ISSA Conference 2024 Keynote Speakers
James Cairns, M.A.
Senior Director for Strategic Engagements and Organizational Learning at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
James Cairns is Senior Director for Strategic Engagements and Organizational Learning at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. He leads Center-wide efforts focused on understanding the early childhood ecosystem and the Center’s role in it, including developing strategic collaborations and partnerships, and leading efforts to understand and measure the impact of the Center’s work.
He also continues to provide strategic guidance to the Center’s international portfolio and partnerships. Prior to joining the Center, James served as the Director of Programs at the World Conference of Religions for Peace, and as Director of the Advocacy and Action for Children Program. He holds master’s degrees in international relations and theology from Yale University and a bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard University.
Keynote Abstract
Creating supportive developmental environments: How insights from science can drive an ecosystem approach to helping children thrive
For more than two decades, the science of early brain development, the importance of the environment of relationships, and the impact of early experience – both positive and negative – have helped to drive attention, commitment, and a flourishing of policies, programs and services to address early childhood development. Today, as we continue to grapple with a complex set of interconnected factors that influence child outcomes, a growing knowledge base drawing from both deeper insights into human biology and broader perspectives of how the built and natural environment shape child health and development can drive new thinking about how systems approaches can foster the conditions necessary for young children to thrive.
Preview James Cairn's keynote
Mathias Urban, Phd
Desmond Chair of Early Childhood Education and Director of the Early Childhood Research Centre (ECRC) at Dublin City University, Ireland
Professor Mathias Urban, PhD is Desmond Chair of Early Childhood Education, and Director of the Early Childhood Research Centre (ECRC) at Dublin City University, Ireland. Mathias works on questions of integrated early childhood systems, diversity and equality, social justice, and professionalism in diverse socio-cultural contexts. He continues to be intrigued by how what one might call the colonisation of childhood in modern society has been mirrored by the colonisation of our professional field and academic discipline by external agendas, interests, and ‘idea-forces’ (a term he learned from Pedro Sotolongo).
He comes to this work with an appreciation of the self-organising power of complex systems (autopoiesis), and John Dewey’s ‘faith in the capacity of human beings for intelligent judgment and action if proper conditions are furnished’, all linked to the wonder and light in the eyes of a two-year-old and their persistent question: WHY? Taken seriously, that all renders our work profoundly political, asking fellow academics to be actors, not bystanders, in the policymaking process. The ‘ecosystem’ that he agrees it takes, needs careful consideration of its context and strategic engagement with its inequities, injustices, and vested interests.
Mathias’ ‘notable achievements’ in this regard? Probably developing the concept of ‘competent systems’ and establishing the concept in the global early childhood debate. Something less known about Mathias? The story behind his Twitter handle @froebelbanjo.
Keynote Abstract
It takes a village? Early childhood as a global common good.
According to the proverb of uncertain origin, ‘it takes a village to raise a child’. The idea of children growing up in a caring community may evoke romantic images of a lost era, at odds with the fractured reality of modern nuclear families and their relentless pace. The 'village', too, chimes with the ISSA conference theme: the complex ecosystems needed to ensure ALL children reach their full potential. Yet, this notion demands critical inspection in today's problematic global context. How might we position ourselves in ways that reflect and embrace the complexities, contradictions, and possibilities of life as we enter the second quarter of the 21st century? What makes a village in our times? How do we envisage ‘community’?
Drawing on Siegfried Bernfeld's proposition that education begins at birth, means more than schooling, and is inherently political, this keynote argues that children are most affected by a perfect storm of mutually reinforcing existential crises: climate catastrophe, loss of biodiversity, pandemics, displacement and forced migration, war and violence, poverty, erosion of democracy, and the general disastrous consequences of global capitalism and neoliberalism. In a world characterised by uncertainty, how can we overcome the 20th century certainties that still dominate our field: ‘best’ practices, ‘effective’ policies, predeterminable, ‘measurable’ outcomes, to name but a few. The presentation invites educators, advocates, and activists to engage in critical conversations about our values in practice, policy, and research, with the aim of reclaiming early childhood education for justice, equity, and sustainability.
