Centennial College faculty and staff have been recognized with a Minister's Award of Excellence for their work delivering an Early Childhood Education (ECE) program expressly for Black, African and Caribbean students.
The Minister of Colleges and Universities, Jill Dunlop, bestows the awards to faculty, staff and graduate students who have shown exceptional performance at institutions like publicly assisted colleges. Professor Dwayne Locke, lead for the Early Childhood Education - Tropicana program, Professor Jenny Quianzon and the ECE faculty, along with Student Success Advisor Audrey Le, have been honoured in the Equality of Opportunity category.
The category acknowledges efforts to open doors in postsecondary education for marginalized and underrepresented groups. As a team, Locke, Quianzon, Le and their ECE faculty colleagues were among 15 award recipients across five categories selected from a pool of more than 480 nominations.
"The Early Childhood Education program for Black learners reimagines the ECE curriculum to celebrate cultural identity and incorporate perspectives from the African Diaspora while removing barriers such as financial constraints. The program aims to boost workforce representation of Black ECE professionals in GTA child care centres," said Véronique Henry, Dean, School of Community and Health Studies, Centennial College, who envisioned the program. "The Minister's Award recognizing the people who helped create this opportunity reflects the unwavering commitment and passion of Professor and Program Coordinator, Dwayne Locke, along with Audrey Le, Jenny Quianzon, the entire ECE team at Centennial College, and our esteemed partners who provide comprehensive support and expert consultation."
Developed in collaboration by Centennial College, Saccae Cultural Equity Consultants, and Tropicana Community Services, the Early Childhood Education - Tropicana program is delivered in partnership by Centennial and Tropicana. The City of Toronto, the Province of Ontario and Government of Canada provide the program with funding support through the new Canada-Ontario Early Childhood Workforce Agreement, which is designed to bolster the child care and early years workforce.
"Centennial's dedicated faculty and staff have been instrumental in creating an inclusive and culturally affirming learning environment that has allowed Black, African and Caribbean students in the Early Childhood Education - Tropicana program to thrive," said Jennifer Lafreniere, Associate Dean, School of Community and Health Studies, Centennial College. "We celebrate their achievement and thank them for their important work ensuring students are well-supported in their community through Tropicana from infusing the program with Black perspectives to planning future learning opportunities in Jamaica and we are grateful to our community and government partners whose support has made this possible."
The Early Childhood Education - Tropicana program helps break down barriers by giving students access to community and cultural supports as well as technology and tuition-free learning.
"We take such joy and pride in delivering Early Childhood Education programming that centres Black, African and Caribbean culture, lived experiences and needs, and so it's a delight to share the honour of this recognition with my colleagues," said Locke. "I am impressed and inspired by our talented students, who are determined to graduate ready to go out into the community and provide high-quality child care despite any barriers they may face."
The first cohort of students to start the program in fall 2023 are already proving this, with 19 of 25 continuing on to their final year. There is strong community interest in the program, with a second cohort of 25 students slated to start the program in the fall 2024.
Learn more https://www.centennialcollege.ca/programs-courses/full-time/early-childhood-education-tropicana
