ARCQE Annual Conference
An interactive and educational experience.
Our 15th Annual National Child Day Conference
Why is National Child Day an important date to acknowledge & celebrate?
On November 22 and 23rd, 2024, ARCQE is hosting its 15th annual conference commemorating National Child Day- formally proclaimed by the government of Canada on March 19th, 1993, to recognize our country’s commitment to upholding the rights of children.
Attendees will share, learn, network, and have fun with interactive education experiences. This year’s event marks a significant milestone in ARCQE’s journey: the 15th annual National Child Day Conference and ARCQE’s 20th anniversary! This year’s theme, “Co-Agency,” invited attendees to share, learn, and connect through interactive sessions focused on children’s right to self-expression. Attendees learned from 14 speakers across three keynote sessions and 11 breakout sessions over two days.
This special day is celebrated annually on November 20th highlighting two historic events for children:
The adoption of the UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959, and
The adoption of the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1989
What is ARCQE’s relationship to this important day of the year & why did ARCQE choose to centre it as its annual conference event?
ARCQE was established on November 2, 2004, under the partnership of three organizations, the The Association of Early Childhood Educators of Alberta (AECEA) , Family Resource Programs Canada and the Canadian Child Care Federation.
In its early years, ARCQE supported National Child Day awareness campaigns jointly endorsed by Health Canada and the Canadian Child Care Federation. Following ARCQE’s incorporation as a registered Society in 2008, the organization felt it was vital, given its focus on professional learning, to establish an annual event that could bring the ECE community together to focus attention on the importance of Early Learning and matters affecting children. Despite being one of the most prominent days of the year spotlighting children, there was a notable absence of events occurring across the province on NCD. Given this, ARCQE saw this as an influential opportunity to build greater awareness building on partner momentum to earmark November 20th as a meaningful day to gather in honouring children!
Why is National Child Day growing increasingly important to our work as ECE’s today?
Throughout ARCQE’s long-term engagement celebrating National Child Day, many significant developments in early learning have occurred that underscore continued need to elevate rights of children:
- Provincially, Alberta has placed priority on the development of an early learning and care framework (Flight), centrally uplifting children as “mighty learners” and citizens directly aligned with the values of the Children’s Rights Charter.
- Nationally, Canada has prioritized young children as a country committing to establishing a National Child Care system.
- Globally, the Convention is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history –in force in virtually all countries of the world (196 at this time), thus providing a shared ethical and legal framework for the realization of children’s rights.
How can you commemorate National Child Day as an Early Childhood Educator?
As ARCQE prepares for this year’s NCD event, we reflect on what it means to honour children’s rights as citizens. To support this more intentionally, this year’s conference has been framed around Article 12, which focuses on the “right to expression of views” and Co-Imagining a World of Possibilities with Children as this year’s theme.
For members at ARCQE, National Child Day is more than a singular day on the calendar; it’s about a greater call to action all year long to ensure children’s voices are heard and thoughtfully elevated in all matters about or affecting them. As professionals, there are several ways you can support a collective effort on behalf of children:
- Watch for updates about this year’s NCD conference and future details about next year’s conference on our Facebook and Instagram channels as a way to engage in thoughtful discourse with local, national and international speakers & leaders!
- Learn more about children as “mighty learners” and citizens through engagement with the Exploring Early Childhood Curriculum: Play, Participation and Possibilities course and engagement with ARCQE’s Pedagogical Partner Support or various curriculum learning series as a concrete way to understand and apply concepts of social justice, democratic practice and equity thoughtfully and visibly as part of situated practice.
- Help increase awareness of the importance of Children’s Rights by wearing blue every November 20th as part of ARCQE’s “Tide of Blue” campaign. By purchasing this year’s Capsule Collection- you will be supporting a charitable donation on behalf of the early learning community to an Alberta-based children’s charity!
Together, we can make a difference!
In closing, perhaps Loris Malaguzzi, founder of the world-renowned Reggio Emilia approach, highlights the importance of children’s “right to expression of views” best as he notes:
“The Hundred Languages approach sees children as individuals who are capable of doing and communicating their unique abilities in extraordinary ways. For them the 100 languages offers a metaphor used to indicate the plethora of expressive means with which children represent and convey ideas and emotions as well as the multiple ways in which they comprehend the word.”