On June 15 to 17, Bank Street Graduate School of Education held its annual Infancy Institute, a three-day conference that brought together teachers, caregivers, early intervention specialists, and others from across the country—from as close as Bank Street’s Family Center to as far away as Hawaii—to reflect on their practice and learn new tools for working with young children.
This year’s theme, “Shifting from Developmentally Appropriate to Developmentally Meaningful Practice,” pushed attendees to question long-held assumptions about what counts as standard or appropriate care, and to instead center what actually serves the specific children and families in front of them.
Melina Gac Levin delivered a keynote entitled “Culture on the Table: Cultural Self-Awareness as Professional Practice.” The session turned attention inward, moving beyond understanding others to focus on how attendees’ own cultural narratives and assumptions shape what they notice, value, and consider developmentally appropriate. Through storytelling, guided reflection, and interactive exercises, participants examined how systems of power shape which caregiving practices get labeled “standard” and learned ways to approach families with curiosity instead of judgment. Attendees left with practical tools for navigating cultural differences, strengthening partnerships, and supporting families in ways that honor their dignity, complexity, and agency.
The conference also featured a talk entitled “What If We Treated Children as Change Agents?” led by Nat Nadha Vikitsreth, LCSW, a nationally award-winning decolonized therapist, facilitator, and trans rights activist who hosts the Come Back to Care podcast. Drawing on her recent book, Raising Change Agents: Practicing Social Justice in Everyday Parenting (Jossey-Bass, 2026), Vikitsreth spotlighted creative, concrete ways caregivers can support children’s development by treating everyday routines like mealtime, play, and discipline as chances to model fairness and justice.
Attendees also chose from workshop sessions taught by early childhood development experts, including Bank Street faculty and staff in the Infant and Family Development and Early Intervention Program. Margie Brickley, GSE ’89, Program Director, Course Instructor, and Supervised Fieldwork Advisor, led a session on creating developmentally meaningful practice with infants, toddlers, and families. Yasmin Dorrian, GSE ‘13, Advisor and Course Instructor, facilitated a workshop on rupture and repair, guiding participants through the complexity of relationships in early childhood settings. Gilbert Foley, Adjunct Course Instructor and an experienced clinical psychologist, connected sensory processing and mental health and discussed the implications for practice. Carmen Colón, Course Instructor and Supervised Fieldwork Advisor, led a bilingual session, Aprendiendo a lo largo del día con bebés y niños pequeños, addressing how infants and young children learn throughout the day.
After the keynote and book talk, attendees joined facilitated processing groups—a conference feature introduced in 2025 that provides participants a space to explore how to bring each presentation’s content into their own environments, programs, and communities.
Brickley said, “Every year, I watch practitioners leave this conference with something they didn’t have before—a new way of seeing the families in front of them. This year, I heard from so many attendees that the shift toward developmentally meaningful practice gave them permission to trust what they already knew about the children in their care.”
The Infancy Institute, founded in 1987, has educated thousands of infant and toddler specialists from around the world. With its emphasis on emotionally responsive, relationship-based practice, and culturally relevant caregiving, the conference remains a vital space for learning, reflection, and growth.
Learn more about the Infancy Institute or explore Bank Street’s graduate programs for working with infants and families.