The Importance of Rituals & Traditions in Early Learning: Now More than Ever!

Host: Lisa Burman

Facilitator: Dr. Diane Kashin, RECE

Guest Speaker: Nicole Pierce, RECE

Rituals and traditions are important to every culture especially during challenging times. The pandemic of 2020 has produced challenges for everyone. Rituals and traditions can help educators to “create a safe, warm and secure environment where children are able to learn and grow” (Howell & Reinhard, 2015, p. 1).

This is what we want for children, especially in these uncertain times. As educators prepare to return to their settings, whether this is a prior-to-school or primary school, this webinar will help you explore the questions:

How might rituals and traditions be able to create space for deeper connection in our spaces?

What might we gain by embracing and creating rituals around the everyday moments with children?

Join Diane and Nicole as we explore the power and importance of rituals and traditions in early learning environments.

This will be a perfect way to facilitated a team/staff meeting early in the year. It will support you to build an emotionally secure place of learning for children and families; a place to create memories and a place of belonging.

1.5 hour webinar

Online Zoom Event

What if you're in a different time zone?

No worries! We will email a link to the recorded Zoom within 24 hours of the event. You will have 14 days access to this to view in your own time zone.

Who are our presenters?

Diane is a registered early childhood educator and has taught early childhood education at both the degree and the diploma level for the past 30 years. Diane’s doctoral thesis on emergent curriculum was published in 2009 and she has co-written three ECE textbooks including Outdoor and Nature Play in Early Childhood Education (2019). Diane is the past president of the Association for Early Childhood Educators of Ontario and the current coordinator of the York Region Nature Collaborative. Diane’s areas of interest include forest and nature schools, risky play, loose parts, Reggio inspired practice, outdoor play and emergent curriculum. Diane writes a blog to support professional learning in early childhood education: http://tecribresearch.wordpress.com and loves to engage in continuous professional learning face to face and through social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Diane presents workshops and keynote addresses in Ontario, across Canada and internationally.

Nicole was honoured to join the team at the Seneca ECE Lab School upon graduating 7 years ago. Since starting it has become her home. Nicole believes in creating environments as sanctuaries for learning, beyond the rules that society places on what it means to be a child or teacher. A place where we all can truly flourish and have the time, space and respect we need to truly learn and be ourselves. Nicole has a passion for co-learning with the children, researching how they think, test, and create meaning in the world around them. Through slowing down, and making time to think deeply about the moments shared together, Nicole’s own pedagogical and philosophical views of not only ECE but living together in the world are transformed, reformed and become the way she lives her life.