Virtual Early Years Conference

March 11-12, 2022

Social Justice in Early Learning and Care

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.

Conference Program

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

This Conference Strives To:

Equip the workforce with strategies that are culturally relevant and responsive
Promote an asset-based lens when working with children and when engaging with families and communities
Promote the use of differentiated supports to meet the needs of dual language learners
Respond to the needs of children in all levels of ability
Build understanding of how children develop concept of race at an early age and how this impacts their understanding of self and the world
Ensure educators are anti-racist and free of bias, student-centered, and focused on the whole child, including their social and emotional needs
Supply information about removing barriers for families within the education system

Keynote Speaker (Friday)

EarlyYears-21-DLeeKeenan

Debbie LeeKeenan is a lecturer, consultant, and author, currently residing in Seattle, Washington. She was director of the Eliot-Pearson Children’s School at Tufts University in Medford, MA from 1996 to 2013. In addition to teaching in the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development at Tufts University, she has been a member of the early childhood faculty at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA and the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, and she is a former preschool, special education and elementary school teacher. She consults and lectures locally, nationally and internationally. Debbie is a co-producer with John Nimmo of the film, Reflecting on Anti-bias Education in Action: The Early Years, released in April 2021. Her co-authored books include: From Survive to Thrive: A Director’s Guide for Leading an Early Childhood Program and Leading Anti-bias Early Childhood Programs: A Guide for Change. Her other publications include chapters and articles in Young Children, Voices of the Practitioner, Child Care Exchange, Theory into Practice, the first edition of The Hundred Languages of Children, and Proactive Parenting: Guiding Your Child from Two to Six. She holds a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of New Mexico. With professional experience spanning 50 years in diverse university, public school, and early childhood settings in Massachusetts, New York City, New Mexico, Philadelphia and Taiwan, her areas of expertise include anti-bias education, early childhood education, teacher preparation, inclusive special education, curriculum development, project based learning, teacher inquiry, family engagement, professional learning communities and public school partnerships.

Debbie was awarded the Tufts University Arts and Sciences Multicultural Service Award in May 2003, the Building Bridges Tufts Distinction Award in June 2009 for her work with diversity, and the Abigail Eliot Award in 2015, which recognizes outstanding commitment to young children and the early childhood profession. Debbie was a member of the 2018 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Selection Committee, which recognizes children’s books of literary and aesthetic excellence that effectively engage children in thinking about peace, social justice, global community, and equity for all people. Debbie is Chinese-American, the child of first-generation immigrant working-class parents who grew up in New York City, and is part of a multi-racial family.

Keynote Speaker (Saturday)

EarlyYears-21-DrCastro

Dr. Dina C. Castro is Director of the Boston University Institute for Early Childhood Well-Being and faculty in the Department of Teaching and Learning. Prior to joining, Boston University, she was Professor and the Velma E. Schmidt Endowed Chair in Early Childhood Education at the University of North Texas (2014-2021). She also held positions at the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University (2013-2014), and the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, and the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1997-2013). Her scholarship focuses on equity and quality in the early care and education of bilingual children in immigrant, migrant and indigenous communities. Nationally, Dr. Castro has developed and evaluated early childhood professional development programs to improve language, literacy and socio-emotional development of bilingual children. She has developed measures to assess the quality of early education programs serving bilingual children, and second language acquisition in young children. Dr. Castro served as Director of the Center for Early Care and Education Research: Dual Language Learners, a federally funded national research center focused on increasing understanding of practices and measurement to improve early care and education for bilingual children.

Dr. Castro’s research has been funded by the Institute of Education Science, the National Institute of Child Health and Development, the Administration for Children and Families and the Office of Special Education Programs. Her policy and advocacy work includes being past member of the Governing Board of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and advisor to statewide and local early childhood initiatives in states around the country, including Arizona, California, Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas. In the global context, she is examining teachers’ conceptualizations about interculturality and their classroom practices in intercultural bilingual education schools in Peru and co-leading a binational study investigating the experiences of transnational students and their teachers in U.S. and Mexican schools. Dr. Castro is co-editor of the book Language, Learning and Disability in the Education of Young Bilingual Children, and lead author on the book New Voices ~ Nuevas Voces Guide on Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Early Childhood and has published numerous articles, book chapters and reports. She presents nationally and internationally as an expert on the early development and education of bilingual and culturally diverse children.

Target Audience

Early Learning and Care professionals serving children from infancy through kindergarten, in center-based, school district, Family Child Care settings, and Family Friends and Neighbor programs.

Conference Registration

Don't wait to save your spot at our 19th Annual Early Years Virtual Conference scheduled for March 11 and March 12, 2022. Register today for a one-day pass at $45 or a two-day pass at $75!

Platinum Sponsors

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Partner Sponsors

Some sponsors and exhibitors are part of a paid sponsorship. The San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) does not endorse materials or information shared by paid sponsors.

Sponsorship Opportunities

Becoming an Early Years Conference sponsor is a valuable way to connect with early childhood education professionals, exchange information, and introduce new products and services. This two-day conference will be held virtually on March 11 and 12, 2022 using the online event scheduling platform Sched. This conference is anticipated to draw over 900 professionals and is designed to provide valuable brand advertising and networking for your organization. Become a sponsor today and be introduced to this extensive group of growing professionals advancing the field of early learning and education!

Depending on the sponsorship level, your organization can have a designated sponsor landing page and virtual exhibitor booth in our virtual exhibitor hall. The designated sponsor landing page will allow sponsors to include their company website, logo, biography, video links, and promote discount codes. In addition to the above features, the virtual exhibitor option will also allow exhibitors the opportunity chat live with attendees, showcase new products and services, or raffle items that can be easily mailed to attendees.

Select the Sponsorship Level that Best Fits your Organization!

Complete this form, or download a PDF, and return it with your company logo and payment by Friday, January 21, 2022. Sponsorship opportunities are available on a first-come first served basis, with limited availability. To reserve space, payment must be received in full. No refunds will be made.

Submit Sponsorship Form