Virtual Early Years Conference

About the Conference

The virtual platform being used for this year’s conference is Sched.com. You may access the Early Years Sched webpage here: https://2022earlyyears.sched.com/.

The 19th Annual Early Years Conference focus is Social Justice in Early Learning and Care Social justice in early childhood education is about ensuring that all children and families receive educational and social opportunities that are responsive to their cultural identity. High-quality programs put social justice teaching front and center by prioritizing anti-bias and culturally sensitive teaching. 

The inequities in our educational system have been exacerbated by a global pandemic, affecting teaching and learning at a critical time of a child’s development. During the first five years of a child’s life, they are making sense of the world around them. It is up to ELC educators and caregivers to understand their key role as an agent of how children learn values and norms within a given society. It is our responsibility to guide children toward empathetic understandings about identity and equity.

Through play, children are working to make sense of their social and cultural world. Thus, as teachers listen closely, it is important that we engage them in well-planned curricula that centers their experience and use strategies to demonstrate care for the child and positive outcomes for all. Educators and caregivers can change the course of a child’s life by recognizing how factors like wealth, gender, and race can determine the trajectory of their success in school and life.

2022 Early Years Conference Program

Our Early Years program is will be available for viewing in December. Our program contains the conference schedule, workshop titles and descriptions as well as details about our live demonstrations and valuable information from our sponsors.