curricula and pedagogy

Keynote Speaker:

• Peter Moss, Professor of Early Childhood Provision, Faculty of Children and Learning, Thomas Coram Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London, UK.

Topic: What is our image of the child? Critical questions in early childhood policy, provision and practice

>> See Peter Moss' policy brief for UNESCO, "What is your image of the child?"

Followed by panel responses:

• Rachel Langford, Ryerson University -- Critical Questions about pedagogy: Are we asking the right questions?

• Donna Lero, University of Guelph -- Critical questions about families: How can we design policy and provision to meet family needs?

• Martha Friendly, CRRU -- Critical questions about Canada: What are the barriers to early childhood policy and provision?

• Kathleen Flanagan, Child and Family Policy Consultant/ECE and Care Specialist -- Critical questions about moving forward: What can a province do?

Organized by:

School of Early Childhood Education, Ryerson University
Childcare Resource and Research Unit
Centre for Families, Work and Well-Being, University of Guelph
Centre for Children, Youth and Families, Ryerson University

Save the date! Registration coming soon.

This conference will bring together international and Canadian educators to discuss the Reggio Emilia philosophy in elementary and middle school contexts.

Key speakers:

- Paola Cagliari, Pedagogista, Director of Preschools and Infant Toddler Centres, Istituzione of the Municipality of Reggio Emilia Italy

- Lella Gandini, U.S. Liaison for Reggio Children

- Harold Gothson, Senior Consultant for Reggio Emilia Institute, Sweden

- Mara Krechevsky, Project Zero - Harvard University

Event description:

The 21st EECERA annual Conference is organised by a consortium formed of Geneva and Lausanne Universities, two High professional Schools and local authorities from both cities.

The theme of the 2011 EECERA Conference is "Education from birth: research, practices and educational policy". This theme focuses on what practices exist for early education and what should be developed? What are the educational policies in this respect and what could be promoted? Research contributes to our knowledge about this complex reality and helps to define projects for the future.

Conference themes/strands:

From birth on...

Birth locates the integration in an historical and social context. This first topic aims at questioning about the multiple conditions for an education from birth in the 21st century, and raises the dilemmas about assistance, care, performance and standardisation. This is the opportunity to present work related to these dilemmas. An essential place will be given to studies about the acquisition of language in early childhood and the role of objects in the educational system.

Inclusive education

This second topic raises the questions of educational practices when referring to special children, meaning those who are different. It has been postulated that an adapted care for children with special needs is a necessary one but it still needs to be implemented. Therefore the notions of prevention, integration and insertion will be examined in order to enable educational practices to evolve into increasing attention to particularities in order to facilitate social affiliation of these children.

From economic necessities to educational necessity

The reports dealing with the placement of children in care facilities and those related to women back to work after childbirth tend to focus the debate on economics values. Although economic arguments are definitely important they aren't the only ones. This third theme underlines the importance of social and educational added values in children's care facilities. From then on, the subject of the social choice regarding the undertakings of young citizens will be discussed in depth through the polysemic notion of investment.

Expertise, qualifications and common sense

Studies regarding the historical evolution, the present situation and the perspectives of professionalisation of nurses, kindergartners, teachers and educators will be discussed as a fourth topic. It will investigate the level and the sort of qualification requested to accomplish the socio-educational mission today and tomorrow, provided that this assignement has to be adressed under the point of view of transition towards institutions (day care, nursery, school, leisure facilities, etc.) for the professionals as well as for the children and their families.