We invite participants to submit theoretical, empirical, or practice-based abstracts for early childhood education and care related topics for paper presentations for the following thematic strands:

1. Access: Equitable access to ECEC for all young children from 0-6 years of age with a concerted focus on the most marginalized and vulnerable groups: children with disabilities, children living in rural and remote areas, ethnic minority children, those facing economic hardship, children in transient situations and children left behind.

a. Policy and Governance: Policies, regulations, strategies and funding mechanisms that facilitate or hinder access to quality ECEC for specific vulnerable groups.

b. Service Delivery: Service delivery modalities and partnerships to ensure improved access, inclusion, and quality of ECEC services, with a particular focus on children underprivileged or at risk.

c. M&E: Monitoring and evaluation systems to effectively track the progress and identify problems for timely policy and programme interventions. 

2. Curriculum: Curriculum development, revision, implementation and assessment to support inclusion in ECEC.

a. Curriculum Development/Revision: Exploring curriculum development from both local and international viewpoints to reflect on diverse perspectives and experiences that promote inclusion.

b. Curriculum Implementation: Inclusive approaches, practices, and developmental and educational resources that enable individualized support for learning and development to accommodate diverse backgrounds and abilities within the same learning environment (e.g., innovative and assistive technologies for play and learning for children with special needs, bilingual educational approaches to promote inclusion of ethnic minority children, etc.)

c. Assessment: Utilizing inclusive and diversity-sensitive assessment tools to measure the progress of individual children.

3. Professional Development: Pre-service and in-service training of ECEC professionals to prioritize reflective practices responsive to diversity in all its forms, including cultural, linguistic, and individual differences.

a. Pre-service Training: Opportunities and challenges in establishing pre-service training courses that equip future ECE teachers with inclusive teaching practices, cultural competencies, and strategies tailored to support diverse learners.

b. In-service Training: Continuous professional development for existing ECE teachers with a focus on strengthening inclusive teaching practices. 

c. Bilingual Education: Preparing and supporting educators of bilingual early and preschool education and professional development opportunities for caregivers and teachers working in ethnic minority institutions/with ethnic minority children.

4. Cross-sectoral Cooperation: Implementing cross-sectoral approaches and fostering coordination to provide integrated services for young children, parents, and caregivers across education, health, and social support systems. This entails cross-sectoral coordination at both national and local levels.

a. Establishing cross-sectoral and inclusive early childhood policies and coordination mechanisms at national and sub-national levels 

b. Developing integrated services centered around the holistic needs of the child and family, including Early Intervention and Support Services, with seamless coordination between health and education sectors.

c. Encouraging collaboration and partnerships among educators, parents, caregivers, and community stakeholders to establish a robust support network for children's development.

d. Offering parenting support programs and promoting active Parent and Community Involvement, ensuring the participation of parents and caregivers in their child's learning journey.

Abstracts

The deadline for submission of conference abstracts is June 10, 2024, 18:00 Georgian time.

Conference abstracts should address the conference thematic strands and shall include the following:

• Title of the abstract
• Keywords
• Abstract (main text)

Each author can submit a maximum of 2 abstracts.

Abstracts that will be accepted for submission to the conference will no longer be subject to change after the deadline for submission of abstracts.

The Scientific Committee of the Conference will review and select the abstracts to be presented at the conference and will contact their authors no later than June 30, 2024, 18:00 (Georgian time).

Please register here to send your abstracts: registration

Presentations

Authors of selected abstracts should prepare presentations in PowerPoint or other presentation program. Detailed instructions for submitting presentations will be provided to the authors of the selected abstracts.

The deadline for presenting the conference presentations is September 5, 2024 18:00 (Georgian time). Conference presentations should be sent to the Conference Organizing Committee at the following e-mail: ecec@bsu.edu.ge The title of the e-mail must indicate: "Presentation - Early Education and Care Conference".

Articles (optional)

The deadline for submission of full papers for the conference is October 31, 2024, 18:00 (Georgian time). Final conference articles can be sent to the Conference Organizing Committee at the following email: ecec@bsu.edu.ge The title of the e-mail must indicate: "Article – Early Childhood Education and Care Conference".

Articles submitted to the conference will be published as conference proceedings.