The Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study
2025-2026 | 100 Years of the Institute of Child Study
The Future of Education Panel recording is now available for your viewing.
Make sure to sign up for ICSconnects.ca to stay up to date on all of the centennial celebrations!
Welcome to the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study (JICS)
It is an honour to welcome you to the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study, a place where children inspire discovery, educators shape the future, and research transforms practice.
For a century, JICS has been recognized for bringing together child development research, innovative teaching, and meaningful partnerships with families and communities. Our Laboratory School, graduate teacher education programs, and internationally recognized research create an environment where new ideas are developed, tested, and translated into better learning experiences for children. Here, research does not stay in journals, and practice does not happen in isolation: questions from the classroom inspire research, research informs teaching, and together they create knowledge that benefits children, educators, families, and society.
As Director, I am committed to building on this legacy while embracing new opportunities. We are entering a period of profound change in education, driven by advances in developmental science, learning technologies, and artificial intelligence. At JICS, we believe these innovations must always serve children, not the other way around. Our work will remain grounded in rigorous research, guided by ethics and equity, and strengthened by collaboration across disciplines and communities.
Whether you are a student, researcher, educator, family member, alumnus, or community partner, you are an important part of the JICS community. Every child brings unique strengths, every educator has the power to make a lasting difference, and every partnership expands what we can accomplish together. I look forward to working alongside our faculty, staff, students, Lab School families, alumni, and partners to advance JICS as a global leader in child study, teacher education, and educational innovation—and to ensure that every child is seen, understood, and empowered to thrive.
Welcome to JICS. I look forward to the journey ahead.
Dr. Eunice Eunhee Jang
Director
Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study
Three Pillars of JICS
JICS is Canada’s most integrated and dynamic institution committed to children’s education and well-being. The institute is home to exemplary graduate programs, an award-winning laboratory school, and a dynamic centre for research.
OISE Graduate Programs
Offered through OISE's Department of Applied Psychology & Human Development (APHD).
Elementary Laboratory School
The Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study (JICS) Laboratory School is an elementary school for children preschool to Grade 6 fostering evidence-informed educational excellence.
Centre for Research
The Dr. R.G.N. Laidlaw Centre is a multi-disciplinary research centre internationally recognized for leading research in child development.
Professional Development Programs Housed at JICS
JICS is home to Natural Curiosity and The Robertson Program – two groundbreaking programs that support educators across Ontario and Canada. Natural Curiosity (NC) is an innovative environmental and land-based inquiry program that helps teachers address a critical link between environmental and Indigenous education. The Robertson Program for Inquiry-based Teaching in Mathematics and Science creates, demonstrates, and disseminates inquiry-based teaching models for mathematics and science by focusing on teacher and student inquiry.
