Presentations

A catalogue of various presentations make by the Atkinson Centre team at different events and meetings.

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Modernizing the early years (PDF)

Presented by Christine Avery Nunez, Atkinson Charitable Foundation, Kerry McCuaig, Atkinson Foundation Fellow in Early Childhood Education, OISE, UofT, Toronto Education Consultation, June 14, 2012.

Summer Institute - From 0-3 Years: Research that Informs Policy and Practice

The recent release of Early Years Study 3 reinforces the bridge between science, policy and practice. The earliest years of development is a sophisticated interplay between genetics and environment, a convergence that brings together parents, educators, researchers and policy leaders.

The 9th Summer Institute on Early Child Development will examine evidence-based approaches to developing a comprehensive children’s and family support system starting in utero. It brings together experts, practitioners and key stakeholders who are committed to innovative collaboration to ensure the best possible outcomes for young children and their families.

This year, we are pleased to recognize the contributions of Jane Bertrand, a leader amongst leaders and an accomplished early childhood educator and advocate. 

Presentations

Toronto First Duty: From activist research to public policy change (PDF)

Presented by Jane Bertrand, Zeenat Janmohamed, and Kerry McCuaig at the Canadian Association for Research in Early Childhood, May 26, 2012, Wilfred Laurier University.

Atkinson Centre Task Force Meeting

Presentations

Targeted vs. Universality: What Does the Evidence Say?

Presentations 

Early Years Study 3: Making decisions, Taking action (PDF)

On February 8, 2012, Kerry McCuaig, Atkinson Fellow Early Childhood Policy presented on the Early Years Study 3: Making Decisions, Taking Action at a Human Development and Applied Psychology Colloquium. The Early Years Study 3 documents the social, economic and scientific rationale for increased investments in early childhood education. It also introduces the Early Childhood Education Index to monitor the funding, policy, access and quality of early education programming.

Voices from the Schools: School Teams Share their Experiences (PDF)

The symposium on Collaborative Practice in Action brought together 200 educators from across Ontario to share their knowledge with practitioners, researchers, government staff and school board officials. The symposium provided an opportunity to share examples of best practice and consider challenges that need to be addressed.

Kimberly Bezaire of George Brown College and Rachel Langford of Ryerson University summarized the key points of the day, in the presentation, "Voices from the Schools: School Teams Share their Experiences."

Conflict of Interest Disclosure: nothing to disclose (PDF)

Presented by Alison S. Fleming, Ph.D., FRSC, Professor of Psychology, Canada Research Chair in Neurobiology, University of Toronto at Mississauga (UTM), at the Atkinson Colloquium.

Early Education Economic Forum

You've heard the claims from the famous HighScope Perry Preschool and Abecedarian studies about the tremendous payoffs of early education for disadvantaged U.S. families, but did you know that Canadian researchers are also amassing unique results documenting the cost-benefits of preschool here?

By age 4, 40% of Quebec youngsters are attending a full-time, publicly-supported learning and care program. Pundits point to the high cost, but new work by economist Dr. Pierre Fortin of the University of Québec at Montréal reveals the benefits begin immediately and the payoffs are more far-reaching than speculated. Award-winning economist Robert Fairholm of the Centre for Spatial Economics shows that almost all Canadian governments make the wrong decision when allocating their economic stimulus dollars. At a panel discussion, moderated by Dr. Lars Osberg, McCulloch Professor of Economics at Dalhousie University, these researchers presented their findings and provided some new ways of thinking and talking about the public's interest in early childhood.

Presentations

Summer Institute 2011 - Early Learning in Ontario: From Policy to Implementation

The early learning atmosphere in Ontario includes a number of significant policy changes that have created new opportunities and new challenges. Examples include moving the jurisdictional responsibility for early learning and child care to the Ministry of Education, a new regulatory body for early childhood educators, the expansion of degree programs in early learning, the unionization of early childhood educators and a blend of the teaching and early learning profession.

The 8th Summer Institute on Early Childhood Development addressed how these changes impact early learning professionals and focus on relationships amongst families and professionals that involve practitioners, colleges and universities, professional associations and government.

Presentations

Open Remarks

Jenny Jenkins and Olivia Nuamah

Research to Inform Development of Effective Public Preschool Programs

Ellen Frede and Steve Barnett

Panel Discussion: Building Minds for Collaboration

Carl Corter (facilitator), Jenny Jenkins, Janette Pelletier, Sue Makin, and Patricia Chorney Rubin

 
Securing the Future for our Children: Preschool Excellence Initiative

Linda Lowther

 

Children, Their Families and Community Supports: What the Research Tells Us

Jenny Jenkins and Janette Pelletier

 
Merging Early Learning Knowledge and Practice: Lessons from the Ground

Patricia Chorney Rubin, Early Learning Teams

 
Public Health & Early Childhood Education: Partnership Possibilities Through Child & Family Centres

Sue Makin

 
Panel Discussion: Moving the Vision Forward Through Local Leadership

Jane Bertrand (facilitator), Elaine Baxter-Trahair, Anne Biscaro, and Catherine Fife

Closing Remarks & Awards Presentation

Michael Cooke and Patricia Chorney Rubin

 

Posters

First Nations Children in Canada: The Moral Courage to do the Right Thing (PDF)

Cindy Blackstock is the Executive Director of First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, an Atkinson Charitable Foundation Fellow and has recently joined the Faculty of Extension at the University of Alberta.

Dr. Blackstock will share her advice and knowledge on how every person can make a difference in the lives of thousands of First Nations children in under two minutes.

Colloquium: Temperament, Shyness, and Anxiety Disorders: Looking for Links in Childhood (PDF)

A small percentage (10 to 15%) of typically developing children exhibit stable fear responses and wariness to unfamiliar and familiar stimuli from infancy through childhood. These children are cautious and reticent in social interactions and have been characterized as temperamentally shy and socially withdrawn. In a series of studies over the last 15 years, we have shown that temperamentally shy children display a number of distinct psychophysiological responses at rest and in response to social challenges. These patterns are evidenced across a range of biological measures and contexts, making some of these children vulnerable to anxiety and depression.

On November 10, 2010, The Department of Human Development and Applied Psychology and the Atkinson Centre for Society and Child Development hosted a colloquium featuring Louis Schmidt, PhD, Director, Child Emotion Laboratory, Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University. Dr. Schmidt focussed on the origins, development course and outcomes of this temperamental style. He discussed how work on the phenomenon of temperamental shyness informs basic theory regarding brain‐behaviour relations and practice regarding the management of fearful children within the family and educational settings.

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