Dr. Nina Howe

Concordia University Research Chair in Early Childhood Development and Education (Tier 1)
Department of Education, Faculty of Arts and Science

Centre for Research in Human Development
Canadian Council on Learning: Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Centre
Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development
nina.howe@education.concordia.ca

Dr. Nina Howe started her academic career with a BA (Hons) in Psychology from York University (1974), and quickly followed it up with an MA in Psychology from the University of Western Ontario (1977), where she focused on Early Childhood Education. Moving west to Alberta, she spent two years as an Assistant Supervisor in a municipally-funded day care in Edmonton, then attended the University of Alberta to obtain her teaching degree (1980) and, after teaching in elementary schools, her teaching license (1982). Dr. Howe then returned east to pursue PhD studies in Developmental Psychology at the University of Waterloo (1986). She has been teaching and researching in Concordia’s Department of Education ever since, and is affiliated with the Centre for Research in Human Development (CRDH), the Canadian Council on Learning’s Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Centre, and the Centre for Excellence in Early Childhood Development.

Dr. Howe’s current research has two distinct but complementary tracks: the first focuses on children’s early social relationships, predominantly sibling relations, with a particular interest in how siblings co-construct meaning in their relationship through their interactions during play, conflict, teaching, and language; and the second examines early childhood education through the lenses of children’s play, curriculum, professional development, and knowledge transfer.

As an established researcher at the top of her field, Dr. Howe’s career has included many awards and accolades; the following are but a few highlights from the last 5 years:

• Recipient of four Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grants over the last five years.
• Completion of three major research contracts with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and another with Health Canada.
• Publishing over 50 journal articles.