Virtual Event: Special Rebroadcast of the 2026 LEARN Research/Science Plenary Seeing What Matters: Rethinking Development in Complex Times

**Live Attendance Required to earn CEUs** (complete all requirements within 30 days of event). 

Health and Development Risk and Protective Factors: how and why multiple factors—including community, economic, political, and cultural influences—support or impede healthy development and the quality of relationships; and ways to work with families to identify strengths and use them as resources to reinforce protective factors, help manage challenges, and reduce risks

Special Rebroadcast of the 2026 LEARN Research/Science Plenary

Seeing What Matters: Rethinking Development in Complex Times

November 19, 2026, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM ET

Special Member Exclusive follow-on discussion, 3:00 PM - 3:30 PM ET

What if the challenge is not only what we are seeing in our work, but how we are making sense of it?

Children’s development unfolds within interacting family, community, cultural, and systems contexts. These influences are not always immediately visible, making it difficult for early childhood professionals to interpret what is happening and determine how best to respond.

In this special rebroadcast of the 2026 LEARN Research/Science Plenary, renowned developmental psychologist Dr. Cynthia García Coll draws on decades of research to offer an integrative lens for understanding development in complex times. She invites participants to look beyond first impressions, recognize the multiple influences shaping children’s experiences, and examine how our own ways of interpreting development affect the decisions we make.

Participants will leave better prepared to make sense of complexity, apply a research-informed perspective to familiar situations, and respond more thoughtfully in their own professional roles.

Learner objectives: As a result of participating in this event, learners will be able to… 

• Identify at least two factors that influence early childhood development across multiple, interacting contexts (e.g., family, community, systems).
• Select examples of how an integrative, research-informed perspective can support more accurate interpretation of children’s development in complex contexts.

Member Exclusive w/ZERO TO THREE, 3:00 PM - 3:30 PM ET

Following the plenary rebroadcast, ZERO TO THREE members are invited to stay with VME host Katrina Macasaet for an additional 30-minute Parallel Processing conversation. Together, members will reflect on what came into focus, examine how context shapes what we notice and how we interpret it, and consider what the plenary may mean for their own practice. This members-only experience offers space to think alongside colleagues, deepen the learning, and identify one insight to carry forward into work with young children and families.