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 the educational and social opportunities responsive to their cultural identity. High quality programs put social justice teaching front and center by prioritizing anti-bias and culturally sensitive teaching.
TO VIEW YOUR SCHEDULE: Access and view your schedule by clicking the "Schedule" pull down menu located to the right of your profile picture (or head icon) and clicking "Simple".
TO ACCESS ZOOM LINKS FOR YOUR SESSIONS: On Friday and/or Saturday you will need to log in to your Sched profile and pull up your schedule to see your workshop titles. Click on the workshop to view description, presenter information, view documents and access the Zoom link. Zoom links for each workshop will appear below each workshop title 10 minutes before that workshop is scheduled to begin on each day of the conference. Simply click on the link below the title to enter the virtual workshop. (No links will be emailed to you, you must log into your Sched account to access all Zoom links.)
HANDOUTS AND POWERPOINTS: Some workshops will have documents affiliated with the training you are attending. These documents are available immediately for you if they are on your schedule. It is suggested that prior to the conference, you download to your computer and/or print any documents you are interested in so that you can easily access them during the conference.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT HOURS: Participants will receive 6 PD hours per day. Their hours will be added into the Workforce Registry between 1 to 4 weeks after the conference. Participants will also receive a certificate of completion – but will not be asked to upload this certificate to the Workforce Registry.
Through our project-based activity model, children and their teachers will choose a dramatic play experience related to social justice that incorporates all early childhood developmental domains in a holistically integrated experience. Our Farm Stand project addresses food justice, land acknowledgment of indigenous people, and cultural and racial diversity through language, art, music, and activism.
Based on the interest of the children, and what's available in their unique learning environment, teachers will have an opportunity to design or enhance their own project-based experience. After reflecting on the needs of their community or cause that the educator and students feel passionate about, the educator will have some planning time to begin designing their own social justice project. This project will utilize the whole-child model and integrate multiple areas of growth and development. The project will address equity and diversity by encouraging familial engagement and connection.
