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Brenda Jacobs
PhD

Assistant Teaching Professor

Faculty of Education

Contact information

Education Building - Room 309-1
Downtown Oshawa
11 Simcoe Street North
Oshawa, ON

905.721.8668

brenda.jacobs@ontariotechu.ca

Bio

Dr. Brenda Jacobs is an Assistant Teaching Professor at Ontario Tech University in the Faculty of Education. Brenda completed her B.A. (Psychology) and B.Ed. (Primary/Junior) at the University of Western Ontario and her M.Ed., Graduate Diploma in Early Childhood Education, and PhD at York University. She is a member of the Ontario College of Teachers and the College of Early Childhood Educators. She has taught elementary school-aged children in Oxford, England, Vancouver, British Columbia and Toronto, Ontario. Brenda is a member of the SSHRC funded research team on Innovation Through Co-Production: Supporting Social Competence in Preschool Children Through Multi-Stakeholder Engagement

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Courses Taught

Bachelor of Arts in Educational Studies

  • AEDT 4150U Holistic Learning in Early Childhood

Bachelor of Education

  • EDUC 3208U Teaching Kindergarten
  • EDUC 2402U Teaching for Inclusion: Special Needs and Individualized Education
  • EDUC 1302U PJ Digital Literacies I
  • EDUC 1306U PJ Digital Literacies/Social Studies II
  • EDUC 1301U Learning and Development
  • EDUC 2406U Reflective Practice/Action Research
  • EDUC 1300U Foundations I: Planning and Preparation
  • EDUC 1305U Foundations II: Curriculum Theory
  • EDUC 2405U Foundations III: Long-Range Planning

Masters in Education

  • EDUC 5199G Play, Inquiry and Learning
  • EDUC 5002G Introduction to Research in Education

Research and Expertise

  • Early Childhood Education
  • Kindergarten
  • Self-Regulation
  • Social Emotional Learning (SEL)
  • Emergent Curriculum
  • Inquiry-based Learning
  • Inquiry in Online Classrooms
  • Play, Digital Play, and Play-based Learning
  • Early Literacy
  • Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education
  • Pedagogical Documentation
  • Assessment
  • Curriculum

  • Jacobs, B. (2022). Self-Regulation and Inquiry-based Learning in the Primary Classroom. Pp. 230. Toronto, ON: Canadian Scholars Press. Refereed.

  • Ruttenberg-Rozen, R. & Jacobs, B. (2022). Considerations of equity for learners experiencing mathematics difficulties: At the nexus between mathematics and special education. In Y.P. Xin, R. Tzur & H. Thouless (EDS). Enabling Mathematics Learning of Struggling Students. Springer. Refereed

  • Wien, C.A., Jacobs, B., & Brown, E. (2015). Emergent curriculum and the tension between relationship and assessment. In O. Saracho (ED), Contemporary Perspectives on Research in Assessment and Evaluation in Early Childhood Education (pp. 93-116). Charlotte NC: Information Age Publishing. Refereed.

  • Jacobs, B. (2015), Capturing Learning in the Classroom (CLIC Software) in Ontario’s Full-Day Kindergarten (Toronto ON: Pearson Canada/MITACS Research Report).  https://www.mitacs.ca/en/projects/capturing-learning-classroom-clic

  • Jacobs, B., & Jacobs, L. (2011). The Professionalization of Adult Literacy Practitioners: Impacts and Benefits for Learners. Toronto ON: Commissioned Paper for the Ontario Literacy Coalition.

  • Jacobs, B., & Jacobs, L. (2010). Multidisciplinary Paths to Family Justice in Ontario: Professional Challenges and Promising Practices, Final Report. Toronto ON: Law Commission of Ontario Family Law Reform Project. Refereed. http://www.lco-cdo.org/en/content/family-law-reform

  • Jacobs, B. (2008). Children’s Conversations About the Sun, Moon, and Earth. In C.A. Wien (ED), Emergent Curriculum in the Primary Classroom: Interpreting the Reggio Emilia Approach in Schools (pp. 82-95). New York & Washington: Teachers College Press/National Association for the Education of Young Children. Refereed.