Group 11 - Small Group Facilitations by Nadi Gunathilaka

Small Group Facilitator

nadi1985 — 2025-01-12 15:11:28 UTC

The facilitator of the group will be responsible for noting:
1) Date & Name of Facilitator
2) P.A.T.H. examples from each group member (Present,
Authentic, speak your Truth, and Human)- this is in connection to your role as a future educator
3) Outstanding Questions group may have (readings, course expectations)
4) Early Childhood Sector News/Social Media
5) Attendance of group members

January 12th 2025 Facilitator Josefina P.A.T.H Examples

nadi1985 — 2025-01-12 15:12:01 UTC

Week 1

nadi1985 — 2025-01-12 15:16:22 UTC

Questions

nadi1985 — 2025-01-12 15:17:58 UTC

No questions

Early Childhood Sector News

nadi1985 — 2025-01-12 15:18:42 UTC

Attendance

nadi1985 — 2025-01-12 15:39:04 UTC

Nadi- Authentic

nadi1985 — 2025-01-12 19:28:42 UTC

Josefina -Present

SanJosefina — 2025-01-12 21:24:16 UTC

SanJosefina — 2025-01-12 21:32:41 UTC

SanJosefina — 2025-01-12 21:58:08 UTC

Our opinion about CWELCC:

CWELCC is impacting private sector daycares, where staff hours may be adjusted due to the elimination of before and after care. As a result, children are welcome to arrive at opening hours and be picked up at closing time, all within the same fee their parents are currently paying. According to some private childcare operators, they are not permitted to hire additional staff, which could lead to changes in the child-to-staff ratio, potentially increasing it beyond current levels.

SanJosefina — 2025-01-12 22:22:38 UTC

Amanda

Brittany

Josefina

Nadi

Brittany- Speak your Truth

brittheikamp0711 — 2025-01-14 00:54:28 UTC

Amanda - Human

amanda_mcfadden4 — 2025-01-14 21:11:33 UTC

Week 2

nadi1985 — 2025-01-19 15:23:01 UTC

Small Group Facilitator

nadi1985 — 2025-01-19 15:23:59 UTC

January 19th 2025

nadi1985 — 2025-01-19 15:25:10 UTC

Facilitator Nadi

P.A.T.H Examples

Questions

nadi1985 — 2025-01-19 15:26:16 UTC

Early Childhood Sector News

nadi1985 — 2025-01-19 15:26:41 UTC

nadi1985 — 2025-01-19 15:28:50 UTC

nadi1985 — 2025-01-19 15:52:48 UTC

We were discussing an article that highlights the percentage decline in the number of Early Childhood Educators in Ontario. The proportion of RECEs in childcare centers has dropped from 58.9% in 2022 to 56% currently, moving further away from the goal of 60%. This shortage has led to staffing challenges in childcare centers, affecting both the availability and quality of early childhood education. One of our members shared that the High Park YMCA was closed at the beginning of last year for the same reason. https://toronto.citynews.ca/2023/11/08/high-park-ymca-child-care-centre-closing-in-new-year/

The primary reason for this percentage decline is the $10-a-day childcare program. Commonly cited contributing factors include low wages, limited benefits, and challenging working conditions, which have exacerbated workforce shortages in the sector. As a result, families seeking childcare face increasingly restricted access to services.

Attendance

nadi1985 — 2025-01-19 15:54:36 UTC

Amanda

Brittany

Josefina

Nadi

Nadi - Present

nadi1985 — 2025-01-19 16:17:46 UTC

Brittany- Authentic

brittheikamp0711 — 2025-01-19 18:32:42 UTC

Josefina- Human

SanJosefina — 2025-01-19 20:37:48 UTC

Amanda - Speak Your Truth

amanda_mcfadden4 — 2025-01-20 15:11:40 UTC

Small Group Facilitator

nadi1985 — 2025-01-25 15:44:21 UTC

Week 3

nadi1985 — 2025-01-25 15:44:48 UTC

January 25th 2025

nadi1985 — 2025-01-25 15:46:34 UTC

Facilitator Brittany

P.A.T.H Examples

Questions

nadi1985 — 2025-01-25 15:47:05 UTC

Early Childhood Sector News

nadi1985 — 2025-01-25 15:47:31 UTC

Attendance

nadi1985 — 2025-01-25 15:48:23 UTC

Amanda

Brittany

Josefina

Nadi

Josefina-Truth

SanJosefina — 2025-01-25 18:35:31 UTC

Nadi - Human

nadi1985 — 2025-01-25 20:27:31 UTC

Brittany- Present

brittheikamp0711 — 2025-01-26 19:45:12 UTC

brittheikamp0711 — 2025-01-26 20:02:11 UTC

Discussion

brittheikamp0711 — 2025-01-28 01:35:46 UTC

The article discussed this week is referring to the current situation facing immigration and work permits this article was published at the end of October 2024. The government has published a list of careers that will have work permits available for international students who are taking courses for careers in Canada. Unfortunately it appears that Early Childhood Education has been omitted from that list. Therefore current international students who are taking ECE programs will not be able to apply for a work permit in Canada. Many ECE professionals and advocates voiced their opinions on this matter explaining how damaging this could be as we are facing a terrible educator shortage in the country. When asked about the omission, the immigration officer explained that it was actually a miscommunication in wording, however, at the time of the article it had not been fixed. Fortunately, it was added later on in December by IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada). As a group we spent some time discussing the first article and how we perceived it from our own perspectives. One group member commented on that she is reading the article from the perspective of working with student ECE's who seem to be in the career more for the status instead of passion due to the fact that ECEs are in high demand and they knew it would be somewhat easier to find a job. Another group member commented that she too sees this in her employment, however noted that due to the shortages, immigration policies will then further impact the need for educators if they decided to omit the post graduates. We then discussed the relation between the changes to work permits and immigration policies on the decline of international students that Canada seems to be facing today. This could have an effect on the decisions that international students are facing when applying to colleges in Canada as well as the higher costs of tuition and difficulty with affordable housing and cost of living in general. We came to the conclusion that it is important to include Early Childhood Education in work permits due to the fact that we are in need of educators across the country. We also expressed that we know how important early childhood learning is not only for the children, but also for the economy and country as a whole. The government will need to realize this when making important decisions to help reduce the shortages and encourage people to become educators.

brittheikamp0711 — 2025-01-28 01:36:39 UTC

Amanda - Authentic

amanda_mcfadden4 — 2025-01-29 21:33:59 UTC

Small Group Facilitator

amanda_mcfadden4 — 2025-02-02 17:02:34 UTC

February 7, 2025

amanda_mcfadden4 — 2025-02-02 17:04:36 UTC

Faciliator: Amanda McFadden

P.A.T.H Examples

Questions:

amanda_mcfadden4 — 2025-02-02 17:05:05 UTC

Early Childhood Sector News

amanda_mcfadden4 — 2025-02-02 17:05:27 UTC

Attendance:

amanda_mcfadden4 — 2025-02-02 17:05:46 UTC

Amanda

Brittany

Josefina

Nadi

Week 4

brittheikamp0711 — 2025-02-03 02:53:10 UTC

amanda_mcfadden4 — 2025-02-03 15:45:57 UTC

Discussion:

amanda_mcfadden4 — 2025-02-03 15:50:32 UTC

Alberta has released news that they are decreasing their daycare wages to $15 a day, come April 1, 2025. The article states that although, as of January 2024, the average cost of these services was $15 per day, many families were still paying much more, depending on the child's age, the family's location, and the child care provider they selected. However, with this flat fee of $15, families throughout Alberta will benefit from more predictability and transparency, which will also increase system efficiency and promote fairness for providers. Alberta is doing a great thing changing these costs, as this can result in an average annual savings of $11,000 per child for a household that currently uses a full-time daycare provider!

Amanda - Present

amanda_mcfadden4 — 2025-02-03 16:09:36 UTC

Josefina-Authentic

SanJosefina — 2025-02-04 02:17:23 UTC

Nadi -Speak Your Truth

nadi1985 — 2025-02-04 04:32:39 UTC

Brittany- Human

brittheikamp0711 — 2025-02-07 01:39:09 UTC