Information and Registration

Emotionally Responsive Practice as a Foundation for Learning:
Friday, December 5, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM ET
Online

A Conference on Supporting Children’s and Adults’ Well-Being in a Changing World
In times of uncertainty, children look to us—not for perfect answers, but for presence, attunement, and safety. When the world feels unpredictable, emotionally responsive practice becomes the bridge that connects children’s inner lives to their capacity to learn, grow, and flourish.

This year’s conference will bring together teachers, social workers, and all who support young children and families. Together we will reflect on:

• ERP as a foundation for both clinical and educational practice—supporting children’s mental health while guiding daily teaching and caregiving.
  
• Ways to hold children and adults through uncertainty—whether navigating global crises, natural disasters, family stress, or school transitions.
  
• Parallel process in action—caring for the caregivers as we care for children.

Through reflective dialogue and practical tools, we will honor the healing power of relationships, explore the complexity of “being with,” and renew our commitment to fostering classrooms and communities where children feel safe to learn, play, and hope.

CTLE’s and CEUs for social workers will be available.

We hope you’ll join us and bring your voice to this important conversation.

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Registration available soon.

2024 Conference Fees (2025 TBA):

• Individual Social Worker/Teacher Early Bird: $229 (register by November 15)
• Individual Social Worker/Individual Teacher: $299 (register on or after November 16)
• Group of Six (6) Early Bird: $199 each (register by November 15)
• Group of 6: $249 each (register on or after November 16)

Purchase Orders and Invoicing:

• Forward related purchase orders to cps@bankstreet.edu
• To pay an invoice by check or money order, make it payable to Bank Street College and mail to:
  Bank Street College
  Attn: Emotionally Responsive Schools Conference
  610 West 112th Street
  New York, NY 10025

Additional Information:

• Participants will receive 5 Social Work CE credits, 5 Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE) Hours, or .5 Continuing Education Unit. Please direct inquiries to Continuing Professional Studies at cps@bankstreet.edu or 212-961-4649.
• We are excited to announce that we are using the Whova App to support the conference this year. Get Whova Now
• For the online sessions, Zoom translate:
  • is available to provide live captions in over 25 languages.
  • 可提供超过 25 种语言的实时字幕。
  • está disponible para proporcionar subtítulos en vivo en más de 25 idiomas.

2025 Keynote
Emotionally Responsive Practice (ERP) as Resistance:
Reclaiming Democracy and Humanity in Schools

Amidst a global rise in authoritarianism, dehumanizing policies, and wars, how can schools serve as safe havens and sites of resistance for children? Through stories of educators who daily practice radical, transformative pedagogy, and solidarity with children, Soyoung Park will share a vision for Emotionally Responsive Practice as a source of liberation in schools. Establishing ERP as the foundation for all learning, Dr. Park will offer concrete examples showing how educators and caregivers can reclaim democracy and humanity alongside their most oppressed children. In so doing, educators and caregivers will also find liberation for themselves, reconnecting with the joy and purpose of their work with children. This talk will invite all of us to consider how practicing ERP serves as an act of resistance and social justice in today’s ever-changing world.

Soyoung Park, PhD, is a faculty member in the Teaching and Learning Department and the director of online programs in Early Childhood and Childhood Special Education at the Bank Street Graduate School of Education. Prior to Bank Street, Dr. Park was a teacher-scholar at the University of Texas at Austin and in the Stanford Teacher Education Program. She has also worked with children with disabilities and their families ages 3 to10 as an inclusion and special education teacher and interventionist. Her research focuses on transforming educational practice and policy to advance justice for young children of color with disabilities and their families. Through a range of qualitative and mixed methodologies, Dr. Park engages in community-based research partnerships with educators and families to interrogate the ways in which racism, ableism, and xenophobia manifest in educational spaces and to promote more humanizing, liberatory experiences for children, families, and teachers. Dr. Park has presented extensively on her work at a variety of regional and national conferences. Her research has been published in peer-reviewed journals, such as Teachers College Record, Urban Education Journal, Teaching and Teacher Education, Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, and Multiple Voices: Disability, Race, and Language Intersections in Special Education. Her new book, (Re)Imagining Inclusion for Children of Color with Disabilities, was published by Harvard Education Press earlier this year. Dr. Park received her doctorate from Stanford University, her master’s degree from Manhattanville College, and her bachelor degree from Brown University.