Bright Horizons Joins Early Childhood Educators From Around the Globe at NAEYC Annual Conference
November 22, 2022 – The Bright Horizons education and development team recently joined early childhood educators from around the globe at the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Conference in Washington, D.C. The annual conference gathers leaders in early childhood education to connect, collaborate, and learn together.
NAEYC is a professional membership organization that works to promote high-quality early learning for all young children, birth through age 8, by connecting early childhood practice, policy, and research. The association comprises nearly 60,000 individual members of the early childhood community and 52 Affiliates, all committed to delivering on the promise of high-quality early learning.
“We look forward to attending and sponsoring NAEYC’s conference every year,” said Rachel Robertson, VP of Education and Development at Bright Horizons. “It is so important for thought leaders, faculty, policy makers, researchers, and early educators to have a place to come together to continue to elevate the field and offer solutions to face the current challenges in today’s world.”
During the conference, Bright Horizons’ own Rachel Robertson, VP of Education and Development, Heather Ferillo, Senior Director of Communications Partnerships, Kelly Hansinger, Senior Director of Education Leadership and Learning, Carol Howard, Director of Educational Inclusion and Quality, Bhakti Bhatt, Senior Professional Development Specialist, and Tricia Conver, Senior Educational Quality Partner, and Gregg Millien, Instructional Coach, participated as panelists in breakout sessions.
Rachel’s session ‘Creating Places for Childhood – Combining Principles from Design and Early Education Experts to Create Spaces for Wonder and Learning’, included guest experts, Mike Lindstrom, architect, and Sandra Duncan, author and designer. Together, they shared perspectives from their unique areas of expertise and the principles behind Bright Horizons’ Discovery Driven Learning ™ learner-centered environments cornerstone. They explored color, texture, and the intersection of early child pedagogy and emotions in classroom spaces. Session attendees also participated in an interactive experience applying these principles to model spaces as they created a place that is inclusive, joyful, playful and invites curiosity and wonder.
During Heather, Carol, and Kelly’s session ‘Family Partnerships with Heart: Building an Inclusive Community’, panelists discussed how joyful, playful and inclusive communities are a cornerstone of a high quality early education classroom, and teachers' relationships with families are a key element in creating authentic and welcoming environments.
At Bhakti, Tricia, and Gregg’s session ‘Developing a game plan! Shifting the culture of professional development through coaching’, panelists examined the power that is coaching and shared steps and processes with attendees for improving the professional competencies of educators through individualized, reflective, strength-based coaching.
To learn more about NAEYC, visit here.