Annual Conferences

ISSA’s annual conferences are organized with the aim to bring together educational professionals from all around the world and provide a forum for dialogue between East and West, as well as between practitioners, NGO representatives, researchers and policy makers. As testimonials from participants in recent ISSA conferences show, these inspirational international events provide many opportunities for professional development and for exchange of ideas both through thought-provoking keynote speeches and during interactive sessions.

ISSA is pleased to invite you to participate in its next international conference on inclusion and special education, entitled as "Embracing Inclusive Approaches for Children and Youth with Special Education Needs". The event, organized jointly with the Division of International Special Education and Services (DISES), the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and the Center for Education Initiatives (CEI), will take place in Riga, Latvia 11-14 July, 2010. Click here to learn more about the event.

ISSA is pleased to host the Early Years strand at the conference. For more information about the Early Years strand, please click here.

Past ISSA Conferences

The most recent ISSA conference, Seeds of Change: Effective Investments in Early Childhood for Enduring Social Progress, was held in Bucharest, Romania 14-17 October 2009. More than 260 participants from 50 countries gathered together to explore effective investments in early years programs along with integrated approaches to early childhood development (ECD) as the strongest foundation for well-being and success throughout life. The event was co-hosted by the Center for Education and Professional Development, Romania, under the patronage of the President of Romania, H. E. Traian Basescu. The conference was 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 also marked the celebration of ISSA's 10th Anniversary. Special attention was devoted to ISSA's growing network of members and partners from the region and from around the globe, especially noting 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.

ISSA welcomed to the conference a diverse roster of distinguished keynote speakers whose inspirational speeches addressed the issue of early years education from many different angles: James J. Heckman, (via video), Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor in Economics; Director of the Economics Research Center, Department of Economics; and Director of the Center for Social Program Evaluation, Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies and The College at University of Chicago (USA); Peter Moss, Professor of Early Childhood Provision, Institute of Education, University of London (UK); Nathan A. Fox, Distinguished Professor, Department of Human Development, University of Maryland (USA); John Bennett, Visiting Research Fellow, Thomas Coram Research Unit, Institute of Education; Former UNESCO and OECD early childhood policy analyst (France); Stuart Shanker, D Phil (Oxon), Director, the Milton & Ethel Harris Research Initiative, Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy, Pscychology, & Education; Director, The Canada-Mexico-Cuba Research Initiative; Co-Director, The Council of Human Development; Past President, The Council of Early Childhood Development (USA); Ene Tomberg, Deputy Head of Tallinn City Government Social Welfare and Health Board; Board Member of the Estonian Union for Child Welfare; Board Member, Eurochild (Estonia); and Emily Vargas-Baron, Director, The Rise Institute (USA).

ISSA also welcomed the following Plenary Speakers: Tunde Kovac Cerovic, State Secretary, Ministry of Education of the Government of the Republic of Serbia; Aleksandra Jovic, ECD Specialist, UNICEF (Serbia); Mihaela Ionescu, Consultant, Early Learning and Development Standards Program, UNICEF (Romania); Aurora Ailincai, Project Manager,DGIV - Directorate of Education and Languages, Council of Europe (France).

ISSA 10th Anniversary Slideshow

Photo Slide Show 2009 ISSA Conference

Click here to view powerpoint presentations of keynote and plenary speakers on the conference website

Click here to view the video recording of Prof. Heckman’s speeches at the Conference and at the ECD Policy Roundtable

Message from the President of Romania, Traian Basescu, to the 2009 ISSA Conference:
- Romanian
- English

Prior to the 2009 ISSA Conference ISSA hosted ECD Policy Roundtable co-organized with the Romanian Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation

The 2008 Conference, Active Citizenship: Democratic Practices in Education – From Socially Responsive Classrooms to Socially Responsible Societies, which took place in Budapest, Hungary in October 2008, built on the tradition of inclusion and networking, and brought together 350 representatives of ISSA’s member NGOs, international organizations and agencies, government representatives, donors, and relevant networks, such as OSI, UNICEF, the World Forum Foundation, Children in Europe, the Roma Education Fund, Early Years, the Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Education, DECET, Save the Children, ACEI, OMEP, ACEV, Civitas, and Aflatoun, among many others. ISSA was thrilled to host such prestigious organizations and to be able to provide a forum for dialogue to reinforce international efforts to provide quality education for all children.

Photo Slide Show 2008 ISSA Conference

Highlights from the 2008 ISSA Conference

In 2007, ISSA was proud to be the host of the 17th Annual EECERA Conference, Exploring Vygotsky’s Ideas: Crossing Borders in Prague, Czech Republic – an event attended by more than 760 participants. The inclusion of participants from Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union made the conference the largest event in the history of EECERA’s conferences.

Click here to learn about previous ISSA Conferences

Other Professional Events

In addition to the Annual Conferences, ISSA also organizes professional development events for educational professionals. These smaller scale events are taylor-made events, which provide cutting-edge knowledge for the international ISSA network.

Upcoming Professional Events:
Please check back soon for updates.

Select Past Professional Events:
Early Childhood Development: CEE/CIS Study Tour to the UK - II 21-25 April 2008

Core Member Events

28-30 September 2009 – Ljubljana, Slovenia

Partner Events

ISSA is pleased to share information about the upcoming events of our partner organizations. (listed chronologically)

• NAEYC Annual Conference and Expo 2009
  18-21 November 2009 – Washington, DC, United States

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