Aurelia Di Santo

Aurelia Di Santo received her MA and PhD in Developmental Psychology and Education with a specialization in Early Childhood Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto. She joined the School of Early Childhood Studies in 2006. Prior to 2006, Aurelia taught in the school for six years as a contract lecturer. She is the Associate Director for the School of Early Childhood Studies laboratory schools, which include the Early Learning Centre, EarlyON Child and Family Centre, and Every Child Belongs resource consultation program.

Aurelia has extensive work experience in a variety of early childhood settings, ranging from working directly with children to managing early learning and care centres. Her international experience includes working on early childhood development projects in Bolivia, Brazil, and Egypt. Aurelia is a member of Childhood Education International and the Children Rights Academic Network. She is a member of the early childhood advisory committee for iACT, an international humanitarian non-government organization.

• CLD 111: Curriculum I: Environments
• CLD 212: Curriculum II: Program Planning
• CLD 448: Childhood in a Global Context
• CS 8930: Social Research with Children
• CS 8936: Children’s Rights

Research interests:

• Children’s rights.
• Early childhood education in emergencies.
• Early years curriculum.
• Research with children.
• Transition to school.

Research projects:

• Children’s rights activities: A guidebook for educators of preschool and kindergarten children
• Global Citizens Education Program
• Rights Respecting Schools

Papers in refereed journals:

• Di Santo, A., & Scott, K.-J. (2020). A child’s right to early childhood education in emergency contexts. Canadian Journal of Children's Rights / Revue Canadienne Des Droits Des Enfants, 7(1), 241-262. https://doi.org/10.22215/cjcr.v7i1.2639 (opens in new window)  
• Di Santo, A., & Scott, K.-J. (2020). Please remember us: iACT’s Little Ripples helping refugee families during the pandemic. Childhood Education: Innovations, 96(4), 6-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/00094056.2020.1796442 (opens in new window)  
• Wood, C. N., & Di Santo, A. (2018). Indigenous youth’s perspectives on their environments: We need to keep this community clean, safe, and good. Canadian Journal of Children’s Rights, 5(1), 116-149. https://doi.org/10.22215/cjcr.v5i1.1252 (external link, opens in new window) 
• Bellucci, A., Nolan, J., & Di Santo, A. (2018). Research in the wild(s): Opportunities, affordances and constraints doing assistive technology field research in underserved areas. Disability Studies Quarterly, 38(4). https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v38i4.5934 (opens in new window)  
• Di Santo, A., Timmons, K., & Lenis, A. (2017). Preservice early childhood educators’ pedagogical beliefs. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education. 35(3), 223-241. https://doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2017.1347588 (external link, opens in new window) 
• Caplan, R., Loomis, C., & Di Santo, A. (2016). A conceptual model of children’s rights and community-based values to promote social justice through early childhood curriculum frameworks. Journal of Childhood Studies, 41(3), 38-46. https://doi.org/10.18357/jcs.v41i3.16305 (external link, opens in new window) 
• Langford, R., Di Santo, A., Valeo, A., Underwood, K., & Lenis, A. (2016). The innovation of Ontario full-day kindergarten educator teams: Have they reproduced the split systems of care and education? Gender and Education, 30(5), 569-586. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2016.1258456 (opens in new window)  
• Underwood, K., Di Santo, A., Valeo, A., & Langford, R. (2016). Partnerships in full-day kindergarten classrooms: Early childhood educators and kindergarten teachers working together. Journal of Childhood Studies, 41(1), 36-45. https://doi.org/10.18357/jcs.v41i1.15696 (opens in new window)  
• Di Santo, A., Timmons, K., & Pelletier, J. (2015). ‘Mommy that's the exit.’: Empowering homeless mothers to support their children's daily literacy experiences. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 16(2), 145-170. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798415577872 (external link, opens in new window) 

Chapters in books:

• Di Santo, A., & Robichaud, B. (2019). Children’s rights: Raising awareness amongst professionals working with and for children. In S. Jagger (Ed.), Early years education and care in Canada: A historical and philosophical overview (pp. 121-142). Canadian Scholars Press.
• Caplan, R. A., Di Santo, A., & Loomis, C. (2019). Integrating community-based values with a rights-integrative approach to early learning through early childhood curricula. In P. P. Trifonas (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research in cultural studies and education (pp. 241-259). Springer.
• Robichaud, B., Peltier, S., & Di Santo, A. (2019). Children’s literature: Interconnecting children’s rights and constructions of childhoods through stories. In P. P. Trifonas (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research in cultural studies and education (pp. 559-578). Springer.
• Johnston, L., Shoemaker, L., Land, N., Di Santo, A., & Jagger, S. (in press). Early childhood education and care in Canada. In G. Noblit (Ed.), Oxford research encyclopedia of education. Oxford University Press.

• Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children–Children’s Rights Champion Award, 2015–2016
• Sue Williams Excellence in Teaching Award, Faculty of Community Services, 2011
• Certificate of Academic Excellence, Canadian Psychological Association, 2007
• iACT – facts. action. impact. – Spirit Award, 2021