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1 9 9 0 | k n o x v i l l e
Amos Hatch and Richard Wisniewski of the University of Tennessee, organized a conference called "Qualitative Research in Early Childhood Education." There were approximately 30 presenters, and another 30 people or so in attendance. The topic and format of the conference proved to be so stimulating and satisfying that many of us in attendance wished the experience could be repeated someday, someplace. Future RECErs at the Knoxville conference included (in addition to Amos Hatch) Daniel Walsh, and Joe Tobin. |
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1 9 9 1 | m a d i s o n
Mimi Bloch, of the University of Wisconsin, and a group of her past and current doctoral students, organized the first "Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Educational Research and Practice" conference. The organizing group included Chelsea Bailey, Jan Jispon, Shirley Kessler, Mary Hauser, Daniel Walsh, and Susan Adler. The conference, which drew 80 people, was so successful that we agreed to do it again someplace the next year. (link to report on first conference). At this point, the conference was drawing mostly from the Midwest, with contingents from University of Illinois (Daniel Walsh, Bud Spodek, Deb Ceglowski, and Robin Leavitt, University of Michigan (Sally Lubeck), Kent State (Beth Blue Swadener, Roosevelt (Shirley Kessler and Nancy Nordmann), National-Louis, Western Michigan, and Carroll College (Mary Hauser). |
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1 9 9 2 | c h i c a g o
The conference moved to Chicago, with sponsorship from University of Illinois-Chicago, National-Louis, and Roosevelt. The planning committee included Bill Ayers, Chelsea Bailey, Mimi Bloch, Mary Hauser, Jan Jipson, Shirley Kessler, Mari Koerner, Michael O'Loughlin, Beth Blue Swadener, Joe Tobin, and Daniel Walsh. The word "theory" was added to the title ("Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Education: Research, Theory, and Practice"). The conference theme was "Reclaiming the Progressive Agenda." Ohio State made its first appearance, in the persons of David Fernie and Rebecca Kantor, Wayne State, (Navaz Bhavnagri), Minnesota-Duluth (Betsy Quintero), Northern Iowa (Linda Fitzgerald) and St. Cloud State (Jeffrey Tabakin). Non-Westerners began to show up in bigger numbers--Michael O'Loughlin from Hofstra, Becky New and Bruce Mallory from New Hampshire, Leigh O'Brien from Nazareth College, Jonathon Silin from Bank Street, and Joe Tobin, Rich Johnson, and Donna Grace from Hawaii (who win the prize for traveling the farthest to get to the conference). For the second year in a row, DAP remained a hot topic for reconceptualizing critique. Sue Bradekamp (of NAEYC) showed up to defend the "Green Book" and try to understand and eventually incorporate our criticisms. |
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1 9 9 3 | a n n
+a r b o r
Sally Lubeck played host and Mary Hauser, Michael O'Loughlin, and Jonathon Silin were the program committee for the third "Reconceptualizing" conference. New blood from new locations once more was added, including Nancy Melzoff from Williamette, Sue Grieshaber and Gail Halliwell from Queensland Institute of Technology, Glenda McNaugton from Melbourne, Vi McLean from Arizona State West and Margaret Clyde (both Aussies), Lisa Goldstein from Stanford, Valerie Polakow (Eastern Michigan), Tina Lozano and Jan Jipson from Sonoma State, and Rick Meyer and colleagues from Nebreska. The East Coast delegation continued to grow, with Celia Genishi and Rebecca Fassler from Teachers College, and a big Bank Street group. Qualitative research methods, feminist and gay perspectives, and, especially, poverty and advocacy are the major conference concerns. Tensions this year (as in previous years) included the balance of program emphasis on research and theory versus social justice and political action. |
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1 9 9 4 | d u r h a m [ n h ]
We took a chance of alienating our Midwest base by heading East. Becky New and Bruce Mallory, of University of New Hampshire were the host committee; Robin Leavitt and Jonathan Silin took the lead on the program. Newcomers who would become conference regulars included Gaile Canella of Texas A&M, Leslie Williams and Sharon Ryan of Teachers College, and Judith Bernhard of Ryerson Polytechnic (in Canada). Poverty continued as a major conference theme. New themes included full inclusion of children with disabilities, sexuality, and international/cross-cultural perspectives. Controversies included the question of whether the conference call, which included phrases such as "queer theory" and "performance studies," served to uninvite/alienate people who see themselves as more in the middle than on the radical edges of the field of early childhood education. Should the conference reflect the full range of opinion in early childhood education, or should it welcome only those who are pursuing critical, progressive, and cutting-edge perspectives? |
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1 9 9 5 | s a n t a+r o s a
Having moved East the year before, the concensus was to go West. The peripatetic Jan Jipson (who was back in the Midwest at Carroll College by the time the conference occured) joined her old colleagues at Sonoma State as conference hosts. Rich Johnson of Hawaii was the program chair. Newcomers destined to return included Larry Prochner of Concordia (Canada), Kerri-Ann Hewett and Julie Kaomea Thirugnanum of Hawaii, Kim Whaley of Ohio State, Mary Gonzalez-Mena of Napa Valley College, Pat Monighan-Nourot of Sonoma State, Stuart Reifel of Texas, and Linda Levine of Bank Street. Key themes included critiques of the dominance of developmental theories in ECE and post-colonial and Marxist perspectives on the field. The move to the West Coast, like the move to New England the year before, diversified the conference membership without reducing overall numbers. As usual, we drew around 90 people, this time with more from the Pacific Rim, but still with a good showing from the Midwest and East Coast. |
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1 9 9 6 | m a d i s o n
We returned to our roots, with a second Reconceptualizing Conference in Madison. Mimi Bloch again was host chair. Rich Johnson once again headed up the program committee. Newcomers included Cary Buzzelli of Indiana, Claudia Burns of Wisconsin, Glen DeVoogd of Houston, and Mindy Ochsner and Mary Malter of Teachers College. Betsy Cahill and Rachel Thielheimer, who have been to the conference before, this time came as University of New Mexico faculty. The New York (Bank Street/Teachers College) delegation was once again large, but it was the big Hawaiian and Austalian numbers which were most striking and surprising, considering the conference' Midwestern American origins and location). Key themes included disability and inclusion, representation (of children and childhood), resistance (of children to adults, practitioners to various forms of authority, and of Reconceptualizers to DAP, Reggio, and other popular movements) and identity (cultural, professional, gendered). Meeting controversy: Does the use of post-structural theory and language in our presentations work to discourage practitioners and other ECErs who are not already familiar with the terms and concepts? This debate reflected an even more fundamental issue: Should our conference be thought of as a place for scholars and practitioners to meet, or is it at heart an academic meeting (albeit one with a difference)? |
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1 9 9 7 / 9 8 | h o n o l u l u
Hawaii was rewarded for years of perfect attendance by getting to host the conference. To take advantage of the opportunity for Mainlanders to escape winter weather, the conference was held in January. In keeping with the logic of the move to the middle of the Pacific, participation was encouraged from Asia and the Pacific. First time attendees included delegations from New Zealand (Waikato), Hong Kong (Institute of Education) and New Mexico State. Gender and the body, politics of culture, and the workings of colonialism were major conference themes, with a highlight being a Maori chant in response to the native Hawaiian presentations. |
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