Course Details - Additional Qualifications

Course Name: Kindergarten, Part 1
Part: 1
Description: Kindergarten AQ, Part 1 is intended to enhance professional practice, and extend knowledge and skills of participants.  The course supports educators in exploring how to create a safe, inclusive and welcoming learning environment that is child-centered.  Participants will use experiential, play and inquiry-based learning opportunities to explore professional knowledge and practices needed to create the conditions for learning that reflect, lift-up, represent and positively promote students’ identities and voices.  Participants critically and collectively reflect on the impact of anti-oppressive practices on student well-being.  Participating educators will explore ways to humanize the learning environment by honouring, affirming, and fostering the expression of students’ diverse identities and offering choice in their learning.  They will understand how to incorporate thriving pedagogical practices that allow for responsive relationships and learning through exploration, play and inquiry.  Participants will understand the importance of being a co-learner and engaging with children in an inquiry stance.  Participants will understand the importance of pedagogical documentation to be responsive to learners and differentiate the instruction. This course will be presented in a HYBRID delivery format, requiring regular, weekly (Thursday, 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm), face-to-face (in-person) sessions.  These 4 hour sessions will be hosted at both the Education Centre and at schools within the DDSB (school location details will be provided by instructors at onset of course) so that participants may put their learning into practice in a Kindergarten classroom.  All participants of Kindergarten, Part 1 will work through 8 learning modules.  While a great deal of the content will be discussed during the face-to-face sessions, participants will be expected to work through the course information and assignments that will be shared in the virtual classroom via the D2L/Brightspace platform.  Participants should anticipate spending approximately 5-8 hours per week working through the asynchronous course content in the D2L classroom.  Educators will participate in interactive learning activities with opportunities for professional dialogue based on current research and practice.   Scheduled Meeting Details: Location: DDSB Education Centre (Whitby) and various school locations (specific locations details for school visits to be provided by instructors at course onset - will be within DDSB) Day/Time: Thursday (beginning September 18) - 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Instructors for the current Session: Fall 2024: Jennifer Antonucci; Alicia Lewis-Brown