Last December, the Vanier College Early Childhood Education department was honoured to welcome Dr. Emis Akbari to spend the day with faculty. Dr. Akbari is the Executive Director of the Atkinson Centre and a Professor and Program Coordinator at the School of Early Childhood at George Brown Polytechnic in Toronto. Her initial research examined issues surrounding early life adversity on brain and behavioural development in animal models. Her current research evaluates changes in policy related to early childhood development and education at all levels of government.
Dr. Akbari is also the co-author of the Early Childhood Education Report. This report provides a snapshot of federal/provincial/territorial early education provisions. As well, the report features comparisons between Canada and other developed economies in the area of education for children under 5. Canada is a leader in the field, according to several important metrics.
"Dr. Akbari's presentation was an important way for the ECE Department at Vanier to gain valuable insight into the "big picture" of the state of early childhood education in Canada, and to hear about some of the current trends, persistent challenges, new policy directions in the larger Canadian context. It was heartening to hear that Quebec continues to perform well, in terms of preschool education and support for families with young children," said Mary Johnson, program Coordinator of Vanier Early Childhood Education.
While, Dr. Akbari shared her thoughts about the state of early childhood education in Quebec and Canada, Vanier ECE personnel shared their own experiences in early childhood education, both frontline experiences in Montreal-area daycares, as well as some of the challenges and opportunities related to training future educators. As well, Vanier teachers were able to provide Dr Akbari with their first-hand experiences of implementing the new Quebec ECE 3-year program, and expand on some of the triumphs and trials currently being experienced by the various interested parties (children, families, students in ECE and their teachers, as well as daycare staff and administrators) here in Montreal and throughout the province.
"Our time with Dr Akbari gave us a renewed sense of purpose and feeling that we are definitely on the right track in terms of how we are preparing our students and graduates to tackle a career in ECE and make a difference in the lives of the children and families in Quebec," concluded Mary Johnson. This is the first time that Dr Akbari has visited Vanier but the ECE Department is looking forward to future exchanges and potential collaborations in 2026.
