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Early Childhood Care and Education instructors receive prestigious research grants

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NORTH VANCOUVER B.C. – Capilano University instructors recently received prestigious grants to research how to nurture children to think differently about waste. The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) awarded Early Childhood Care and Education instructors, Sylvia Kind, Cristina Delgado Vintimilla, Laurie Kocher and Kathleen Kummen a SSRHC Insight Grant of $170,076 for research on “Re-thinking the Rs through arts: transforming waste practices in early childhood education.” 

Researchers are concerned the six “Rs,” which include reducing, reusing and recycling, take waste out of sight and out of mind, rendering waste-management practices ineffective. They will work with a team of educators, artists and children in Canada, Australia and Ecuador to determine the best ways to engage children and the arts to tackle the waste crisis and pioneer more effective ways to teach the six “Rs.” This research project is being conducted in collaboration with co-investigators from Western University, Victoria University in Melbourne, the University of Canberra and the University of Sydney. 

The same instructors also received a SSHRC Partnership Development Grant of $192,585 for the research project “Climate Action Network: Exploring Climate Change Pedagogies with Children.” This research is being conducted with co-investigators from Western, Victoria University, the University of Birmingham, Australian Catholic University and the Seneca College for Applied Arts and Technology. 

“This work reflects the belief that educators have a responsibility to support children in learning about the world in which they live,” says Kathleen Kummen, chair of the Centre of Innovation and Inquiry in Childhood Studies at Capilano University. “Children living in the 21st century are inheriting a world that has been impacted by human-caused climate change, globalization, colonization and technological change. As citizens, children have the right to educational opportunities that engage with the world in all of its messiness and complexities.”

Both teams hope to gain insights about how young children, early childhood educators and researchers learn together to engage with complex challenges related to waste and climate change. The long-term goal is to develop resources that will support educators, policy makers and government officials to help children respond creatively to climate change and waste management. 

About Capilano University
Capilano University is a teaching-focused university based in North Vancouver, with programming serving the Sunshine Coast and the Sea-to-Sky corridor. The University offers 99 programs, including bachelor’s degrees in areas as diverse as film, jazz, early childhood education and tourism management. Capilano University enrols approximately 10,500 students each year, 8,200 in for-credit programs and 2,300 in non-credit courses. Capilano University is named after Chief Joe Capilano, an important leader of the Squamish (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh) Nation of the Coast Salish people. Our campuses are located on the territories of the Lil’wat, Musqueam, Sechelt (shíshálh), Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.

For more information, or to schedule interviews, please contact: 

Cheryl Rossi
Senior Communications Advisor
Capilano University
t: 604 983 7596
c: 778 879 7119
e: cherylrossi@capilanou.ca 
www.capilanou.ca

 

Submitted by: Cheryl Rossi

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