Rachel Langford
Rachel Langford is the Director of the School of Early Childhood Education at Ryerson University. After receiving an elementary school teacher certificate and early childhood diploma, she worked for 18 years in a variety of primary and early childhood settings in British Columbia. For ten years, she taught Ontario ECE diploma students and is the recipient of George Brown College’s Crystal Apple Award for teaching excellence. She has presented many workshops on inclusive education, English as a second language programming and emergent curriculum. She edited the “Checklist for Quality Inclusive Education: A Self-Assessment Tool and Manual for Early Childhood Settings” for the Early Childhood Resource Teacher Network of Ontario. She has written extensively on the professional preparation of early childhood educators.Rachel Langford has a B.A. and an M.Ed from the University of British Columbia and a Ph.D. in sociology and Equity Studies in Education from OISE, the University of Toronto. She received the 2005 George L. Geis Award for the most outstanding Canadian doctoral dissertation in higher education.
Bernice Cipparrone
Bernice Cipparrone McLeod is a professor in the School of Early Childhood at George Brown College, and since 2014 has been a team member of the Atkinson Centre, at OISE, University of Toronto. She has been in the field of early childhood education for more than 30 years. Beyond serving as an early childhood educator in community early learning and care programs, Bernice has worked in children’s mental health, specializing in infant mental health, trauma, and parent–child relationships.
Mari Pighini
Mari Pighini has been a lecturer and cohort advisor with the UBC Faculty of Education. Since 1997, Mari has taught courses in the Faculty of Education, first as a sessional instructor in the Special Education Program, and later on in the Early Childhood Education certificate, diploma, and master’s programs. Mari’s research interests have focused on the experiences of parents with children at risk for developmental delays or disabilities receiving early intervention/child development support services in urban and rural settings in BC.
Nicole Ineese-Nash
Nicole Ineese-Nash is an Indigenous researcher, educator, and community worker with over 10 years of experience working with Indigenous children, youth, and communities. Born and raised in Toronto, Nicole is a member of Constance Lake First Nation in Treaty 9 territory and holds relation to the lands, waters, and people along the English and Kabikagomi Rivers. With a PhD in social justice education and a master’s in early childhood studies, she is passionate about supporting Indigenous self-determination and cultural resurgence, particularly in the context of childhood and youth. Nicole’s various research and practice interests reflect her lived experience as an Indigenous person on a path of cultural reconnection and learning. As an assistant professor cross-appointed between the schools of Early Childhood Studies and Child and Youth Care at Toronto Metropolitan University, Nicole leads innovative community-based research on the topics of Indigenous disability, early learning, land-based education, and youth mental health. Her research with Indigenous young people spurred the foundation of her national charitable organization called Finding Our Power Together, which offers mental health coaching, group psychoeducation, and cultural healing to Indigenous youth across Canada.
K. Eileen Allen
K. Eileen Allen, professor emerita, was a member of the early childhood faculty at the University of Washington in Seattle and at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. For 31 years she taught graduate and undergraduate courses in child development, developmental disabilities in young children, parenting, early education and an interdisciplinary approach to early intervention and inclusion. She also trained teachers and supervised research-focused classrooms at both schools. In addition to numerous research articles and position papers in major professional journals, she has published seven college textbooks. During her retirement, she continued to write and advocate on behalf of children and families. Her last book was I LIKE BEING OLD: A GUIDE TO MAKING THE MOST OF AGING.
Glynnis Cowdery
Glynnis Edwards Cowdery has more than 25 years of experience in the early childhood education field as a teacher, program director and inclusion facilitator.
