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The 2026 call for graduate research awards nominations

For more information, including eligibility requirements, selection criteria, submission details, and adjudication process, please review the complete calls, in English and French >>

■ Canadian Association for Research in Early Childhood (CAREC) Graduate Research Awards 2026

■ Association Canadienne de recherche en petite enfance (ACRPE) Prix d’excellence en recherche pour les étudiants et étudiantes des cycles supérieurs 2026

The Canadian Association for Research in Early Childhood is pleased to invite submissions for the CAREC graduate student research awards.

Two Master’s awards (one in French, one in English) and One Doctoral award will be selected.

These awards will be presented at the 2026 Canadian Society for Studies in Education (CSSE) Annual Conference to be held at the University of Winnipeg, Manitoba. The conference is scheduled to take place from May 30 (pre-conference day) to June 3, 2026.

NEW deadline to submit: March 24, 2026.

In 2019, supported by its Past President Joanne Lehrer, CAREC launched graduate student awards to acknowledge exceptional scholarship in the field of early childhood education. Each year, masters award and doctoral awards (English and French) are presented at the AGM.

We would like to acknowledge all of those graduate students who submitted award applications. We thank the reviewers for their feedback on all of the submissions.

CAREC awards

2025

The Master’s research award winners:

Tatiane Rigonati Silva (University of Victoria)

Teeter-tottering between worlds: Newcomer children’s voices & stories on identity in Canada

Ashleigh Janis (University of British Columbia)

Approaching Racism, The White Way: An Arts-Based Inquiry of Early Childhood Educators’ Experiences with Anti-Racism Education

The Doctoral research award winner:

Dr. Adrianne Bacelar de Castro (Western University)

Pedagogical Confluences and Radical Imagination in the Brazilian Anthropocene

Supervisor: Dr. Veronica Pacini-Ketchabaw

CAREC thanks nominees:

Dr. Fathima Safra Najeemudeen (York): Unveiling Voices: Engaging Syrian Refugee Children and Educators Through A Digital Storytelling Project

Dr. Wei Mao (Concordia): Parental Support of Language Development in Multilingual Contexts: Insights from Chinese and Chinese-Canadian Families

TK Hannah (TMU): “You’ll Get To See What It’s Like For Other Kids To Be Transgender Like You”: Amplifying The Voices Of Transgender Kids In A Trans/Gender Justice Program

Anna Mueller (UBC): Parlons du jeu: French immersion kindergarten teachers talking about play

Aruschga Mohantharajah (TMU): Dismantling Whiteness In School Environments Through The Counterstories Of Racialized High School Graduates

2024

The Master’s research award winner:

Alexandra Paquette (Université du Québec à Montréal)

Title: Accompagner le personnel éducateur dans leur processus de documentation pédagogique en service de garde éducatif s’inspirant de l’expérience éducative de reggio emilia : une exploration phénoménologique post-intentionnelle

Supervisor: Dr. Nathalie Bigras

The Doctoral research award winner:

Dr. Kimberly Squires (University of Guelph)

Title: A Quasi-Experimental Comparison of Equipment-Based and Naturalized Playgrounds: Examining the Impact on Young Children’s Learning and Development

Supervisor: Dr. Tricia van Rhijn

2023

The Master’s research award winner:

Vanessa Scoon (UBC)

Title: The Perspectives of Early Childhood Education and Care Practitioners in British Columbia on their Outdoor Play Pedagogy

Supervisor: Dr. Janet Jamieson

The Doctoral research award winner:

Dr. Chelsea Freeborn (University of Alberta)

Title: Learning in Relations: Engaging with Decolonization in Early Learning and Child Care

Supervisor: Dr. Rebecca Gokiert

2022

The Master’s research award winners:

Farzana Balapatel (Toronto Metropolitan University)

Title: Anti-racist Pedagogy in Post-secondary Early Childhood Education Programs: A Critical

Inquiry into Eight Graduates’ Perspectives.

Supervisor: Dr. Rachel Langford

Kwang Dae Chung (Mitsy) (University of British Columbia)

Title: Early Childhood Educators’ Dialogical Engagement in an Artmaking Space Early Childhood Educators’ Dialogical Engagement in an Artmaking Space

Supervisor: Dr. Sandrine Han

Harny Carlos Chan Lim (Toronto Metropolitan University)

Title: Exploring the Experiences of LGBTQ+ Early Childhood Educators: Navigating and Challenging Heteronormativity in Childcare Settings

Supervisor: Dr. Rachel Berman

The Doctoral research award winner:

Dr. Janine Tine (University of Alberta)

Title: Parents’ Ethnotheories of their Bicultural Children and of Parenting: Interpretive Case Studies with Three Intercultural Couples in Canada

Supervisor: Dr. Larry Prochner

2021

The Master’s research award winner:

Nancy Van Groll (University of British Columbia)

Title: Through the kaleidoscope: A common worlds attunement to lively child-place relationships

Supervisor: Dr. Janet Jamieson

The Doctoral research award winner:

Dr. Claudia Díaz Díaz (University of British Columbia)

Title: Places that Speak: Diversity and Social Responsibility in Canadian Early Childhood Education

Supervisor: Dr. Mona Gleason

2020

The Master’s research awards winners:

Lisa Johnston (Ryerson University)

Title: Dangerous Time: A Critical Qualitative Inquiry into Early Childhood Educators’ Perspectives on Planning Time in Southern Ontario.

Supervisor: Dr. Rachel Langford

Annie Montague (University of British Columbia)

Title: A Case for Complexity: Contextualizing Places of Learning in Early Childhood Education for Sustainability

Supervisor: Dr. Mona Gleason

The Doctoral research award winner:

Dr. Heather Coe-Nesbitt (Queen's University)

Title: Understanding and Supporting Student Thriving in the Ontario Kindergarten Classroom

Supervisor: Dr. Benjamin Bolden