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Introduction
Laura’s research focus has been on the needs and experiences of beginning early childhood educators (ECEs). Laura began a pilot peer mentoring program for ECEs in Kamloops, BC. After receiving funding from the provincial government in 2019, the Peer Mentoring Program expanded across the province, and to date has 31 peer mentoring communities of practice. Laura was the primary investigator and oversaw program operations up until fall 2024. This program has now been embedded into ECEBC.
Skills and Expertise
Current institution
Publications
Publications (23)
Early childhood educators work in a highly regulated environment in
many countries and are constantly asked to produce and improve
quality. Our international study of Australian, Canadian, Danish,
Georgian and Italian educators’ work examined their notions of
quality and how this was impacted by government policies and
documents such as frameworks,...
Partnerships with parents in early childhood education and care services are a hallmark of quality education. Educators in Western countries work within a highly regulated environment, where government documents, such as frameworks, standards, and curricula, direct most of their work, time, and energy. Despite this, data from our mixed methods onli...
The results reveal the experiences of educators in these countries, impacted by neoliberal-inspired policies that are manifested in two different ways. They are dealing with increased managerial regulation or with the neglect of the sector in the pursuit of higher profits. Educators' job satisfaction is impacted when they perceive they are not able...
The results reveal the experiences of educators in these countries, impacted by neoliberal-inspired policies that are manifested in two different ways. They are dealing with increased managerial regulation or with the neglect of the sector in the pursuit of higher profits. Educators' job satisfaction is impacted when they perceive they are not able...
The Induction of Early Childhood Educators presents new strategies for reducing the number of educators who are leaving the field within the first five years of work. Based on new research carried out with beginning early childhood educators in British Columbia, Canada, Laura K. Doan proposes a set of new best-practices in mentoring and inducting n...
The Federal Government’s Budget announcement of $18 million of funding to be available as grants for providers is welcome. Providers will be able to apply for up to $900,000 to build more services in ‘childcare desert’ areas. These are normally in regional, rural and remote areas, and exacerbate disadvantage because children in the area miss out on...
Although scholars have researched Chinese parents’ perspectives on play pedagogy, few investigate the differences between parents of preschoolers and early primary schoolers, non-immigrant and immigrant parents. The present study employs the theoretical framework of parental ethnotheories to describe parental understanding and concerns about the us...
During a mass exodus of early childhood educators in Australia, what could we learn from our Canadian friends who are nurturing and keeping their educators? Many early childhood services and schools are scrambling to run effectively. Both sectors have chronic staff shortages. This has led to alarming rates of staff absenteeism due to increased work...
More affordable childcare for families is great, but it will not solve all the issues in the sector. Schools are not the only sector with a teacher crisis. Early childhood services are also hit with chronic staff shortages. Currently, there are about 6,800 advertised positions for early childhood educators in Australia, this is double the number si...
The recent Federal Budget offers a solution to the cost of childcare for families, which will be a welcome relief for many families who are struggling with the cost of living. However, it does not deal with the elephant in the room, the lack of educators. Whilst some recent state policies are designed to encourage people to study to become early ch...
The Covid-19 pandemic has created an opportunity to examine the initial policies
developed by Australian, Canadian, English, German, Greek and Irish governments to
limit the spread of the virus. This has revealed governments’ conceptualisation of the
early childhood sector and its workforce. This paper argues that neoliberal ideology and
neoliberal...
The relationship between early childhood education and care (ECEC, birth to 8 years), children’s lifelong learning trajectory and the economy is undisputed. This relationship was particularly apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using an auto-ethnographical study, this chapter discusses government responses across 10 countries: Australia, Canada,...
This semi-structured interview study seeks to describe Chinese teachers’ understanding and concerns about the use of play in supporting young children’s English learning. Eight English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers of children aged between 3 to 8 years were involved, including both local teachers and international teachers. Findings reveal t...
The relationship between early childhood education and care (ECEC, birth to 8 years), children’s lifelong learning trajectory and the economy is undisputed. This relationship was particularly apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using an auto-ethnographical study, this chapter discusses government responses across 10 countries: Australia, Canada,...
Early childhood teacher education in Canada varies, as education is determined at the provincial and territorial levels. This creates challenges as there is a diversity of required education levels for educators, funding levels, and curriculum types. Several provinces have adopted early learning frameworks which have helped to shed light on the imp...
In most majority countries, early childhood educators' work occurs in a context increasingly dominated by neoliberal logic. A large body of literature emphasises that neoliberalism flourishes in society by fuelling mutual distrust and competition among people to pursue individual performance and material gain. This system has crept into education s...
Have you heard about the province-wide Peer-Mentoring Project for Early Childhood Educators in BC? The purpose of this project is to support the ongoing professional development needs of beginning and experienced early childhood educators. Specifically, it aims to expand the current infrastructure of support for both new and experienced early child...
This induction support pilot project involved 22 early childhood educators in the interior of British Columbia who had a range of experience, from just beginning to 29 years in the field. Participants in the project were offered opportunities for peer mentoring, professional development, access to university faculty, visits to early learning progra...
p>This purpose of this study was to understand the experiences and needs of beginning early childhood educators in British Columbia. Utilizing a mixed methods approach, the research involved 114 beginning educators who took part in an online questionnaire, 11 of whom also participated in semistructured interviews. The key findings were that the wor...
The mentoring needs of novice early childhood educators are identified within the British Columbian context, where graduates do not receive formal mentoring. Following a description of the problem, a literature review is provided on the following themes: how mentoring facilitates a culture of learning; characteristics of successful mentors; and the...
