Teaching Kindergarten Conference: Where Did the Garden Go?

Dr. Beverly Falk

“Teaching the Way Children Learn: Finding Courage, Hope, and Joy in Kindergarten Classrooms”

In the last few decades, knowledge of how young children learn has been strengthened by findings from neuroscience and developmental research. Yet, contemporary teaching policies and practices do not support what is known—that young children have natural curiosity and creativity and are born literally “wired to learn” through play and active involvement with materials and relationships.  Dr. Falk’s presentation will examine how educators can negotiate the challenges presented by our current context to support young children’s optimal development and learning.  Strategies will be shared for what educators can do to ensure that teaching the way children learn best endures, with examples of the courage, hope, and joy found in diverse kindergarten classrooms.

Dr. Beverly Falk is professor and director emerita of the Graduate Programs in Early Childhood Education at The School of Education, The City College of New York. She is the director of the High Quality Early Learning Project, an online collection of videos and related resources that showcase the practices and pedagogies of high-quality early childhood education. Dr. Falk has served as classroom teacher, childcare center director, public school founder and director, district administrator, researcher, policy advocate, and consultant—at the school, district, state, and national level. The founding editor of The New Educator, a quarterly, peer-reviewed journal about educator preparation, Dr. Falk is the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships, as well as the author of many publications. Throughout her career, her work has focused on supporting understandings about how children learn, with the goal of ensuring that our youngest, most vulnerable citizens—especially those in historically underserved, culturally/linguistically diverse urban communities—have access to high-quality learning opportunities.

2026 registration details coming soon!

2026 On-Site Schedule of Events

Friday, March 13, 2026

Saturday, March 14, 2026

Online Conference Schedule

Friday, March 13, 2026

Saturday, March 14, 2026

Workshops will be announced closer to the conference date.

Interested in presenting at the conference? Complete the Call for Proposals.

Participants at Bank Street College will select one Round Table on Saturday Morning.

Reframing Kindergarten: Creating Boy-Friendly Early Learning Spaces
Research highlights a challenging dynamic in early education: boys, across racial and ethnic groups, are often perceived as less mature than their girl counterparts when entering kindergarten. This perception can lead to a lag in their academic and social performance. While some scholars suggest delayed entry for boys, this perspective often overlooks a critical issue-which is the structural feminization of kindergarten and early schooling spaces. This environment can inadvertently marginalize boys and contribute to their academic struggles. This Roundtable moves beyond surface-level solutions to explore how the design and pedagogy of early learning environments impact young boys. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the institutional structures at play and learn concrete strategies to make their classrooms more equitable and supportive for all boys, regardless of racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Dr. Nathaniel Bryan is an associate professor of early childhood education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Texas-Austin. Dr. Bryan is the author of Toward a BlackboyCrit Pedagogy: Black boys, Male Teachers, and Early Childhood Classroom Practices (Routledge Press, 2021). He is the recipient of the 2024 Early Career Award from the American Educational Research Association’s Division K Teaching and Teacher Education, and a recent recipient of the Foundation for Child Development grant focusing on the mathematical success of Black boys in early childhood education. He earned a BA in French from the University of South Carolina-Columbia, an MEd in Gifted Education and Early Childhood Education from Columbia College, and PhD in Early Childhood Education from the University of South Carolina-Columbia.

Teaching the Way Children Learn
Knowledge of how young children learn has been strengthened in the last few decades by findings from neuroscience and developmental research.  Yet contemporary teaching policies and practices do not support what is known – that young children learn through play/active involvement with materials and relationships.   This presentation will examine how educators can negotiate the challenges presented by our current context to support young children’s optimal development and learning.  Strategies will be shared for what educators can do to ensure that teaching the way children learn endures, with examples of courage and hope from diverse kindergarten classrooms.   

Beverly Falk is Professor and Director Emerita of the Graduate Programs in Early Childhood Education at The School of Education, The City College of New York.  She is also Director of the High Quality Early Learning Project, an online collection of videos and related resources that showcase the practices and pedagogies of high quality early childhood education. Dr. Falk has served in a variety of educational roles: classroom teacher, childcare center director, public school founder and director, district administrator, researcher, policy advocate, and consultant – at the school, district, state, and national level.  The founding editor of The New Educator, a quarterly peer-reviewed journal about educator preparation, Dr. Falk is the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships as well as the author of many publications.  Throughout her career, Dr. Falk’s work has focused on supporting understandings about how children learn so as to ensure that our youngest, most vulnerable citizens — especially those in historically underserved, culturally/linguistically diverse urban communities — have access to high quality learning opportunities. 

AI and Equity in Kindergarten
AI is everywhere, including in our Kindergarten classrooms. As school districts and teachers’ unions push for greater integration of AI in instruction and curriculum, how can we ensure that AI is being used to advance equity? In this roundtable, participants will learn about how AI can be leveraged to ethically promote anti-racist, anti-ableist pedagogy. Participants will also collectively explore their questions about and experiences with AI with the aim of investigating the potential of AI to bring about social justice in the Kindergarten classroom.

Dr. Soyoung Park is a faculty member and the Director of Online Programs in Early Childhood and Childhood Special Education at the Bank Street Graduate School of Education. A former special education and inclusion teacher, Dr. Park’s research focuses on transforming schools to be more accessible, inclusive, and socially just for children of color with disabilities and their families. She has published her work in numerous peer-reviewed journals and presented in conferences nationwide. Dr. Park’s new book (Re)Imagining Inclusion for Children of Color with Disabilities was released in 2025 by Harvard Education Press.