We are so excited to share our third spotlight educator! It's such a treat to see into different educational spaces and learn from each other. If you are interested in being featured here, or know someone who should, please contact us at manitobarice@gmail.com. Please note, we are looking for educators at various points in their journey. We all have something to share.
My name is Pat
Furman and I am the Executive Director of Robertson Early Enrichment Program
since inception, September 2004. We have two childcare sites. Our original site
is licensed for 78 children including 10 Kindergarten children, 8 Nursery
children and 60 school age spaces. This site is located within Robertson
School. Our second site opened on July 4, 2016 which is located within the SSCY
centre (Specialized Services for Children and Youth). This site is licensed for
48 children including 32 preschoolers and 16 infants.
I have been an
Early Childhood Educator for over 17 years. My passion has always been working
with children with additional support needs. I have my Bachelor of Arts; I
doubled majored in Psychology and Developmental Studies. I have four years of a
Human Ecology degree in Family Studies and Special needs. I also have an
Advanced Diploma in Early Childhood Management.
For five years I
worked at the Rehabilitation Centre for Children in the developmental day
program. For ten years I worked as a Child Development Counsellor with
Children’s disAbility Services. Nine of those ten years I was also the Director
of this program. I am married and the Mother of three young children who
inspire me each and every day!
Instagram:
patfurman
Website:
robertsoneep.ca
MBRICE: How
and when did you become interested in RE?
I had attended the
MCCA annual conference in either 2007 or 2008 and one of the seminars was about
different approaches in the child care field. This was the first time I
remember hearing about Reggio Emilia Approach. The following year MB RICE and
Seven Oaks School Division hosted the 2009 conference in May. I was very
inspired and eager to hear and learn more. A few years ago I joined the Executive
MB Rice committee.
MB RICE: What
are your favourite aspects of the philosophy?
All aspects of
the philosophy resonate with me in some capacity. I connect mostly with the
image of the child, role of the teacher, environment as a third teacher and
building a culture of community.
I recently heard
that in Reggio Emilia the terminology they use to describe children with
additional support needs is Children with special rights! I love that! Again
that terminology embodies seeing children as capable, confident and curious
citizens.
Recently, I
hired 27 Educators for both my new SSCY site and for my existing school
location. I spent many hours reviewing my human resource approach to hiring so
that I would have greater success finding educators who held a strong image of
a child and were reflective in their practices and believed in documenting
children’s work. I kept in mind the role of the teacher while devising my
interview questions.
At my new site
which is located within the SSCY centre, we co-locate with 14 other agencies.
Over the last four years we met regularly to discuss and develop several
policies regarding how we were all going to co-locate with one another.
Building a culture of community was and continues to be important for all of
the SSCY partners. We have formed many wonderful new partnerships with many of
the agencies including Child development clinic. Strengthening community relations
benefits all of our educators, families and children at the centre.
MBRICE: What
books/resources would you recommend?
The Hundred
languages of children - experiences in transformation is a book I continue to
use as a guide. It allows me to think deeply about my own practice with
children.
We have a
subscription to Childcare Exchange magazine. This magazine has fabulous and
relevant articles relating to our childcare field. Many of them refer to the
Reggio Emilia approach philosophy. I will often use these articles at our
monthly Educators meetings.
MBRICE: What do
you find challenging?
What can be
challenging at times is getting everyone on board! Part of my job is to educate
our parents, families and my educators about aspects in the philosophy. For
example, sometimes it takes time to discuss and show the importance and benefits
to using more open ended materials. We do this by documenting the children’s intentions,
ideas and experiences using these materials. On occasion we will receive some resistance
from parents and even educators who want to bring more traditional toys out to
play, particularly in our infant room. We have tremendous joy watching them and
how they use and create with loose parts.
MBRICE: How
has your teaching changed since you began learning about RE?
I have more
purpose in what I am doing each and every day. I have restructured my own job description
to allow myself more time on the floor to be with the children, and to connect
with the educators. I spent ten years watching and making observations about children
and how they learn in my role as a child development counselor. I think one of
my strengths is seeing what children are doing, and how purposeful they are as
they interact with the materials. I want to collaborate with my educators, and
support their ideas they have about their space and help them build a
curriculum based on the children’s interest.
Thank you for
allowing me to share about my journey. If you have any questions or comments
please contact me at pfurman@robertsoneep.ca
