Image Credit: CFJC Today / Adam Donnelly

By Jill Sperling

RESEARCH GRANT

TRU researcher receives grant to develop programs for early childhood educators

Jul 17, 2019 | 4:56 PM

KAMLOOPS — A $575,000 boost for early childhood education research was announced this morning.

B.C.’s Minister of Children and Family Development, Katrine Conroy paid a visit to the TRU campus to announce the funding.

The money will support research by Dr. Laura Doan, who is working to develop programs to keep educators in the profession.

“With this new funding we will expand the current infrastructure of support for both new and experienced childhood educators with an aim to slow the number of ECEs who leave the field,” Doan said.

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The funds will support a project already begun by the TRU researcher.

“This research will just be incredible in terms of upscaling a current peer mentoring project,” Doan said. “Right now, there’s an existing peer mentoring project through a community of practice in the Kamloops community, but with this money it allows us to develop communities of practice across the province.”

Doan plans to set up peer mentoring in 19 communities throughout B.C.

“We are starting right away,” she said. “We have facilitators coming and learning more about the project this August. The project will be up and running at the beginning of September.”

The funding announced for Doan’s research is just a small portion of funding the ministry has set up for investing into early childhood educators.

“So, there’s $6.3 million,” said Conroy, “it’s part of our partnership with the federal government that the Westcoast Resource Centre has to invest in other centres across the province, and TRU and Professor Doan is one of the ones who are getting this research (grant), $575,000 to look at the recruitment retention issues.”

In B.C., around 50 per cent of early childhood educators leave the profession within five years. Conroy says that’s due in part to low wages.

“To that end we have invested in a wage increase,” Conroy said, “so a dollar this year and a dollar next year, first time ever the government has invested in early childhood educators.”

Doan says it is extremely important to fund early childhood education programs.

“We are all okay with funding K-12 education,” she said, “we’re okay with our society funding public education, but I think we need to move to looking at our youngest citizens and beginning with our infants, toddlers and preschoolers and looking at the kind of support that they’re receiving.”