Flight Course Series Expression of Interest Now Closed
Want to stay informed about future offerings? Become an AECEA member or join our non-member mailing list
The Association of Early Childhood Educators of Alberta is pleased to announce that Lois Maplethorpe has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the AECEA Dr. Sherrill Brown Award of Distinction.
Lois is the program chair, an instructor, and the early childhood educator leadership development program lead in the Early Learning and Child Care program at Red Deer Polytechnic. With more than 20 years of experience in education, she has made meaningful contributions to early learning and child care through teaching, leadership, research, advocacy, and community partnership.
Lois’s work is especially recognized for its commitment to ethical, reciprocal relationships with Indigenous communities. Through her doctoral research, Growing Our Roots: Exploring the Home Language and Literacy Environment Within the Context of Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being, Lois partnered with Wichinahin Kohopikiwan–Helping Me Grow Cultural Learning Centre and Playschool, its Advisory Circle, Elders, educators, and families. Her research was grounded in respectful protocol and collaborative learning, and her dissertation received the University of Toronto’s Leithwood Award for OISE Outstanding Thesis of the Year.
Her work continues to have an impact well beyond the research itself. Lois has co-presented findings with community partners for educators, administrators, post-secondary institutions, and early learning organizations across Alberta. She has also contributed publications that advance understanding of culturally responsive early learning practice and cross-cultural partnership.
At Red Deer Polytechnic, Lois supports future early childhood educators while helping to strengthen culturally responsive pedagogies within the early learning and child care curriculum. Her colleagues describe her as a thoughtful and compassionate leader who asks important questions, advocates for meaningful change, and builds capacity within both the post-secondary community and the broader early learning and child care sector.
The AECEA Board of Directors is honoured to recognize Lois’s longstanding dedication to educators, children, families, and communities. Her leadership reflects the care, integrity, and commitment to the profession embodied by the Dr. Sherrill Brown Award of Distinction.
Congratulations, Lois, and thank you for your important contributions to early learning and child care in Alberta.
Category