Embedding information and communication technologies in the early childhood classroom

New technologies and the pace of change in modern society mean changes for classroom teaching and learning. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) feature in everyday life and provide ample opportunities for enhancing classroom programs. This article outlines how ICTs complement curriculum implementation in one year two classroom. It suggests practical strategies demonstrating how teachers can make ICTs work for them and progressively teach children how to make ICTs work for them.

A comparative study of early childhood curriculum documents focused on education for sustainability in South Korea and Australia

This thesis is about a comparative study of early childhood education (ECE) curriculum documents focused on education for sustainability (EfS) in South Korea and Australia. It examined how the national ECE curriculum documents in two culturally different contexts align with contemporary concepts of sustainability and activist early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) principles. Drawing on systems theory, Korean and Australian ECE curriculum documents were used as the primary sources for this study within the framework of critical document analysis (CDA). This study offers a step forward in developing culturally inclusive/holistic understandings of sustainability and more contextualised/localised approaches to ECEfS.

Small acts of resistance : the role of intergenerational collaborative drawing in early childhood teaching and learning

This chapter focuses on ‘intergenerational collaborative drawing’, a particular process of drawing whereby adults and children draw at the same time on a blank paper space. Such drawings can be produced for a range of purposes, and based on different curriculum or stimulus subjects. Children of all ages, and with a range of physical and intellectual abilities are able to draw with parents, carers and teachers. Intergenerational collaborative drawing is a highly potent method for drawing in early childhood contexts because it brings adults and children together in the process of thinking and theorizing in order to create visual imagery and this exposes in deep ways to adults and children, the ideas and concepts being learned about. For adults, this exposure to a child’s thinking is a far more effective assessment tool than when they are presented with a finished drawing they know little about. This chapter focuses on drawings to examine wider issues of learning independence and how in drawing, preferred schema in the form of hand-out worksheets, the suggestive drawings provided by adults, and visual material seen in everyday life all serve to co-opt a young child into making particular schematic choices. I suggest that intergenerational collaborative drawing therefore serves to work as a small act of resistance to that co-opting, in that it helps adults and children to collectively challenge popular creativity and learning discourses.

Understanding Early Childhood Education and Care in Australia: Practices and Perspectives

A foundational text for pre-service teachers explaining the theories, policies and pedagogies that shape the provision of early childhood education and care in Australia. In order to effectively practise as an early childhood educator it is essential to understand the theories, policies and pedagogy that shape the discipline. Understanding Early Childhood Education and Care in Australia provides core foundational knowledge that is critical for best practice. Part One looks at concepts of childhood and the development of mass education before examining influential theories including developmental psychology, sociology, feminisms and critical theory. Specific approaches are also analysed including Reggio Emilia, Montessori, Multiple Intelligences and HighScope. Part Two focuses on the guiding frameworks and policies in Australia and explores in depth issues affecting Indigenous children and provisions for recognising diversity and the practice of inclusion. The final section examines teaching and leadership and considers curriculum, pedagogy and assessment, building relationships between staff and families, the care of babies and infants, the environment in which early childhood education takes place and the responsibilities and professional development of teachers. This essential reference will ensure pre-service teachers develop a sophisticated understanding of how theory underpins effective practice in early childhood education.

Key ideas, research and challenges in early childhood education and care

The Australian government has recognised the importance of early childhood education and care (ECEC) in recent years. With over one million Australian children accessing early childhood education provision every day (Productivity Commission, 2014), today’s children are a generation who spend a large part of their early years in some form of out-of-home child care. Early chapters in this text have discussed a range of people, theories and approaches that inform the development of ECEC. Early childhood pedagogical practice is an eclectic mix of these ideas. This chapter begins with an overview of the ways young children learn in early childhood education, highlighting play-based learning as a pedagogical response to our understandings about children. Next the chapter outlines areas that have more recently influenced ECEC including international models of early childhood education, neuroscience, studies of young children, economic research and social justice principles. Drawing on the reflections of educators working in various ECEC contexts, the chapter then presents four topics encountered by educators as part of their everyday work with diverse communities. These topics include: • the educational program for children in the early years • relationships and partnerships with diverse families • professional accountabilities, and • changing constructions of childhood.

Pre-service early childhood teachers and designers partnering for change at The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary: An interdisciplinary education and design for sustainability project

This presentation discusses and critiques a current case study of a project in which Early Childhood preservice teachers are working in partnership with Design students to develop principles and concepts for the design and construction of an early childhood centre. This centre, to be built on the grounds of the iconic Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane , focuses on Education for Sustainability (EfS), sustainable design and sustainable business. Interdisciplinary initiatives between QUT staff and students from two Faculties (Education and Creative Industries) have been situated in the real –world context of this project. This practical, authentic project has seen stakeholders take an interdisciplinary approach to sustainability, opening up new ways of thinking about early childhood centre design, particularly with respect to operation and function. Interdisciplinarity and a commitment to genuine partnerships have created intellectual spaces to re-think the potential of the disciplines to be interwoven so that future professionals from different fields might come together to learn from each other and to address the sustainability imperative. The case study documents and explores the possibilities that the Lone Pine project offers for academics and students from Early Childhood and Design to collaboratively inform the Sanctuary’s vision for the Centre. The research examines how students benefit from practical, real world, community-integrated learning; how academic staff across two disciplines are able to work collaboratively within a real-world context; and how external stakeholders experience and benefit from the partnership with university staff and students. Data were collected via a series of focus group and individual interviews designed to explore how the various stakeholders (staff, students, business partners) experienced their involvement in the interdisciplinary project. Inductive and deductive thematic analysis of these data suggest many benefits for participants as well as a number of challenges. Findings suggest that the project has provided students with ‘real world’ partnerships that reposition early childhood students’ identities from ‘novice’ to ‘professional’, where their knowledge, expertise and perspectives are simultaneously validated and challenged in their work with designers. These partnerships are enabling preservice teachers to practice a new model of early childhood leadership in sustainability, one that is vital for leading for change in an increasingly complex world. This presentation celebrates, critiques and problematises this project, exploring wider implications for other contexts in which university staff and students may seek to work across traditional boundaries, thus building partnerships for change.

What is early childhood education for sustainability?

Julie Davis canvasses the literature to explain why sustainability issues are important for young children and why early childhood educators should become engaged with EfS. She outlines the short history of ECEfS in Australasia and internationally, emphasising its marginalised and fragile early phase that is now beginning to coalesce into a robust international movement. She then highlights two recent studies undertaken in child care centres that illustrate the learning and actions that are possible when education for sustainability is incorporated into early childhood curriculum and pedagogy. Julie ends the chapter by identifying the qualities that might characterise early childhood education for sustainability, stressing its requirement to be transformative education that builds the capabilities of young children as agents of change for sustainability. In so doing, she draws together theoretical strands from both early childhood education and EfS, beginning the process of constructing a theoretical framework for ECEfS.

Promoting child protection : early childhood education and care services playing their part

Over recent years, there has been a shift in government social policy in Australia toward interest and investment in family support, prevention and early intervention. Central to this new approach to supporting families and promoting better outcomes for children is the development of a continuum of services able to respond to different and changing family needs. This continuum or integrated service system seeks to better connect key human services, such as health, child care, education and family support. This paper explores the role of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services in promoting child protection and strengthening the safety and wellbeing of children.

The professional conversation : a new approach to professional learning in early childhood education and care

In 2009, Australia celebrated the introduction of a national Early Years Learning Framework. This is a critical component in a series of educational reforms designed to support quality pedagogy and practice in early childhood education and care (ECEC) and successful transition to school. As with any policy change, success in real terms relies upon building shared understanding and the capacity of educators to apply new knowledge and support change and improved practice within their service. With these outcomes in mind, a collaborative research project is investigating the efficacy of a new approach to professional learning in ECEC: The professional conversation. This paper provides an overview of the professional conversation approach, including underpinning principles and the design and use of reflective questions to support meaningful conversation and learning.

Early childhood education

Young children are the most vulnerable and most at risk of environmental challenges, current and future. Yet, early learning around environment and sustainability issues and topics has been neglected and underrated in early childhood education even though there is an expanding body of research literature – from economics, neuroscience, sociology and health – that shows that early investments in human capital offer substantial returns for individuals and for communities and have a long reach into the future. Early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) - a synthesis of early childhood education (ECE) and education for sustainability (EfS) - builds on groundings in play, outdoor learning and nature education, but takes a stronger focus on learning about, and engagement with, environmental and sustainability issues. Child participation and agency is central to ECEfS and can relate, for example, to local environmental problem-solving such as water and energy conservation or waste reduction in a childcare centre, kindergarten or preschool, or young children’s social learning for Indigenous Reconciliation and cultural inclusivity. While the ECE field has been much slower than other educational sectors in taking up the challenges of sustainability, this situation is rapidly changing as early childhood practitioners begin to engage – it is fast moving from the margins of early childhood curriculum and pedagogic decision-making into the mainstream. This presents challenges, however, as ECEfS is somewhat misunderstood and misrepresented and, as a new field, is under-researched and under-theorised.

The rise of government in Early Childhood Education and Care following the Child Care Act 1972 : the lasting legacy of the 1990s in setting the reform agenda for ECEC in Australia

Less than twenty years on from the proclamation of the Child Care Act 1972, and introduction of funding for not-for-profit child care centres, a series of market-driven public policies paved the way for the emergence of Australia’s current ECEC quasi-market. Seeking to respond to increasing demand for work-related child care in the 1990s, and to manage associated costs, a succession of Australian Governments turned to market theory and New Public Management (NPM) principles to inform ECEC policy. Reflecting on an era of high policy activity within ECEC, this paper examines a series of policy events and texts that set the course for the reform agenda that was to ensue in ECEC.

A snapshot of 40 years in early childhood education and care through oral histories

The year 2012 marked 40 years since the introduction of the Child Care Act 1972 and the federal government introduced financial support for the provision of child care services in Australia. Significant changes have occurred in social, political and theoretical contexts of early childhood education and care (ECEC) during this time. Bringing these to life, this paper investigates archival data of key changes in ECEC in association with oral histories of staff, parents and children associated with The Gowrie Qld during the years 1972‒2012. With narrative analysis considered alongside historical information, two dominant issues emerge as integral to ECEC in the past, now and the future. These are: 1) what constitutes effective teaching and learning in the educational program and 2) professional expectations in ECEC. Building an historical picture, this paper provides for critical reflection on the past to inform current and future practices.

Recovering from the earthquake : early childhood teachers and children collaboratively telling stories about their experiences

Purpose – Traumatic events can cause post-traumatic stress disorder due to the severity of the often unexpected events. The purpose of this paper is to reveal how conversations around lived experiences of traumatic events, such as the Christchurch earthquake in February 2011, can work as a strategy for people to come to terms with their experiences collaboratively. By encouraging young children to recall and tell of their earthquake stories with their early childhood teachers they can begin to respond, renew, and recover (Brown, 2012), and prevent or minimise more stress being developed. Design/methodology/approach – The study involved collecting data of the participating children taking turns to wear a wireless microphone where their interactions with each other and with teachers were video recorded over one week in November 2011. A total of eight hours and 21 minutes of footage was collected; four minutes and 19 seconds of that footage are presented and analysed in this paper. The footage was watched repeatedly and transcribed using conversation analysis methods (Sacks, 1995). Findings – Through analysing the detailed turn-taking utterances between teachers and children, the orderliness of the co-production of remembering is revealed to demonstrate that each member orients to being in agreement about what actually happened. These episodes of story telling between the teachers and children demonstrate how the teachers encourage the children to tell about their experiences through actively engaging in conversations with them about the earthquake. Originality/value – The conversation analysis approach used in this research was found to be useful in investigating aspects of disasters that the participants themselves remember as important and real. This approach offers a unique insight into understanding how the earthquake event was experienced and reflected on by young children and their teachers, and so can inform future policy and provision in post-disaster situations.