The 16th EECERA Annual Conference, Democracy and Culture in Early Childhood Education, will be held in Iceland, a Nordic country where democracy has been the foundation of society and where one of the oldest parliaments in the world was established.
The first theme of the conference is the role of early childhood education in creating a democratic society. If children have the opportunity to practice democracy through decision-making, communication, negotiation and participation in projects of relevance, they will be likely to encourage the formation and growth of democracy in their societies. The conference aims to raise important and urgent questions about democracy in early childhood settings. Is it important? What does it mean? How do we practice it? Where will it lead?
Culture is the second theme of the conference, which aims to ask critical questions such as: How can children contribute to and create the wider culture? How is a society's culture reflected in its early childhood education? How do early childhood programs in each country adapt ideas from other countries to their own culture? What is the influence of globalization on early childhood education?
Keynote speakers:
- Prof. Hrafnhildur Ragnarsdottir, Iceland University of Education: "What can Cross-Linguistic Studies of Children's Language Acquisition Tell us About the Role of Culture in Development?"
- Prof. Barbara Rogoff, University of California, Santa Cruz: "Learning through Observation and Collaboration in Sociocultural Activities."
- Prof. Lars Dencik, Roskilde University, Denmark: "Parent-Child Relationships in Early Childhood in Contemporary Welfare Societies."
- Prof. Peter Moss, University of London: "Bringing Politics into the Nursery: Early Childhood Education as a Locus for Democratic Practice."
- Prof. Joseph Tobin, Arizona State University: "Children of Recent Immigrants in ECEC Settings in Five Countries: Parent and Teacher Perspectives."
