All events relating to ECEC

ECEBC, Canadian Child Care Federation and University of Victoria School of Child and Youth Care jointly sponsor this annual conference.

International keynote presenters Janet Gonzalez Mena (US), Gunilla Dahlberg (Sweden), Helen May and Glenda MacNaughton (NZ) will speak to early childhood research, theory and practice, emerging issues, provocations and possibilities. Canadian perspectives (Carol Anne Wein, Pam Whitty) will be included to provide a truly sea to sea vision of early childhood care and education.

Abstract: In a number of disciplines, there is an increasing interest in the 'effect' that attributes of collective social organization and the local built environment at neighborhood scale have on a variety of social outcomes, including health, health behaviors, early child development, youth delinquency, crime and deviance, political behavior, employment outcomes and other economic opportunities. A unifying feature of this kind of research is that it seeks to understand how, why and to what extent features of the local social environment, or neighborhood, shape individual outcomes over and above the effect of individual-level factors. I will identify some of the promise and pitfalls of neighborhood effects research, with emphasis on specific pathways between socio-economic dimensions of neighborhoods and both health and child development.

Bio: Dr. Jim Dunn holds a CIHR-PHAC Chair in Applied Public on Interventions in Residential Neighbourhoods and Population Health. He is a Research Scientist at the Centre for Research on Inner City Health (CRICH) at St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, an Associate Professor of Geography and Public Health Sciences at the University of Toronto (UofT). His background is in the social geography of health, having earned a Ph.D. from Simon Fraser University in 1999. He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for Social Science and Medicine and Health Reports and has been a scientific advisor to a number of policy-related bodies, including the Privy Council Office of Canada, Health Canada, the National Housing Research Committee of Canada and the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. His research program focuses on questions regarding the social determinants of health and the influence of economic and social policies and programs on health inequalities, with a focus on urban housing and neighbourhoods.

Reception Following.

Speaker:

Bruce Fuller, professor of education and public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, focuses on how the state advances policy within increasingly pluralistic societies. His new book, Standardized Childhood (Stanford), explores this question via the case of universal preschool, a rising movement in the U.S. that has gained many proponents, from Hillary Clinton to Hollywood activist Rob Reiner. Fuller's earlier books include, Inside Charter Schools (Harvard) and Government Confronts Culture (Taylor & Francis).

Over 25 years — inside policy organizations and the university — Fuller has explored how public initiatives attempt to advance children's learning and development. Much of his work examines the origins and practical features of educational and family policies. Fuller's empirical work also focuses on local organizations in terms of how schools, child care organizations, and families respond to recurring waves of policy reform aimed at changing the behavior of residents found inside. One major effort, the "Growing Up in Poverty" project, is a seven-year project to learn how the devolution of welfare is shaping young children's lives, especially via preschool and child care organizations where these youngsters are increasingly being raised.

Please note that seating is limited to 50 participants.

Conference Description:

All children have the right to opportunities for realizing their full potential. Some children by nature of individual, family, or community circumstances are more vulnerable and will need extra support in achieving this. In order for these supports to be most effective, we must look through the eyes of the child. We must integrate our knowledge of the principles of child and family development with research and innovative practice. Special attention will be given to children in care and children with disabilities.

Conference Objectives:

This conference will provide opportunities to learn about new research and evolving practice relating to:

- child care
- developmental disabilities
- parenting
- child development
- diversity
- policy/politics
- children at risk
- inclusion
- professional challenges
- children in care
- infant & child mental health
- transitions

Description:

This international conference will address the risks and opportunities associated with mixed economies of public, private and voluntary childcare and early education. It provides a forum for policymakers, childcare business leaders, public and voluntary sector childcare managers, private equity firms and academics to exchange knowledge, ideas and experiences concerning this highly topical subject from a variety of national and international contexts.

At this conference, Stephen Timms MP, Minister of State for Competitiveness at the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform will launch a new research centre, the International Centre for the Study of the Mixed Economy of Childcare, ICMEC. Based in the School of Education at the University of East London, the Centre is led by Professor Helen Penn and Eva Lloyd.