Agenda

2009 ISSA conference on early childhood education and development: Seeds of Change

Startdate

Wednesday 14 October 2009

Enddate

Saturday 17 October 2009

ISSA, the International Step-by-Step association, a leading network of early childhood education and development organizations from Central/Eastern Europe and Central Asia, proudly invites you to participate in its 2009 Annual Conference and celebrate its 10th anniversary. This event is co-hosted by the Center for Education and Professional Development, Romania. The conference is organized in partnership with and with support from the Open Society Institute, and also with the technical support and participation of UNICEF CEE/CIS and the Romanian Ministry of Education, Research and Innovation.

The conference will explore integrated approaches to early childhood development and education (ECDE), as the strongest foundation for well-being and success throughout life. Research shows that the first years in a child's life are crucial in ensuring the child's later success, quality of life and ability to contribute as a responsible citizen. At the same time, children are citizens of today's society; therefore effective investments in the early years are important not only from the point of view of building future human and social capital, but also to ensure that the rights and needs of young children are met and that they have a happy childhood today.

While many countries in Central/Eastern Europe and Central Asia have developed national strategies that emphasize the early years, there are still many challenges in ensuring that every young child receives high quality care and education. ISSA invites practitioners, policy makers, and researchers from the around the world to take part in this event and engage in lively and informed discussions about the current situation and future tasks in ECDE for Central/Eastern Europe and Central Asia and lessons that may be learned from other parts of the world. Special attention will be devoted to ISSA's growing network of members and partners from the region and from around the globe and their successes over the past ten years in creating and implementing child-centered pedagogy, respect for diversity, and access to quality education for every child. The conference aims to develop a set of concrete recommendations to inform and support the work of policy makers and practitioners throughout the region.

As a curtain-raiser to the Conference, the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research and Innovation and ISSA will organize a Roundtable on Investing in Early Childhood: the most effective use of a nation's recources on October 14, 2009, bringing together leading policy makers from the region. The event is organized in partnership with UNICEF, the Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Development and the Open Society Institute.

Abstracts and papers are invited around the following strands:

1. Seeds - Effective Implementation of Quality Early Childhood Practice
Quality teaching practices and early childhood experiences that positively affect child outcomes

2. Soil - Supporting Quality Early Childhood Practice
Political, social, economic, and community contexts that can promote quality early childhood practices

3. Leadership - Bringing it all together
Leadership is needed in order to "plant" the best ECDE practices and investments in environments that influence the development of social capital and societal cohesion.

For details about the conference and submission of abstracts, visit the ISSA website: www.issa2009.ro  

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