Conference in Tromsø: International research in early childhood education

UiT The Arctic University of Norway is happy to announce the conference IRECE 2022: Diversity in early childhood education – global and local Arctic perspectives.

Beina til et barn som har på seg regnbukse og gummistøvler.
Welcome to an international conference for everyone working on early childhood education. Foto: Mostphotos
Publisert: 25.10.21 13:40 Oppdatert: 25.10.21 13:40
Helse og velferd Pedagogikk

Focus of the conference

The aims for the conference are to discuss and reflect upon contemporary tensions in the global early childhood field. Our vision for early childhood education is to transform life experiences and memories into imagining and realizing sustainable futures. Doing ‘real things’ requires play and imagination. In play we transform work, language practices and social interactions. Doing ‘real things’ demands the ability to imagine better solutions to problems and opportunity to act upon them.

Children’s participation in everyday life and work provide them with meaning as well as social and practical skills and values. Practices and skills pass backwards and forwards between generations and across cultures. We need traditional knowledge, understandings and technologies to contribute to sustainable futures. Together our diverse stories and experiences provide global and local perspectives.

Important dates

7–8 February 2022: The conference takes place in Tromsø as well as online. Registration is open, and you may sign up here
30 November 2021: Deadline for submission of abstracts for paper or poster presentations. Submit your abstracts here

Keynote speakers

We are very happy to have this strong line-up of speakers:

Barbara Rogoff
UCSC Foundation Distinguished Professor of Psychology , UCSC, Santa Cruz, CA
Barbara investigates cultural aspects of children’s learning and how communities arrange for learning, and finds especially sophisticated collaboration and attention among children from Indigenous communities of the Americas.

Glykeria Fragkiadaki
Senior Research Fellow at the Faculty of Education at Monash University in Melbourne
Glykeria’s research focuses on early childhood learning and development as well as on cultural-historical theory and research methodology with particular interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics concept formation in early years.

Anders Rimpi
Sámi sound artist, composer, singer and mother tongue teacher in Lule Sámi
As a composer, Anders has worked with most stages in Sápmi and Sweden, among them Giron Sámi Teáhter, Norrlandsoperan, Hålogaland Teater (Tromsø), Regionteater Väst, and several stages in and around Gothenburg, where he lives. Working together with Joar Nango, he constructs outdoor environments in Sámi kindergartens.

Joar Nango
Sámi artist and architect
Joar is co-founder of the collective FFB working with accidental architecture in urban environments. Nango’s works explore borders between architecture, design and visual arts. Working together with Anders Rimpi, he constructs outdoor environments in Sámi kindergartens.

Tamsin Meaney
Professor in mathematics education at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences
Tamsin has worked in a number of countries in mathematics teacher education. Her research on language/culture and mathematics has been done in collaboration with a number of Indigenous communities and it is from these experiences that she has learnt to query assumptions about mathematics education.

Partners and funding

The Arctic University of Norway arranges this conference in partnership with Monash University in Australia, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, and Sámi University of Applied Sciences, Sápmi. The conference is held in collaboration with KINDknow, research centre for systemic research on diversity and sustainable futures funded by the Norwegian Research Council. IRECE 2022 is partly funded by the Norwegian Research Council.


Kortnytt fra Fakultet for humaniora, samfunnsvitenskap og lærerutdanning, Institutt for lærerutdanning og pedagogikk