Dr. Carol Anne Wien

Dr. Carol Anne is known to educators from coast to coast. She is a professor with a specialty in Early Childhood Education in the Faculty of Education at York University in Toronto, and makes her home in Halifax. She has also been a longtime member of the editorial board of Canadian Children. 

An author of three books: Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Real Life; Negotiating Standards in the Primary Classroom; and Emergent Curriculum in the Primary Classroom and numerous articles, Carol Anne’s work demonstrates the vital relationship between theory and practice. Her writing has given voice to the work of educators highlighting their thoughtful reflection on the meaning of their work. Her most recent book, Emergent Curriculum in the Primary Classroom, was selected as a comprehensive membership benefit for the National Association for the Education of Young Children, translating into an instant distribution of about 30,000 copies. She has supported educators not only through her writing but also by visiting sites, speaking at provincial, national and international conferences, and sitting on boards. In addition to her work on Canadian Children, she is also on the board of directors for the North American Reggio Emilia Alliance and the Ontario Reggio Association. 

Initially a high school teacher, she became interested in early childhood by chance when friends began a Montessori school, and she became a trained Montessori preschool teacher for seven years. After completing an M.A. in Education at Dalhousie University, she taught in the Department of Child and Youth Study at Mount Saint Vincent University, and later completed a Ph.D. in Education at Dalhousie. Since 1993, she has commuted from Halifax to York where she works primarily with elementary teachers. 

Always interested in creativity and the arts, she has followed the development and dissemination of the Reggio Emilia Approach closely since the early 1990’s. She has visited Reggio Emilia twice on study 45 tours, and written extensively in Canadian and American journals on North American interpretations of its philosophy and practices. She has been a frequent speaker on emergent curriculum at early chil hood education conferences, and is a researcher with the Artists at the Centre Project in Hamilton, Ontario, a project that brings professional artists to join work with children, teachers and parents in Reggio-inspired ways. She has been a longime mentor and consultant for Peter Green Hall Children’s Centre and has written about their work for the American journal Young Children and for Canadian Children. Her belief is that it really matters to the development of our society’s children how we go about creating learning environments for children and their families. Carol Anne, who has spent a lifetime in education, believes that the Reggio approach offers the most powerful catalyst to rethinking our own practices, in our own ways. 

Carol Anne’s significant involvement with education at all levels, from preschool through university and her passionate advocacy on behalf of children and educators make this extraordinary mentor an outstanding recipient for the Friends of Children Award.