The Tribal Early Childhood Research Center
Virtual Learning Circle on Land-Based Learning in Indigenous Early Childhood Settings
Save the Date & Registration
Tuesdays
May 3rd, 10th, and 17th, 2022
2-3:30 pm EDT
Join the Tribal Early Childhood Research Center (TRC; www.tribalearlychildhood.org), the Brazelton Touchpoints Center (www.brazeltontouchpoints.org), and educators working in Indigenous early childhood settings in the U.S. and Canada as we explore how they are drawing on Indigenous understandings and teachings about our relationship with the land and the wisdom it holds to incorporate land-based learning in their work. In a series of 3 virtual learning circles, we will engage in dialogue and reflection with early childhood educators from a diverse range of Indigenous cultures and communities and diverse relationships with and access to their cultures, languages and lands. Please join us as we meet them where they are in their journey and learn together how land-based learning is taking place in diverse Indigenous communities, cultures, and ecosystems to support the health and development of young children.
First Virtual Learning Circle: Tuesday May 3rd | 2-3:30 pm EDT
Join Lori Huston (she/her), Métis, a doctoral student in the Curriculum and Pedagogy department at the University of British Columbia, Melanie Francis (she/her), Anishinaabe, Coordinator, Mnidoo Mnising Sharing & Learning Centre for All, Little Current, Stephanie Michano-Drover (she/her), Anishinaabe, Supervisor at the Biigtigong Nishnaabeg Children & Family Learning Centre, Pic River, Darlene Beardy (she/her), Anishinaabe, Coordinator, Family Wellbeing Program, Michikan Lake, Starlene Kamenawatamin (she/her), Anishinaabe, Teacher Assistant, Michikan Lake and Lorelle Beardy (she/her), Anishinaabe, Preschool Educator, A-Wa-Sh-She-Gum-Ik Child Care Centre, Michikan Lake as they talk about land and relationships and as they are engaged in awakening and reclaiming ancestral knowledge of their homelands and providing local land-based teaching to children and families in their First Nation communities across the province of Ontario, Canada.
2nd Virtual Learning Circle: Tuesday May 10th | 2-3:30 EDT
Join Brooke Niiyogaabawiikwe Gonzalez (she/her), Ojibwe, former Director of the Waadookodaading[SM1] Ojibwe Language Institute, and parent of two bilingual Ojibwe students who attended Waadookodaading, Waabishkiimiigwan Fong (Mary) Hermes, long-time community member at Lac Courte Oreilles in Hayward, Wisconsin, Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Minnesota, and director of Grassroots Indigenous Multimedia, and Waaseginiwikwe (Monique Paulson) (she/her), Ojibwe, who has been involved in early childhood Ojibwe language revitalization projects for over a decade and has recently been instrumental in bringing to life the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe's early childhood projects, Megwayaak, a nature learning project, and Maajiigin, an early childhood center focused on Ojibwe language and outdoor learning, as they discuss the ways in which land-based learning has been incorporated into Ojibwe early childhood settings in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
3rd Virtual Learning Circle: Tuesday May 17th | 2-3:30 EDT
Join Kim Nall, Tribal Child Care Association of California, Executive Director, Jolene Whipple, enrolled member of the Sherwood Band of Pomo Indians, Tribal Child Care Director for Round Valley Indian Tribes, and Tribal Child Care Association of California Culture Committee Chair, Frieda Bennett, enrolled member of Quartz Valley Indian Reservation, Quartz Valley Indian Reservation Tribal Council and Education Director, and Tribal Child Care Association of California Chair and Culture Committee member, and Jennifer McGowan, Tribal Child Care Association of California, Operations Director as they discuss the ways in which land-based learning has been incorporated into Indigenous early childhood settings in California.
Register here for one or all three! https://bostonchildrens.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NYJsKbYrSBKlQZIDdiwr2w
Hosts for this TRC Learning Circle series include: Michelle Sarche (she/her), Ojibwe, Director, Tribal Early Childhood Research Center, Joshua Sparrow (he/him), Director, Brazelton Touchpoints Center, and Nick Terrones (he/him), Mexican-Native American (Chumash descendant), Program Director, Daybreak Star Preschool.
Michelle Sarche, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist and Associate Professor in the Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health, at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Colorado School of Public Health, an Ascend at the Aspen Institute fellow, and citizen of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Ojibwe. Dr. Sarche has worked with American Indian and Alaska Native communities for over 25 years focused on children’s development, parenting, and early care, education, and home visiting. Dr. Sarche directs the Tribal Early Childhood Research Center; her other current projects include the Native Children’s Research Exchange Conference and Scholars program, the American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey Workgroup, the Multi-site Implementation Evaluation of Tribal Home Visiting, and two projects focused on alcohol-exposed pregnancy prevention among Native women.
Joshua Sparrow is executive director of the Brazelton Touchpoints Center in the Division of Developmental Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital, where he also holds an appointment in the Department of Psychiatry. Over the past 20 years, the Brazelton Touchpoints Center has partnered with with American Indian/Alaskan Native Early Head Start, Head Start and Tribal Child Care programs, early childhood education departments in Tribal Colleges and Universities, SAMHSA Tribal Project LAUNCH grantees, and the Tribal Early Childhood Research Center, and recently launched the Indigenous Early Learning Collaborative co-led by the First Light Education Project.
Nick Terrones is Mexican-Native American, a descendant of the Chumash people whose traditional lands span a large part of southern California. Nick has been in the Early Childhood field for over a decade, 12 of those years working directly with toddlers and families. Currently he is the program director at Daybreak Star Preschool in Seattle, Washington, an early learning program that implements an indigenous curriculum. Recently, Nick has been identifying ways to indigenize his mindset to influence and shape his practices with children and families. He believes early childhood education is ready for family and community focused decolonized approaches. Check out his book, A Can of Worms: Fearless Conversations with Toddlers, as well Napcast, a podcast he cohosts with Mike Browne about early childhood education from the perspective of two males of color.
Funding for the Tribal Early Childhood Research Center and TRC Virtual Learning Circles is supported by a cooperative agreement from the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (90PH0030).