Learning from industry leaders
Our faculty members in the School of Early Childhood Education come from multiple disciplines and have extensive backgrounds in such fields as:
- Teaching
- Child care administration
- Special education
- Health promotion
- Community development
They aren’t just teachers: they maintain deep connections in their field at all levels, from research to advocacy to leadership roles.
For example, Early Childhood Education professors regularly publish articles in the IDEAS journal, an industry publication that focuses on the
emotional wellbeing of children. They also work on steering committees and boards to shape new policies and laws regarding childcare education.
To stay current in their field, faculty also complete graduate and post-graduate programs and ongoing collaborations in the community, academia
and government. They are recognized nationally for their efforts.
Internationally, faculty members have been involved in early childhood development projects in Jamaica,
China and Cuba, strengthening professional development opportunities for students and faculty.
Download the video to find out more about George Brown
Faculty and their expertise in Early Childhood Development (Read the text version of the file)
Patricia
Chorney Rubin
Patricia Chorney Rubin is the Chair of the Early Childhood Department
at George Brown College, a position she has held since 2002. Patricia came to
the College
in 1984 when she joined the team as an Early Childhood Educator. She has collaborated
with others in the department in the area of Lab School development and has been
the Manager of many of the Lab School teaching childcare centres operated by
the college. Patricia has taught and coordinated in both the full and part-time
programs.
Most recently, Patricia has been appointed to the Ontario Government's
Best Start Expert Panel on Human Resources in the Early
Childhood Sector. Patricia obtained a diploma from Sir
George Williams University, and
a B.A. in Early Childhood Education from Concordia University.
Rita Barron
Rita received her B.A.A. in ECE from Ryerson and her M.Ed.
in Special Education from O.I.S.E. Rita joined the full
time program in 1990 after teaching in the Continuing
Education program for 10
years. Rita has worked in child care and also with children
who have special needs and their families. She has also
worked for the Ontario
Ministry of Community and Social Services as Child Care
Advisor and in the field of children's mental health
where she provided consultation
and training to child care professionals.
Diane Bergeron
Diane holds an ECE diploma from Centennial College, a
certificate in Visual and Creative Arts from Centennial College and
a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Waterloo. Diane has taught
in the field of Early Childhood both in college lab school settings,
Metro and community based child care centres, and co-operative and
ESL nursery schools. Her experience includes both teaching and supervisory
positions. Diane is currently the co-ordinator of the Early Childhood
Assistant Program. Diane joined the college in 1986 as full-time faculty.
Jane Bertrand
Before joining George Brown College in 1986, Jane gained sixteen years experience working in child care programs with infants through
school-age groups. With an educational background in child development and early childhood education curriculum (B.A., Psychology; Queen's University;
M.Ed., Early Childhood Education, O.I.S.E.), Jane has been active in early childhood pedagogy, advocacy and policy development. Jane
was the research coordinator for the Ontario Early Years Study, a member of the Toronto First Duty research team, and a researcher
in several studies related to the early childhood workforce. Recent publications include two ECE textbooks: The Essentials
of Early Childhood Education and Understanding, Managing and Leading Early Childhood Programs in Canada.
Maxine Brown
After obtaining a B.A. in Psychology from the University
of Guelph and then a post graduate diploma in Assessment and Family
Counselling from the Institute of Child Studies, University of Toronto,
Maxine worked as a teacher in a preschool program for children with
special needs for five years. She also has experience as a consultant
in a clinic for children with cognitive deficiencies and as co-ordinator
of an integrated creative arts program for children with physical
disabilities. Maxine joined the College in 1986.
Karen Chandler
Prior to her full-time faculty position at George Brown
College, Karen had experience working with children,
families, and professionals in early childhood, recreation, education,
and mental
health environments. She demonstrates leadership at
the national, provincial and local levels with professional organizations,
research
and social policy development. Karen is the co-author
of two textbooks - Administering Early Childhood Settings and The
Whole Child. Her
undergraduate education focuses on early childhood
education completing credentials at Ryerson and Canadore College.
Karen's graduate work
in Assessment and Counselling was completed at the University
of Toronto.
Maria Ciampini
Maria Ciampini has earned her PhD from the University of Toronto, in the Curriculum,
Teaching and Learning Department., a Masters of Education degree in Foundations
of Teaching and Learning through Brock University, a B.A. in Early Childhood
Education through Ryerson University, and a Diploma in Early Childhood Education
through Humber College and her Early Childhood Education Certification from
the A.E.C.E.O. Her teaching background is varied. She worked with many levels
of adult learners including students enrolled in E.C.E. program at George
Brown College, Ryerson University’s Early Childhood Education (E.C.E.)
Program; in the York / Seneca joint program; and in Seneca’s E.C.E.,
E.C.A. (assistant) and Apprenticeship program. Maria spent ten years in the
role of the Director of the ECE Lab School at Seneca College and played an
instrumental role in the development of the Lab School’s permanent
site and program at the Newnham Campus of the college. Prior to teaching
adult students she acquired a background of extensive experience in a variety
of children’s programs in the role of supervisor and early childhood
educator.
Marie Goulet
Marie Goulet has been an Early Childhood Educator since 1967 and a professor in the Early Childhood Education Program at George
Brown College since 1981. She teaches courses in curriculum theory. Marie has produced many videos and print materials on
the topics of infant curriculum, self-regulation, coping and competence and observation and interpretation. She has worked with the teaching
staff in George Brown College's nine lab schools to produce 165 iMovies of children and Early Childhood Educators in infant,
toddler, preschool and school age programs. Marie's most recent video is Emergent Curriculum. In 2005 - 2006 Marie was a member of the
Best Start Expert Panel on Early Learning where she was co-chair of the Working Committee on Curriculum and took the lead in writing the
Continuum of Development.
Lora Hamilton
A George Brown College graduate of the ECE program, Lora
worked at three college lab schools designing curriculum
for all age groups from infants to kindergarten children. She facilitated
creative
play workshops and taught courses in the E.C.E. continuing
Education department before joining the E.C.E. faculty as a Field
Instructor.
Gail Hunter
Gail's educational background includes a B.A. in Social
and Political Thought, an ECE Diploma, a Certificate in Psychology
of Human Relations and a Certificate in Teaching and Training Adults.
Her ten years of child care experience includes both teaching and
supervisory positions. Gail held the position of Child Care Program
Advisor with the Toronto Board of Education and in that capacity she
facilitated workshops, centre start-ups and worked closely with centres
located in school facilities. Gail joined the ECE Faculty at George
Brown College in 1991 as coordinator of the Winter Intake ECE Program.
Zeenat Janmohamed
Zeenat has been teaching at George Brown College in the School of Early Childhood for over 10 years. Prior to joining the ECE
Department, Zeenat was the Director of the Toronto Coalition for Better Child Care and has prior experience working in several
ECE programs as a supervisor and early childhood educator. Zeenat’s educational background includes an ECE Diploma and a graduate
degree in Adult Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.
Suzette Jones
After completing her ECE at George Brown College, Suzette
worked as a playroom teacher at five of the College Lab Schools over
the next fifteen years. She was assistant supervisor at three of the
centres while also teaching extensively in the Continuing Education
Program. Suzette recently joined the ECE Faculty as a Field Instructor.
Barb Pimento
Barb's educational background includes an Early Childhood
Education Diploma, an Infant-Toddler Certificate, an honours B.A.
in Psychology and a Masters in Health Science (Health Promotion).
She has been involved in this field since 1975, and has taught a range
of courses at Lambton College (Sarnia) and George Brown. Her focus
has been in the area of health promotion. Barb has co-authored three
editions of the Health textbook used in ECE programs across Canada
entitled Healthy Foundations in Early Childhood Settings.
Beth Stockton
Beth graduated from University of Toronto with a degree in Sociology
and English literature. She then completed her ECE at
George Brown College. With a background in recreation,
Beth worked as a playroom teacher with
school age children at George Brown College lab school
for seven years. During this time she presented workshops
on school age curriculum and
was active in school age advocacy. Over the next five
years Beth was a manager at three of the GBC Childcare
Lab Schools. She completed her
Masters of Education in Adult Education in 2007. Beth
began teaching part-time in Early Childhood Education in
1995 and has recently joined
Early Childhood Development faculty fulltime.
Colleen Thomas
Colleen has started working in the early childhood field
in 1972. She is a graduate of the ECE program at Fanshawe and went
on to receive further education earning a B.A. in Linguistics and
B.Ed. in Primary Junior Education from the University of Western Ontario.
Colleen taught grade 3 in Cambridge she returned to University of
Western Ontario for a M.Ed. in Educational Studies. She joined the
ECE faculty in 1985 and is currently a member of the Board of Directors
of the A.E.C.E.O. At present Colleen is on secondment to Department
of Academic Excellence where she is a faculty researcher.
Lynn Wilson
Lynn graduated in 1967 from Lakeshore Teacher's College, holds a Physical and Health Education Certificate, an Advanced Art Certificate from the
Ministry of Education, an E.C.E. Diploma and a BA from Athabasca University. Lynn has been involved in a variety of teaching environments with
the North York Board of Education; she established a parent co-operative nursery school and came to George Brown College to work in a kindergarten
program. She also supervised the Learning Centre, a George Brown College lab centre. Lynn has authored an ECE textbook: Partnerships,
Families and Communities in Early Childhood Education. Lynn has been involved in front-line training of ECE teachers in Bosnia and is currently working
in a project in Jamaica. In 2006, The Association of Canadian Community Colleges awarded Lynn a national teaching excellence award.
Connie Winder
After graduating from Ryerson University with a B.A. in ECE, Connie worked in the field of children's mental health. She has been actively involved
in a number of research projects involving descriptive studies of abused children and their parents, program effectiveness studies
and an investigation into effective classroom strategies for preventing aggressive and disruptive behaviour. Connie completed a
Masters degree in Applied Psychology at O.I.S.E. and began teaching at George Brown College ECE Program in 1990. She has adapted the interpersonal
communication textbook, "Interplay" for
Canadian readers and she currently represents George Brown College in the Child and Family Partnership’s applied research on resiliency. She
is the managing editor of the Ideas Journal which focuses on emotional well-being in child care.
|
