Meet Stephanie De Sousa she is an early childhood educator, from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Formally trained as an architect, she soon realized her passions lay in education- more specifically nature education. She has studied ECEC in New Zealand, where she also worked with children. As well, she attended the World Forum on Early Care and Education in Kuala Lumpur, in 2007. She is currently studying and doing an internship at an outdoor kindergarten in Trondheim, Norway.
This is an excerpt from Stepanie’s Workshop Proposal:
“I am currently living and studying in Trondheim, Norway, where I will also be participating in a practical training program with an outdoor kindergarten (ages 2-6 years). This program runs from mid-March to mid-June, in which time I will be observing children, working with staff, children, and parents, and documenting my experiences. It is my intention then, to present my findings at the Manitoba Nature Summit, with focus on several areas:
- the role of play, and more specifically outdoor play, in the development of a competent, confident, socially intelligent child
- the merits of risky play, and teachers’ responsibilities of such actions
- the strong sense of fellowship and community within the group vs. individuality and competition
- the advantages of having mixed age groups
- the role of the teacher in Norwegian ECEC institutions
- the constant collaboration and communication with parents”
As she has just begun her training program and can only give a general outline of her presentation at this time but I, for one, am very excited to hear what she has to say!
