2012 Alberta Early Years Conference
Changing the Pace
September 20, 21 & 22 2012
at the Marriott at River Cree Resort, Enoch, AB
The Alberta Early Years Conference is a biennial event organized by a provincial committee that focuses on new understandings and approaches to early child development and the advancement of early education practices and policies. This conference participants include practitioners, advocates, parents, administrators, researchers, and policy makers.
The conference seeks to present the latest ideas in support of early child development from across Canada and beyond in the areas of identification, intervention, program development, policy research, personal experiences, and case study research. The conference program typically draws on the strength and expertise across a wide continuum - early education, psychology, pediatrics, biology, epidemiology, and other fields - whose work, taken together, has contributed to a varied and interdisciplinary examination of the early years of life. It is the intent of the conference to ensure 80% of the presentations feature content at an intermediate/advanced level.
Overarching Conference Theme
The Alberta Early Years will explore ways of promoting and enhancing responsiveness in parenting, teaching and in communities to support children and their families. Research demonstrates that early support to families with young children are vital to children's health and development. This conference will examine best practice and research in the area of early child development.
Special Topic Streams:
1. Prevention
By promoting well-being among children at risk, preventive strategies can mitigate the risk factors. Research, programs, challenges, and issues related to prevention would be appropriate for this special topic stream.
2. Delays/differences in Development
This year's conference seeks to address new findings in understanding delays and differences in the developent of children. Additionaly, presentations or research that addresses the application of intervention strategies to promote development - emotional, physical, language, social, cognitive, adaptive - at the earliest possible stage within the lifecycle would be appropriate for this stream.
3. Family and Cultural Competence
Growing diversity within our population increases the need for competence in developing appropriate and effective supports and recognizing the strengths and uniqueness of families. Presentations that contribute to the cultural competence of early educators/interventionists or to building the capacity within family systems would be appropriate for this stream.
4. Enhancing Partnerships
Developing partnerships with others has become recognized as a necessary aspect of promoting positive outcomes for young children. Topics that address the application and development of collaboration among agencies, team members, parents, and the community would be appropriate for this stream.
5. Wellness
Addresses personal wellness through strategies of knowing and caring for the self and team members. Topics that address preventing burnout, building resiliency, creating greater team cohesiveness and bringing enjoyment into the workplace would be appropriate for this stream.