IN DEFENSE OF CHILDHOOD: Keeping the Joy of Learning Alive A Conference for Educators and Parents Saturday, March 10, 2012, 9am-4:30pm The Great Hall (in Shepard Hall) The City College of New York

The widening gap in our society between children of low-income backgrounds and their more affluent peers, along with new insights gained from an explosion of research in the neurobiological, behavioral, and social sciences, have captured the public's attention about the importance of childhood and the need for high quality education. The means to achieving these goals, however, has recently focused on preparing children for school success primarily through an emphasis on standardized testing. This has been done at the expense of what research and educators' experience tell us: Optimal learning results when the whole child is supported in his or her cultural context; when teaching fosters active engagement, is responsive to diverse cultures and languages, supports family involvement in learning, and develops not only cognitive skills but other human attributes such as curiosity, perseverance, empathy, flexibility, resilience, and social awareness.

It is in the context of these issues that this conference addresses how educators and schools can nurture children in accordance with their developmental needs and teach them in the ways that they learn. Presenters will share effective practices and make recommendations for how school and societal challenges can be negotiated to create more effective and more equitable learning environments to enhance the life chances of our youngest citizens.

9:00-10:15: Plenary in the Great Hall (Shepard Hall) with keynote speaker, Nancy Carlsson-Paige (author of Taking Back Childhood)

10:30-12:00: AM Workshops

12:00-1:45: Lunch and Cultural Arts Fair/Book Fair with featured speaker (a limited number of box lunches will be available for $10.00 - first come/first serve)

1:45-3:00: PM Workshops

3:15-4:30: Closing Plenary:  Panel discussion on "The Good Childhood/The Good School:  Giving Our Children What They Deserve" followed by a children's performance

ADMISSION IS FREE

Register

Conference am and pm sessions

Parking will be available for free in the NAC Lot on 135th Street between Amsterdam and Convent Avenues.

Directions to the Campus 

Sponsoring organizations: The City College of New York's Graduate Programs in Early Childhood Education, Psychology Department, Educational Theater Program, Colin Powell Center for Leadership and Service, Auxiliary Enterprise Corporation, Office of Student Affairs, New Educator journal, School of Education and School of Education's Retired Faculty Association, and the Lillian Weber Fund.

Supporting organizations: Alliance for Childhood, American Museum of Natural History, Bank Street College of Education, Child Care Council at CUNY, Child Development Institute at Sarah Lawrence College, City College Child Development Center, Community Playthings, Democracy Inquiry Group of New England, Flashlight Press, Manhattan Country School, New York City Early Childhood Professional Development Institute of CUNY, SciPlay Center of the New York Hall of Science, and the UFT Teacher Center.