2023 Early Childhood Education Conference
Friday, & Saturday, April 21st - 22nd, 2023
The 44th Annual Early Childhood Education Conference is back on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Stout!
Friday Keynote
Early Experiences Elevate Everything: Early Brain and Child Development and the Future of Society
Dr. Dipesh Navsaria will discuss the critical importance of the first thousand days of life and the key role human relationships and interactions play in that period. The concepts of toxic stress and how early adversity leads to lifelong issues will be reviewed, with practical examples and a discussion of research that highlights these areas. Broad policy and programmatic principles that may help address the issue will also be discussed, providing a practical framework for those who work with children and families
Dipesh Navsaria, MPH, MSLIS, MD, Pediatrician and Associate Professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Dr. Dipesh is a pediatrician working in the public interest. He blends the roles of physician, occasional children's librarian, educator, public health professional, and child health advocate. With graduate degrees in public health, children’s librarianship, physician assistant studies, and medicine, he brings a unique combination of interests and experience together.
Saturday Keynote
Understanding Empathy Through the Arts
Returning to the stage with another live-doodle presentation, Dr. Tami Rae Weiss captivates audiences with her humorous visual stories and creative strategies for teachers to cultivate empathy with young learners. Specifically, Weiss emphasizes an untaught literacy in schools which is of most importance: aesthetic literacy, which she describes as the ability to read human emotion. Dr. Weiss's advice for improving schools today includes, “Focus less on reading words and more on reading people." "True education," according to Weiss, "is the ability to understand another human being."
Dr. Tami Rae Weiss, Assistant Professor in the College of Arts and Human Sciences at the University of Wisconsin - Stout. She is also the Executive Director of A.I.M. - Arts Integration Menomonie, based in the Art Education program at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Partnering with the School District of the Menomonie Area, UW-Stout strives to impact teacher retention through arts integration.