ISSA hosts 2007 EECERA

ISSA hosts 2007 EECERA Conference: Early Childhood Really Matters

November 2007

In 2007 ISSA was honored to host the 17th Annual Conference of the European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA), one of the most prominent professional organizations in the field of early childhood education and development. More than 760 researchers, early childhood practitioners, policy makers, and NGO activists from Europe and around the world convened in Prague 29 August – 1 September 2007, at the international conference Exploring Vygotsky’s Ideas: Crossing Borders.

In more than 500 presentations and discussion sessions, conference participants explored the work of the renowned developmental psychologist Lev Semionovich Vygotsky (1896-1934) and the impact of his ideas on current research and early childhood education practices worldwide. The conference proceedings and more information are available at the conference website www.easyprague.cz/eecera2007/.

The event was a unique opportunity for dialogue between East and West. Although this was EECERA’s 17th Annual Conference, it was the first time the event was organized in a country of the former communist block, and the first time a large number of representatives from this region participated in the event. This is due to cooperation between EECERA and ISSA, whose members are largely made up of organizations from this region. ISSA was proud to be the host of this conference, as well as to showcase the work of its national member organizations. 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.

The granddaughter of Vygotsky, Prof. Elena Kravtsova of the Russian State University for the Humanities, L. S. Vygotsky Institute of Psychology (Russia), presented the keynote speech. Other distinguished speakers included: Prof. Elena Bodrova, Ph.D., Senior Researcher, Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL), Denver, Colorado (United States); Dr. Bert van Oers, Department Education and Curriculum, Free University Amsterdam (The Netherlands) Prof. James V. Wertsch, Marshall S. Snow Professor in Arts and Sciences, Director, McDonnell International Scholars Academy Campus (United States).

For more information, contact Eva Izsak eizsak@issa.hu.