Faculty Pedagogist, Early Childhood Care & Education

F0689

Health & Human Services

Early Childhood Care and Education

Dean, Faculty of Health & Human Services

Port Alberni(PA)

Internal/External Posting

Sessional

01/30/2023

06/30/2023

Days and Hours Vary

TBD

Sessional Faculty Pay Scale - Maximum Step 7

Applications are invited from qualified individuals to act as an Early Childhood Pedagogy Network (ECPN) Post-Secondary Institutions (PSI) faculty pedagogist. ECPN-PSI faculty pedagogists are teaching faculty working alongside practicum students and mentor educators within childcare centres/agencies.

North Island College (NIC) is one of several Post-Secondary institutions invited to host two faculty pedagogists in collaboration with ECPN. The ECPN is the governing body that is establishing and coordinating a provincial network of pedagogists to serve communities by supporting early childhood educators (ECEs) in British Columbia.

Faculty pedagogists offer meaningful and professional learning opportunities that help students feel welcome and valued in the centres where they are engaged in their practicum experience. As well, faculty pedagogists work with educators and students in their centres to engage collectively and think deeply in
pedagogical dialogue while responding to current and ongoing conditions. Faculty pedagogists will spend time to create the conditions to develop dedicated centres for practicum placements for students.

The teaching faculty of NIC are responsible for implementing the College’s vision, goals, and objectives as they relate to teaching and learning. To carry out their teaching assignments, faculty use organizational skills, relational skills, and their knowledge of subject matter, pedagogy, and curricular design. In addition, they have a responsibility to serve as role models for students and colleagues.

IMPORTANT NOTES:
Please read the Immunization requirements for Health and Human Services Faculty, located under the Health and Human Services link located on the left menu list. At that time of this posting, as per the Provincial Health Officer, all regulated Early Child Care professionals working in all Childcare Centre settings are required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 (2 immunizations required).

In accordance with the Criminal Records and Review Act, it is mandatory that faculty hired under the Health and Human Services department have a clear Criminal Record. Faculty members must provide a Clear Criminal Record Check (CRC) to the Human Resources Department prior to the commencement of employment. Please scan your CRC for attachment. If your CRC is not available at the time of application, please attach a copy of your CRC Consent form. For more information and necessary forms, click on the Health and Human Services link located on the left menu list.

The responsibilities and typical duties listed below constitute a generic job description for teaching faculty whose responsibility may be for the delivery of scheduled classes, the support of self-paced, on-line, and distance courses, and/or instruction and supervision in laboratories (learning centres), and practicums:

To meet the project outcomes the Pedagogists will perform the following:
1. Participate in synchronous and asynchronous online pedagogist orientation and ongoing support for the duration of the project:

• Weekly, biweekly, or monthly meetings are required.
• Readings, resources, and discussion forms available to Pedagogist online.
• Expected participation averages once per week (e.g., discussion forms and reading/resources).
• Participation may be more than weekly as Pedagogists determine.

2. Collaborate with members of the Project network to establish a hub of early childhood educators:

• To be established/confirmed at the start of the academic year,
• to be connected with Pedagogists practicum site(s), and/or
• To be connected with cluster of dedicated practicum mentor educators

3. Develop a pedagogical project plan in collaboration with the ECPN directors and early childhood educators in their dedicated centre or cluster of dedicated practicum mentor educators:

• Before the end of October, plan is shared with cluster of early childhood educators and uploaded to the ECPN SharePoint/or other, as directed by ECPN Directors.
• The plan is implemented through the rest of the academic year with the Pedagogists’ cluster of early childhood educators and modified as needed.

4. Support early childhood educators to implement ja pedagogical project in their setting by:

• Visiting the educators in their setting regularly.
• Creating conditions for dialogue with and among educators, including but not limited to a regular “full group” gathering.
• Researching and sharing resources related to their pedagogical project.
• Documenting pedagogical work with the early childhood educators in the dedicated centre or cluster of dedicated practicum mentor educators, following privacy protocols of the ECPN and the Pedagogist’s dedicated centre and postsecondary institution.

5. Support practicum students in the dedicated centre or with the cluster of dedicated practicum mentor educators to work alongside the early childhood care educators in implementing the pedagogical project:

• This may include the development of mentor educator gatherings or events.
• This may include the development of practicum assignments to support the collaborative work between students, mentor educators and the faculty Pedagogists.
• This may include conversations within individual departments to create cross curricular connections to support students and mentor educators in collaborative learning and practice. For example, mentor educators may attend specific curriculum classes with a focus on materials and pedagogical inquiry or pedagogical narrations.

6. Keep records of educator participation and document the professional learning processes and areas of focus:

• A template for recording participation will be provided at the start of the project.
• Maintain/update template records weekly.

7. Write and submit activity and annual reports as outlined in Faculty Pedagogist Agreement with NIC.
8. Participate in the project’s evaluation process.

It is understood that the professional profile of the faculty pedagogists within the postsecondary stream will include:

• Holds a minimum of Bachelor of Arts Early Childhood Education, or within a directly related field;
• Masters degree preferred;
• Has experience in the Early Childhood Education field with demonstrated innovative, critically reflective practice;
• Demonstrated leadership skills in an early care and learning environment (e.g. a senior educator position, practicum placement mentor, pedagogical leader/facilitator);
• Demonstrated community awareness and experience in collaborative projects;
• Demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of the BC Early Learning Framework (2019);
• Demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action.
• Reggio Emilia Philosophy;
• Experience as a Pedagogist.

The role of the pedagogist is understood to include the following:

• Lead pedagogical projects within early childhood education centres to achieve situated quality ECE;
• Connect the pedagogical projects and context of their early childhood education centres to their students’ practicum course (e.g., students are prepared for their practicum environment as they know the educators’ pedagogical projects and program context, student assignments align with project based learning);
• Lead the overall professional development of educators within a cluster of early childhood education centres;
• Provide pedagogical support to program staff’s educational work according to the specific requests that emerge on a day-to-day basis from the early years settings;
• Lead collaboration among educators at local, regional and provincial levels to strengthen professional and pedagogical networks;
• Establish and maintain relationships with families within and across pedagogical clusters to communicate and advocate for the pedagogical role of ECE;
• Foster democracy, social justice and a culture of research in programs through dialogical processes, innovative pedagogies and courageous conversations aligned with the vision of the BC Early Learning Framework and the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action;
• Provide the ECPN and their university/college ECE program lead/coordinator a working pedagogical plan, to be developed alongside the pedagogist’s orientation and ongoing support from the ECPN;
• Track centre/educator/student participation;
• Prepare an annual report of the pedagogical projects to be made public on the ECPN website.

Please scan copies of your transcripts into one document for attachment. If your transcripts are not available at the time of application, please attach a letter or certificate of confirmation from the educational institution.

Please read the Immunization requirements for Health and Human Services Faculty, located under the Health and Human Services link located on the left menu list.

01/17/2023

01/30/2023