Email: Linda.McDonell@viu.ca
Linda retired from the Early Childhood Education & Care (ECEC) faculty in March, 2013. She has since been appointed as VIU Adjunct Faculty, keeping her close association with ECEC and working in research in Aboriginal Early Childhood Education & Development (AECD). Over the past three decades Linda has worked as a frontline Early Childhood Educator (1971-1991); child care researcher (1988-present); and as a post-secondary instructor (1994-2013), spending her final three years at VIU as the BC Regional Innovation Chair in Aboriginal Early Childhood Development (2009-2013). An important focus of her time during her years at VIU was undertaking curriculum and program development in ECE partnership programs with local First Nations communities. In this role, she worked with other ECEC faculty to develop a number of First Nations ECE courses and programs in collaboration with Cowichan Tribes in Duncan, BC, WSΆNEC’ School Board in Saanich, BC.; and Stzu’minus First Nation in Chemainus, BC.
Her research has focused on two specific areas: the history and development of the early childhood profession; and the training needs of Canadian, First Nations, and international early childhood development practitioners. Linda visited Indonesia many times working in partnership with other VIU ECEC, Health Sciences and Human Services, and Widya Mandala Catholic University (in Surabaya, Indonesia) faculty (2000-2013), including a five year Canadian International Development Agency-funded project.
Since her retirement Linda has worked as a consultant on a number of AECD projects including: developing First Nations Early Childhood Educator Occupational Standards and Wage Guidelines with the BC Aboriginal Child Care Society; creating “A Blanket Approach: Protecting the Future of First Nations Child Development, Learning and Care” with Coast Salish Employment and Training Society; and working closely with VIU’s BC Regional Innovation Chair for AECD, Tillicum Lelum Aboriginal Friendship Centre and School District 68 on a program for young Aboriginal children and their families transitioning from early childhood settings to kindergarten.
Throughout her career, Linda has been a strong supporter of the professional association, Early Childhood Educators of BC, serving in many capacities on local and provincial board of directors (including two terms as president of ECEBC). She remains committed to supporting the development of the early childhood profession to raise the profile and status of ECEs in a rapidly changing Canadian context.