Seeds
Quilt
Haven
There is a role in schools and early childhood settings that is often invisible in professional development conversations. The person who is frequently right there when everything escalates. Who is sitting beside the child who cannot hold it together in the large group. Who is navigating the hallway moments, the lunch moments, the transition moments that nobody officially plans for.
Educational assistants, known by many names across Canada and around the world, are doing some of the most intensive co-regulation work in any building. And they are often doing it without enough support, without enough recognition, and without enough training that actually helps.
This symposium takes that seriously.
Applied Self-Reg for Educational Assistants
Kristin Wiens, who has spent her career supporting and training educational assistants, will be presenting a session drawing on the newly published book “Applied Self-Reg for Educational Assistants,” co-created with Susan Hopkins. It is a conversation about what it means to be a co-regulator in the moments when stress is highest, and how understanding Self-Reg changes not just what you do, but how you see.
Practical Self-Reg Learning Centres for Real Settings
There are also interactive Self-Reg Learning Centres on Day 3, 20 of them, full of practical strategies and tools that can be picked up and adapted for real settings. These are not theoretical frameworks in a binder. They are genuinely usable ideas, explored in conversation with knowledgeable facilitators.
Supporting the People Closest to Children in Their Hardest Moments
Whether you are an EA yourself, a resource teacher who supports EAs, or an administrator trying to build a stronger team, this piece of the symposium matters. The people closest to children in their hardest moments deserve learning that meets them there.
Sessions related to this post:
- July 8, 12:45 PM Block 3: Calm in the Storm: Educational Assistants and Co-Regulation, Kristin Wiens
- July 8, 1:45 PM Block 4: Self-Reg Learning Centres, led by Arlene Robinson
- July 8, 3:00 PM Block 5: Self-Reg Learning Centres, led by Arlene Robinson
Join us for the 12th annual Self-Reg Summer Symposium at Trent University – live in person for the full embodied experience, and online with key sessions live-streamed worldwide – to bust myths, practice five-domain Co-Reg in real cases, and leave re-skilled and re-energized for what kids need now.
More to Learn
For educational assistants looking to deepen their understanding of Self-Reg and strengthen their co-regulation practice, these resources offer practical, evidence-informed learning designed specifically for the realities of the role.
- Self-Reg for Educational Assistants Level 1 Certificate Program
- Applied Self-Reg for Educational Assistants Book
