learn, grow, and celebrate the invaluable contributions early years professionals make each day in service to children and families across our regions.
Let’s revisit CARE in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC).
REFLECTIVE ACTIVITIES
TAKE CARE OF YOU TOO: A GUILT-FREE GUIDE TO SELF-CARE
FACILITATED BY MIKE MASSE
PEM CHECK-IN REFLECTION:
What feelings came up for you throughout the guided meditation? (Masse, 2023)
How are you feeling after completing the exercise? (Masse, 2023)
In what ways can you incorporate this practice into your daily routine and work as a support? (Masse, 2023)
CULTIVATING SECURE SPACES TO PROBE THE COMPLEXITIES OF CARE
FACILITATED BY DR. TINA BONNETT
BEGINNINGS:
Do you feel safe to sit in the (dis)comfort and (un)knowing of exploring how you were/are cared for? (Bonnett, 2023)
Did you have/continue to have relational security in ways that have led you to feel cared for, and protected from adversity? (Bonnett, 2023)
Have you had opportunities to integrate, and heal from, care experiences that were not optimal? (Bonnett, 2023)
Have you had opportunities to declare your positionality and how it influences your care work alongside children, families, and colleagues? (Bonnett, 2023)
Can we co-construct safe and nurturing spaces to set the stage for children/families to uncover their positionalities as they relate to care? (Bonnett, 2023)
CONSOLIDATIONS:
Is there ‘newness’ in your care positionality? If yes, how so? (Bonnett, 2023)
Can you ask for what you earlier identified you may need to delve into care? (Bonnett, 2023)
What are the ‘care’ commitments that you intend take back to your pedagogical work with children, families, and colleagues? (Bonnett, 2023)
LISTENING TO THE HEARTBEAT OF MOTHER EARTH THROUGH A SEASONAL PEDAGOGY IN THE EARLY YEARS
FACILITATED BY DR. HOPI MARTIN
Connecting Land Acknowledgement with Edge of the Bush Protocol (Martin, 2023)
RELATIONSHIPS:
What is your relationship to the land and her Indigenous Peoples? (Martin, 2023)
PASSING:
What is in your Heart? (Martin, 2023)
What are you grateful for? (Martin, 2023)
What are your intentions? (Martin, 2023)
MOVEMENT:
Where are you and your family from? (Martin, 2023)
Where are you living now? (Martin, 2023)
BIRTH:
Who are you? (Martin, 2023)
What are your names? (Martin, 2023)
KEYNOTE SESSIONS
TAKE CARE OF YOU TOO: A GUILT-FREE GUIDE TO SELF-CARE
FACILITATED BY MIKE MASSE
In the "Take Care of You Too: A Guilt-Free Guide to Self-Care - Introduction Workshop," Mike will bring his unique blend of knowledge, humour, enthusiasm, and practical techniques to help educators prioritize their own well-being. Through interactive exercises, group discussions, and mindfulness practices, attendees will discover how to integrate self-care seamlessly into their daily lives without guilt or added stress.
Mike understands that learning and growth can be both fun and engaging, making the journey toward self-care an empowering and sustainable one. Be prepared to leave the workshop feeling inspired and equipped with practical tools to enhance your personal well-being and professional practice.
Mike Masse is a mindfulness consultant, public speaker and best selling author who specializes in mindfulness based stress reduction. For over a decade, he has been teaching adults, youth and children mindfulness skills to help reduce their levels of stress and anxiety. Mike has become a highly sought after trainer; facilitating workshops with educators, first responders, health care providers, and others who work in high-stress environments. Mike's engaging and encouraging teaching style will have you feeling excited and hopeful about what mindfulness can do to transform your well-being and your professional practice. It's time to take care of you too!
Check out Mike’s Wellness Minutes on Strive Online (note: you must be signed in to your account to view the videos):
CULTIVATING SECURE SPACES TO PROBE THE COMPLEXITIES OF CARE
FACILITATED BY DR. TINA BONNETT
Care, a complex and multi-layered element of early years pedagogical practice, requires deliberation with an openness to plural perspectives. On this account, this professional learning experience invites participants to reflect on the history and theoretical underpinning of care, in relation to the child. The contextual nature of care, and care in tandem with attachment and a trauma-informed stance, will be examined. Tensions typical to care, such as gender, the ed/care binary, policy, leadership, and compassion fatigue in pandemic recovery, will likewise be of focus. The pertinence of situating early years pedagogy in a care paradigm, as well as the vulnerability necessary to bring care discourse to public spaces for dismantling and re-dressing, will be central to this professional learning experience. Participants will be invited into critical reflection about what care means to them, in the context of their own lived experiences, positionally, and beliefs.
Tina Bonnett (Ed.D, MS.ECEd., RECE, CTIC) is a faculty member in the Honours Bachelor of Early Childhood Leadership (HBECL) degree program at Fanshawe College. She is an RECE, a graduate of York University’s Infant Mental Health program, and has completed a master’s degree with a focus on primary care infant/RECE dyadic attachment relationships. Tina also holds a doctoral degree from Western University. Her dissertation explored the intersection of relational leadership and infant care. Tina has earned a graduate certificate in Applied Psychology and Counselling with a specialization in psychotherapy and is trained in Emotionally-Focused Therapy, ITATM®, and the Circle of Security. Some of her research interests include attachment, trauma-informed practice, relational leadership and care discourse.
Tina will be joined by Olivia Musico, RECE, recent graduate from the HBECL program and Strive’s Professional Learning Assistant. Olivia will briefly discuss her recent capstone research project “A TIP Self-Study: Preparedness of Pre-Service ECL Students” which she completed alongside her two classmates, Madison Jacques and Grace Sowa. The findings of this research embody turning points, indicating the need for early years professionals to gain a deeper understanding of Trauma Informed Practice (TIP) with more distinct attention in pre-service learning.
LISTENING TO THE HEARTBEAT OF MOTHER EARTH THROUGH A SEASONAL PEDAGOGY IN THE EARLY YEARS
FACILITATED BY DR. HOPI MARTIN
Dr. Hopi Lovell Martin, Oshkaabewis (Sacred Helper, Messenger, Fire Keeper, Lodge Caretaker) earned his PhD in Ojibwe Developmental Psychology and Education from OISE/UT through his research of Listening to Land as Teacher in Early Childhood Education (2021) which brought forward an Ojibwe Anishinaabe perspective of 'how learning happens'. As a mixed race Lenape/Briton/European born in the United States without tribal belonging, this research grew from his experience of being 'named' and 'claimed' by his Niiyawe'enh (Namesake), Dr. Gokoomis Jacque Lavellée, her family, and the traditional responsibilities of her Dede's Waabizheshi Doomed (Ojibwe Marten Clan) in the urban context of Toronto, Ontario, Canada where he now lives with his family down the street from his 'Auntie Jacque' (Martin citing Lavellée, 2021). The 'Seasonal Pedagogy' that emerged from this Indigenous, land-based research suggests an ethical approach for Peoples/Nations from all Four Directions to come into relationship with Traditional Ojibwe Bush Knowledge through a growing network of 'Bush Schools' that are being established alongside settler approaches to early years education.
You are invited to come listen to Dr. Hopi Martin, Waabizheshi Oshkaabewis (Ojibwe Marten Clan Sacred Helper, Messenger, Fire Keeper, Lodge Caretaker) share about his research of Ojibwe Developmental Psychology and Education called 'Listening to Land as Teacher in Early Childhood Education (2021)'. This land-based research uncovered an old Circle Teaching in relation to the Four Seasons that has particular relevance to 'how learning happens' for Human Beings in relationship to Mother Earth and Father Sky. While this Circle Teaching is remembered by Ojibwe, this research proved that this 'Seasonal Pedagogy' could ethically be learned and applied by Peoples/Nations from all Four Directions, particularly through common experiences of unstructured, land-based play with children through the Four Seasons around the Great Lakes.
MORE INFORMATION
At Courage to Care, we did not give out conference swag to participants. This decision was made thoughtfully after reflection on the intention and purpose of the day, as well as the overall impact of conference swag. For more information, please listen to Episode 18 of the Leading Inspired Learning Podcast, where Ally Scott, Strive Project Manager, and two members of our Professional Learning Committee, Sheryl Third, MA, RECE, and Kathy Harris, RECE, discuss this decision in depth.