The Child Development Institute, part of the Children, Childhood and Education Collaborative, was established in 1987 to develop programs for early childhood and elementary school teachers, administrators, child development professionals, parents and the community at large.
More than three decades later, the Child Development Institute honors its innovative legacy of thought leadership and progressive education with regular offerings such as:
- Lectures and panels that engage the expertise of psychologists, educators, sociologists, and other professionals
- Collaboratively engaging with organizations that want to partner
- Developmental research studies
- Intensive seminars and accredited workshops for teachers
- Community Adventure Play Experiences (CAPE) for children in our surrounding communities
Fall Conference 2024
What has Happened to Childhood and Democracy? Reclaiming Progressive Pedagogy
Friday, November 15 and Saturday, November 16
There seems to be more and more focus on how fast we can get children to achieve the next milestone or move to the next stage, without enough reflection on the goals of that race. What is being lost in the process? What does it mean to be a child today? What do we conceive childhood to be and how do we keep hold of these core values?
Mission
Through its work, the Child Development Institute provides a progressive perspective on child development and education. In this perspective, the child is viewed as an individual in the social context, actively engaged in constructing knowledge through interactions with other people and the physical environment. We believe that the child's educational experience should encompass social, emotional, and imaginative aspects of life in concert with intellectual development. Further, we are concerned that schools and other institutions be developed as communities that attend to the interests and needs of children from diverse backgrounds.