PROGRAM & WORKSHOPS

Workshops

The list of workshops can be found on this page, below the program.

Conference Program

WORKSHOPS

See the Workshop Review by Marcel Lauzière for the post-conference summary of the workshops.

1. The OECD Thematic Review of Early Childhood Education and Care: What can Canada learn?

John Bennett, Martha Friendly, Kathleen Flanagan-Rochon
Moderator: Sheila Regher

New materials by an expert team will be the basis for this "big picture" workshop. Workshop leaders will use Canada's Background Report to the OECD as well as the Country Note prepared by an international team.

Workshops participants will consider the Thematic Reviews lessons for Canada.

2. Two solitudes: Bringing child care and early childhood education together

Paivi Lindberg, Sue Colley, Marc Thibault
Moderator: Jane Bertrand

The different histories and purposes of Canadian ELCC programs including kindergarten, nursery/preschools and child care centres have lead to a muddle of separate funding, mandates and operations. Many Canadian children need care because their parents are in the labour force or otherwise engaged outside the home. At the same time, there has been a recognition that child well-being and development can be advanced by quality early learning programs. These developments have created the impetus to rethink the fragmented nature of care and early childhood education in Canada. This workshop will explore how care and education can be brought together. The discussion will use the Quebec experience and examples from the rest of Canada and internationally as a starting point.

3. Early learning and child care for Aboriginal communities

Margo Greenwood, Edith Cloutier
Moderator: Wayne Helgason

ELCC has a variety of cultural, social and pragmatic purposes for Canada's Aboriginal communities. Yet families and children both on and off reserves experience significant gaps in service, fragmentation of programs and shortages. This workshop will explore what is known about ELCC programs for Canada's Aboriginal communities and discuss options and solutions.

4. What is high-quality early learning and child care, and how will we know we have it?

Nathalie Bigras, Gillian Doherty, Helen Penn
Moderator: Louise LaFlèche

What is "high-quality" child care? What values, goals, predictors and indicators and policy approaches are connected to the concepts of "high-quality" in ELCC? Is there a "Canadian" definition? And what tools will allow us to know whether it is achieved? This workshop will present and debate a variety of points about high-quality in child care.

5. A multidisciplinary lens on early learning and child care research: What do we know, and what do we need to know?

Ray Peters, Rianne Mahon, Donna Lero
Moderator: Anne Maxwell

Research makes a substantial contribution to early learning and child care. It addresses how programs are delivered, how they should be organized, who should get services and what political arrangements can be made. A variety of disciplines contribute to the body of ELCC research. These include psychology and child development, sociology, political science, medicine, health and economics. This workshop is designed for those who want to know about the latest perspectives on research in the Canadian context and will provide an opportunity to consider what future research would be most relevant.

6. Child care challenges in rural and remote communities

Karen Pederson, Carol Gott, Bonnie Traverse
Moderator: Jane Wilson

Children and families in Canada's rural and remote communities – like those in cities and suburban areas – need and want ELCC. But sparsely populated communities may have difficulty organizing suitable and accessible programs. This is especially true where agricultural workers and other working parents have special scheduling needs. This workshop will explore the situations and solutions particular to these issues.

7. Family policy: Completing the picture

Nicole Boily, Morna Ballyntyne, Laurel Rothman
Moderator: Pedro Barata

Canadians need the support of a comprehensive family policy with child care as an integral element. Family policy already has components such as maternity/parental leave, the National Child Benefit and universal health care. But what is lacking? This workshop will consider the strengths, weaknesses and future improvements in family policy. It will use examples from provincial jurisdictions such as Quebec as well as those from the federal arena.

8. Making the economic arguments for early learning and child care

Ruth Rose, Michael Krashinsky, Mildred Warner
Moderator: John Anderson

A variety of economic analyses have concluded that well-designed early learning and child care programs are an economic benefit to society. High-quality ELCC programs support lifelong learning and enhanced child development while supporting parents' workforce participation and women's equality. This workshop explores this analysis from a variety of points of view. It also considers the policy implications of the public benefits.

9. The early learning and child care workforce: The heart of the matter

Raymonde LeBlanc, Jane Beach, Jamie Kass

ELCC staff is at the heart of any program. Education, wages, working conditions, staff/child ratios have a significant impact on quality and direction. This workshop will include a recent pan-Canadian Labour Market Update (publication in fall, 2004) in an exploration of the policy issues and directions related to the ELCC workforce.

10. Including children with special needs in early learning and child care

Janis Douglas, Sharon Hope Irwin
Moderator: Donna Michal

In recent years, universality in early learning and child care in Canada has come to mean that a child's disability will not be a financial or programmatic barrier to full participation in ELCC programs. But what is the reality? This workshop will reflect on the state of inclusion in ELCC and debate policy options and directions for fully inclusive programs in a future national ELCC program.

11. Canada's diverse communities: How early learning and child care can contribute to social inclusion and social cohesion

Carole Lavallee, Josephine Grey, Judith Bernhard
Moderator: Gyda Chud

Ethnic, class and racial diversity is a Canadian hallmark and key to our ELCC context. Well-conceived and designed programs can help strengthen a community in a variety of ways. This workshop will provide an opportunity to discuss and debate how early learning and child care contributes to social inclusion and the policy directions that will enhance this goal.

12. Demographic challenges: Changing families, changing populations and altered patterns in women's and men's employment

Rod Beaujot, Monica Townson, Ghyslaine Neill
Moderator: Monica Lysack

Key demographic trends have an impact on early learning and child care. These include a declining birth rate; a growing number of immigrants from non-European countries; high labour force participation by mothers with young children; an increase in the proportion of lone-parent families with young children; significant rates of child poverty; and increased incidence of non-traditional work hours. This workshop will explore how a rapidly changing world impacts the nature of ELCC.

13. Key challenges in Canada: Jurisdictional and financing issues in early learning and child care

Barbara Cameron, Ken Battle, Paul Kershaw
Moderator: Andrew Bevan

The Prime Minister has renewed his commitment to child care and early learning. But in the Canadian federal system, the arrangements between the federal government and the provinces/territories are fundamental to defining roles and responsibilities. That reality has had an impact on the state of early learning and child care. This workshop will explore the considerations and potentials as ELCC has moved back onto the political agenda.

14. Mobilizing for early learning and child care

Claudette Pitre-Robin, Pat Wege, Rita Chudnovsky
Moderator: Maryann Bird

Early learning and child care has been an issue in Canada for at least thirty-five years. But Canada has yet to develop a universal publicly-funded system of high-quality ELCC. To move the issue forward, the child care movement has formed coalitions with labour and the women's movement, lobbied and advocated with governments at all levels and worked on policy development. This workshop uses illustrations from the provincial and national levels to discuss how mobilization can maximize future policy directions in ELCC.

15. Debating the public policy options: Towards universal early learning and child care

Debra Mayer, Jane Jenson, Cynthia Williams

As early learning and child care moves onto the national political agenda a variety of public policy options will be considered. This workshop will address the key policy issues and will debate the policy directions that can best move this agenda forward.

16. Early learning and child care on the urban agenda

Julie Mathien, Carol Ann Young, Alfred Gay, Peter Varmuza
Susan Prentice (a.m. only)
Moderator: Lynell Anderson

There is wide recognition that cities are fundamental to Canada's prosperity. And there is growing awareness that workable cities need a strong infrastructure. But infrastructure is more than sewers and sidewalks. Early learning and child care that meets the needs of children, families and communities is an essential element of a modern city. This workshop will delve into the complexities and possibilities of early learning and child care in the context of the urban agenda.

17. Early learning and child care delivery models that work

Jenny Robinson, Charles Pascal, Pamela Musson
Moderator: Sina Romsa

The YWCA in partnership with community stakeholders in four regions is developing early learning and child care models that are responsive to the needs of their respective communities. These models also meet national standards promoting universal access to quality, accountable, inclusive service.

A model which blends the staff, pedagogy, space and resources of child care, kindergarten and parenting supports into a single program is being tested by the City of Toronto and the Toronto District School Board. Toronto First Duty is showing promising results. This workshop will use results from models such as First Duty as a basis for discussion.

Plenary Room

This session was two hours of energetic discussion answering the question: "We know we need a quality system that is universal and accessible, now what's the best way to get it and make it work?"

The Town Hall was organized into three half-hour blocks. Discussion set the tone, and audience participation was overwhelming.

Moderator: Mark Kelley, correspondent for CBC News, The National

• Martha Friendly, activist, academic and coordinator of the Childcare Resource and Research Unit at the University of Toronto
• John Godfrey, Minister of State (Infrastructure and Communities), former Chairman of the National Children's Agenda Caucus Committee, the Social Policy Caucus, and the House of Commons Standing Committee on Children and Youth at Risk
• Gina Gasparrini, Executive Director of St. Mary's Hospital Child Care Centre and President of Canadian Child Care Federation
• Heidi Nakka, parent and child care user, and Manager, Royal Bank, Winnipeg
• Bonnie Traverse, Early Childhood Educator, and Day Care Coordinator for First Nations Communities for the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs
• Claudette Carbonneau, president of the Confederation of National Trade Unions
• Strini Reddy, retired from lifelong career as educator and educational leader, and Chair of the Manitoba ECD Advisory Committee

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