Michel Vandenbroeck | key note speakers

Internetwork Conference

Ljubljana, Slovenia,
September 28^th-30^th, 2009

Venue: Faculty of Education
Kardeljeva ploščad 16
1000 Ljubljana

http://internetwork.up.pt

Deadline for conference registration and presentation proposals
has been prolonged till
July of 15th, 2009

Michel Vandenbroeck
Vakgroep Sociale Agogiek
Department of Social Welfare Studies
UGent, Dunantlaan 2, B-9000 Gent

CV Summary

Dr. Michel Vandenbroeck is senior researcher at the Department of Social Welfare Studies of the Ghent University (Belgium), where he teaches Early Childhood Care and Education, Family Pedagogy and Professionalization of Social Work. He is president of the VBJK – Research and Resource Centre for Early Childhood Care and Education and one of the co-founders of the European DECET network (Diversity in Early Childhood Education and Training). His main areas of interest are diversity and social inclusion in early childhood education, parent support programmes and family policies. He is a member of the editorial board of the European Early Childhood Education Research Journal and, as such, guest editor of a Themed Monograph of this Journal on “Children’s and Parents’ Perspectives on Diversity”. Together with Ileana Seda-Santana (University of Mexico), he co-chairs an international learning group on programme development in early childhood education in ethnic segregated areas, as part of the Joint Learning Initiative on Children and Ethnic Diversity.

Presentation: DIVERSITY, INCLUSION, AND THE VALUES OF DEMOCRACY: BUILDING TEACHERS’ COMPETENCES FOR INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION

Respect for diversity and social inclusion in the foundation stage
Recent cross-national studies (e.g. PISA), have shown that in many countries the educational system may be reproducing societal inequalities. But qualitative longitudinal research (e.g. EPPE) also shows that early childhood education can make a difference, if certain quality conditions are met. One of the more salient conditions is how the education of the youngest children takes into account the social, cultural and ethnic diversity of its populations. This calls for a child-centred, family-centred and community-centred approach, necessary for educational and social reasons, but also for mere economic reasons in affluent countries and beyond.