TOM KERTES
I am an early childhood educator in Vancouver, British Columbia and am the founder of Learner’s College of Early Childhood Education. Learner’s College is currently in its earliest development phase. Let me know if you’d like to learn more or to contribute to its foundation.

LEARNER’S COLLEGE
Learner’s College will become a non-profit private career college of early childhood education – specializing in dialogue-based career training for new Canadians and English language learners. We will provide a bridge to English and develop culturally diverse leaders in the field of early childhood education. Our graduates will help ensure that all children in British Columbia have access to outstanding early learning opportunities.

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATOR
In addition to founding Learner’s College, I currently work with toddlers and preschoolers as a licensed early childhood educator at the University of British Columbia. I recognize children “as producers, not consumers” (Malaguzzi) and I co-create children’s culture with young children, the foundation of all culture.

At the heart of my practice as an early childhood educator is my view of young children as contributing community members, in present time. I aim to help each child achieve her fullest human potential (in the present) and I also work to embody the values of unconditional respect, universal dignity, and shared responsibility in everything I do.

I have worked with young children since 1997, including as a preschool teacher, science museum demonstrator, early literacy teacher, and executive director of a child care centre. I have served as Policy Advisor at Ontario’s College of Early Childhood Educators during its formation as the first self-regulatory for early childhood educators in North America.

In addition, I was an instructor of early childhood education at Seneca College, a Zesbaugh Scholar with the University of Washington College of Education, and a research assistant at the University of Toronto/OISE. I am a volunteer facilitator with the Liberation Learning Project, a grassroots leadership development organization by and for child care workers.

HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATE
I worked with low-wage workers fighting to successfully secure the human right to a living wage in Baltimore, Maryland. I worked with the United Workers Association as a community organizer and popular educator. The association is an economic human rights organization and was founded by day labourers in an abandoned firehouse turned homeless shelter in 2002.

As coordinator of the Living Wages Hunger Strike in 2007, an announced but not executed hunger strike that resulted in temporary day labourers at Camden Yardes securing a living wage after a three year struggle, I led popular education programs there were centred on leadership development and media literacy.

On the eve of a worker-imposed deadline of September 1, 2007, Maryland’s governor announced his support for the workers’ demands. As a result, hourly wages were nearly tripled from $4.50 in 2004 to the state’s living wage (the living wage is currently over $12/hour and is adjusted annually for inflation).

Tom Kertes | Vancouver, British Columbia | (604) 600-4926
tomkertes@gmail.com | @tomkertes | facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn

Learner’s College of Early Childhood Education