Pre-Conference Professional Development Events will run from April 9-11, 2019, including an ECEBC Leadership Day on Thursday, April 11 and a forum on Dialogues on Pedagogical Documentation including a keynote address by Dr. Affrica Taylor of the University of Canberra. Nobody’s Perfect Parenting Program facilitator training will take place April 8-11. Other training opportunities on April 10-11 include:

• Best Choices: the Ethical Journey

• Let’s Talk (formerly known as LTAT) Teacher training

• Infant/Toddler Workshop with Zsusa Libertiny of the Pikler Institue

• ECE Post-Secondary Instructor networking session

• Inspired Practice Studio

The two keynote speakers for the main conference will be:

• Cindy Blackstock “Spirit Bear’s Plan for Reconciliation and Jordan’s Principle”: Cindy is the Executive Director, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, Professor, School of Social Work, McGill University. A member of the Gitksan First Nation, Cindy has 25 years of social work experience in child protection and Indigenous children’s rights. Her promotion of culturally based equity for First Nations children and families and engaging children in reconciliation has been recognized by the Nobel Women’s Initiative, the Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, Frontline Defenders and many others.

• Tove Mogstad Slinde “Learning from Norway”: Tove is a Senior Adviser in the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research in the Department of Kindergartens and Schools. From 2012 to 2018 she has been Chair of the Network on Early Childhood Education Care in OECD. Norway has a universal system of early learning and child care – for all children and families. How did Norway do it? What does it look like today? What have the challenges been? And what lessons can Canada learn?

Sessions will be available on Indigenous Learning and Knowing, hosted by the BC Aboriginal Child Care Society, and including hands-on experiential teachings with Elders, storytellers, and BC Aboriginal Child Care Society staff.

The Plenary Session on Saturday, April 13, will be on “Looking Back on What’s Been Done, Going Forward to Achieve a Canada-Wide Child Care System for All: What the Child Care Movement is Asking for in 2019”

For more conference details, go to www.ecebc.ca A full conference brochure is available at http://www.ecebc.ca/events/files/conference%202019/2019-conference-guide-pr9.pdf