Working with Families, 8th edition

Dr. Rena Shimoni has a postgraduate certificate in Early Childhood studies, an M.Sc. from Oxford University in Social and Administrative studies, and a Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Administration from the University of Calgary. She has worked in a variety of frameworks in England, Canada, and Israel, researching and developing diverse community programs for children and families. Her research has focused on multiculturalism, fathering,  and the inclusion of immigrants and refugees in Canadian society. In her later roles as the Dean of Health and Human Services, and Dean of Applied Research at Bow Valley College, she focused on interdisciplinary collaboration and evaluative research. She has co-authoured three textbooks and published numerous articles in family studies, sociology, and early childhood journals.

Joanne Baxter PhD. R.Psyc is a registered psychologist. Her Master's degree was in School and Clinical Psychology and her PhD in Educational Research. She was an instructor in the Rehabilitation Studies Diploma Program at Mount Royal University in Calgary for many years before moving into the Early Childhood Education Diploma program. Joanne continued to teach in the Early Learning and Child Care Diploma program as Mount Royal College became a University. She served as department Chair for a period of five years and supported the development of the Child Studies Degree. Joanne was an instructor and then Associate Professor and taught in both the Diploma and Degree program. Joanne retired in 2016 and was awarded Professor Emerita in 2019. Joanne co-leads the Pedagogical Supports team with Catherine Smey Carston.

Joanne has been an active member of the disability community and the early childhood community in Calgary and Alberta. In addition to sitting on a variety of community boards, she was actively involved in the development and implementation of the Accreditation of Early Learning and Care Services (AELCS) program while serving on Governing Council for an extended period of time. She also was engaged in the Alberta Child Care Association in  development of a professional association for early childhood educators across the province. When the new Alberta Early Learning and Child Care Curriculum Framework was developed for child care in the province, she became actively involved in creating pedagogical supports for program educators and administrators as they explored putting it into practice. Joanne co-leads the Pedagogical Supports team with Catherine Smey Carston and has developed for more than ten years providing professional learning and support for external pedagogical leaders engaged with child care, family child care, preschool and school age care programs who wish to explore the curriculum framework in their practice.  This work has included on-site pedagogical supports offered through the Alberta Regional Center for Quality Enhancement where forty or more pedagogical partners provided on-site support for educators and program leaders engaged in this work. In addition to on-site supports, the team has developed a 24 hour web based professional learning series for educators and program leaders to better understand the curriculum framework in practice.  Cathy and Joanne are in the midst of creating a web based professional learning series directed at administrators and program leaders to deepen their understanding of pedagogical leadership and the leadership required to facilitate changes related to the adoption of a curriculum framework in practice.

Joanne has authored three textbooks in the field of early learning and child care. One textbook explored inclusion of children with special needs in early childhood settings and the textbook focused on working with families, which is now in its 8th edition.