Early Childhood Special Interest Group

Beatrice Moccia is an energetic, optimistic and caring Early Years and Primary educator and leader who currently works as Head of day care and after school program at the Leipzig International School. She carries a broad international experience in Early Years and Primary luggage. So far, she has had the opportunity to work in schools around Europe and is an active member of the educational community in different sectors. Education is her passion and she is inspired by guiding young learners to be part of a holistic process that empowers them to become agents of their own learning path.

As a curious lifelong learner, this passion for education has especially taken her to deeply research and study positive psychology applied in the early ages. As both an educator and a leader, she seeks to offer the learning community opportunities to make their learning path meaningful and valuable.

John O’Toole has recently completed his 30th year of teaching at the American School in London and his 35th working in American and international schools. John is a trained and experienced integrative arts psychotherapist. His particular interests include; learning through a sense of belonging, self-expression, and valuing diversity. He strongly advocates the benefits of play and creative arts in Early Childhood and the child’s growth through relationships.

Charlotte Rands is Head of Primary at the British International School of Stockholm with a background in early years teaching and leadership. She has taught in the UK and international schools in Vietnam and Sweden. Charlotte is passionate about empowering staff to drive change through collaboration. Using this approach, she has worked collaboratively across schools to design learning projects for EYFS, developed a bespoke EYFS curriculum at BISS and supported the development of a more play-based Year 1 approach to support an effective transition from the foundation stage into Key Stage 1. She developed a passion for teaching phonics when implementing a county-wide initiative across Warwickshire, England.

Pam Mundy is currently Consultant Director of Schools and Education for NEOM Education, Research and Innovation, part of the new Giga city of NEOM in Saudi Arabia. She is a Founding and Board Member of the ground-breaking EIG international network, Business Women in Education. Pam also operates as an innovative school designer and consultant to many of the world’s leading school and education groups in her specialist areas of early years, bi-lingual learning, international and intercultural learning, strategic leadership, and school improvement and development.

An internationally renowned author and keynote speaker with global recognition for her specialism in Early Childhood Learning and Development, international education, school design and start-up, particularly in Saudi Arabia, SE Asia, the UAE, Latin and Central America, China, Japan, West Africa and the USA, Pam’s recent Executive roles have included international posts as; Director of Education for the Dar Al Marefa Schools, Dubai, Chief Academic Officer for Knightsbridge Schools International and Director for Quality Assurance and Professional Development for World Class Learning (now part of the Nord Anglia Education Group) based in Houston, Texas.

Pam provides advice and guidance to new ‘start-up’ schools, including brokering and securing investment and selecting key partnerships for a wide variety of high net-worth education development projects. Pam holds positions on UK and international Education Boards and ground-breaking international Early Childhood – G12 education research groups.

Fiona Carter is the Director of Education for Wellington Colleges International and specialises in monitoring and supporting the quality of education in Primary and Early Years across the group. After spending the previous four years in China, she is now based at Wellington College in the UK. She is fortunate to travel to the group’s schools in SE Asia and connect with inspirational and pioneering educators in the UK and worldwide in the field of these vital age phases.

She sees sharing ideas and networking with like-minded educators as key to constant improvement and self-reflection on creating the maximum conditions for learning for children, their families, and teachers alike. She is a great advocator of the need for schools to keep well-being and Involvement at the heart of all practice and strategic thinking, coupled with a view of assessment needing to be meaningful and holistic.

From working directly with Professor Ferre Levers and author of the Mona Lisa Effect, Matthew Savage, she continues to spread the word internationally as a speaker and strategic advisor to schools. From recent work in bilingual education, Fiona is now focusing a lot of research and development support on developing the most impactful immersive and co-teaching models in current schools in the group and prospective ones in new territories. Vital to all of this is her view of the child as a capable, curious and independent thinker who thrives in exceptional learning environments, in and outdoors.

Karen Dolan is an Early Years Leader and educator with over 30 years of experience working in Scotland and at the International School of Luxembourg. recently completed a Master’s in International Education Administration, where she researched topics such as COVID-19, Technology, well-being, Inclusive Education, Leadership, and Outdoor Learning. She believes in a developmentally appropriate play and inquiry-based curriculum inspired by the Reggio Emelia approach and Project Zero classroom. She believes in a developmentally appropriate play and inquiry-based curriculum inspired by the Reggio Emelia approach and Project Zero classroom. As a CIS Accreditation Evaluator, she has worked collaboratively to reflect, evaluate and drive school improvement.

She is a member of both the Wellbeing and DEIJ committees at ISL, subjects she is deeply passionate about. Karen is currently leading and learning as her team implement a new multi-age approach whilst working towards PYP authorisation. She believes early years education is the most challenging yet most important work and is dedicated to sharing joy and challenges, hoping to enable continuous and meaningful improvement.

Jackie Becher is the Principal of Early Years at Beijing City International School and has a broad range of experiences both internationally and within Australia. Jackie is a strong advocate for young children and their right to an education that honors who they are and the way they learn. A strong proponent of family centered learning approaches, Jackie works closely with teachers to develop programs that focus on the child and their family.

Working in various roles throughout her career that have focused on teacher professional development, Jackie enjoys working with teachers to develop intentionality in their pedagogy. Jackie takes a broad definition of professional development and finds developing a supportive culture of everyday research within a school is one of the most effective ways of bringing practices together that respond to children. Participation; everyday research, listening and documentation; learning contexts; different ways of expressing thinking and learning as a social process are all key concepts Jackie enjoys learning, discussing and working with teachers about what this means for classrooms.

Dr. Taylor Williams is an experienced educator with a decade of dedication to early childhood education. She has worked across the globe, starting in her home country of USA, then to Taiwan, and currently working in Germany. She holds an Ed.D. in Educational Practice and Innovation, and used her dissertation study to analyze the impacts of professional development on teachers’ awareness of and instructional practices for neurodiversity. She is also deeply committed to supporting neurodiverse learners, ensuring that all children feel included and valued in the classroom. Dr. Williams is a strong advocate for ongoing professional development for teachers. She believes that quality education starts with quality teachers, and that continuing education is essential for keeping up with the latest research and best practices.

As an advocate for developmentally appropriate pedagogy, Dr. Williams is passionate about creating enriching learning environments that foster children’s natural curiosity and love of learning. She is a strong advocate for outdoor learning, believing that spending time in nature benefits children’s physical, cognitive, and emotional development. In her current school, she helped to develop and implement an outdoor education program that is seamlessly integrated into the students’ everyday lives at school. Dr. Williams believes that play-based learning is essential for young children’s development. Through play, children develop important social, emotional, and cognitive skills. She is dedicated to helping educators implement play-based approaches in their classrooms.

Dr Suhasini Kanwar is a specialist in Early Childhood Education with a PhD in quality in early learning programmes. She over 18 years of experience in the areas of professional development, curriculum creation and quality enhancement for early learning programmess. She is the Director of Learning and Development at the Healthy Planet Schools and also runs the research wing of the schools called the Learning Lab. Dr Kanwar also heads a village school in the mountains of north India. Passionate about designing early learning environments and experiences that help children become their best, she is a champion of children’s right to play, explore and learn.