Employer Newsletter – Spring 2021
Our 2019–2020 Annual Report out now
Our latest annual report, Leading through Change, is now available online. The report highlights the College’s achievements for the fiscal year July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020.
Leading through Change recognizes all of our work pre-pandemic and from March onwards. It also recognizes the adaptations made by the entire profession in response to COVID-19.
Noteworthy highlights include:
- Publishing practice resources for members, including the Practice Note on Ethical Decision-Making, and the Practice Guideline on Pedagogical Practice;
- Shifting to the online self-service application process for new members;
- Triaging professional misconduct concerns to reduce the average time to address each matter by 10 per cent; and
- Inviting members to tell their stories in the Conversations in a time of COVID-19 series featured on our blog, College Talk.
Read about these highlights and more in our latest annual report.
Supporting your staff through the pandemic
As this challenging pandemic continues, your team may be feeling the stress of various professional responsibilities. We know that many of Registered Early Childhood Educators (RECEs) are assuming different roles. They’re modifying practice and learning new ways of being and doing. Here are some tips for how you can continue to support them:
Engage in a workplace Community of Practice with the intention of working together to solve practice challenges. Together, you can discover which processes need to be adapted and can air concerns and ideas as a team.
Share resources to encourage educators to get the reflective practice habit. This can lead them to analyze and think critically about their professional practice. It also helps RECEs become aware of the strengths that make them resilient. And, they’ll learn how they can bring those to the team and the children they support.
Stay connected in order to build and maintain effective relationships with your team. Communication is key in this profession and is more important than ever during the ongoing pandemic. Communication differs depending on the type of setting and protocols in place. Maybe it’s a weekly meeting or daily huddle, an email with new information, tasks or expectations or sharing relevant resources to help with practice adaptations.
Continue to share COVID-19-related information and updates so your team stays in the know and can ask questions related to changes in workplace processes and protocols.
Encourage self-care so your staff avoid burnout and are able to show up for the children and families they support. The pandemic has taken a toll on Ontarians’ mental health, so it’s important to recognize that educators care for themselves, too.
What are you doing to support your team(s) during the ongoing pandemic? Let us know by completing this brief survey. Thank you in advance for completing our survey. We greatly appreciate your time and help.
Membership fee receipts are online
Members can now access receipts online in the My College Account portal once they’ve paid their annual renewal fee. If a member needs a copy as proof of registration / renewal, just ask staff to print you the receipt or click here to check the public register.
New practice resources available
Reflective practice, whether done independently or as part of a team in the workplace, is an approach used by RECEs to analyze and think critically about professional practice. We wrote a blog post about it – Reflective practice in a time of COVID-19 – on College Talk.
And, here are other resources that can also help early childhood educators:
- Understand how professional supervision of a team can be an opportunity to enhance their practice (Practice Note on the Professional Supervision of Supervisees);
- Learn about the relationship between pedagogy and curriculum as well as strategies to guide pedagogical practice (Practice Guideline: Pedagogical Practice); and,
- Find ways to build relationships and communicate across differences (Practice Guideline: Diversity and Culture).
Looking for other resources? You’ll find them on our website and on our blog.