Pub Date : 2022-06-01DOI: 10.1177/18369391221107415
W. Boyd
The diversity of approaches to early childhood education and care research has been highlighted in recent Australasian Journal of Early Childhood editorials (Blewitt, 2022; de Rosnay, 2021; Edwards, 2021). These editorials have highlighted how knowledge and values are socially constructed and in doing so shape research in practice. Like diversity in research, the beliefs and values that educators bring to their professional practice are also significant and known to impact upon children’s learning and development (Sandvik et al., 2014). In early childhood education and care (ECEC), beliefs and values about learning and development can be seen in the views educators hold about young children. In 1993, Loris Malaguzzi shared the idea of the ‘image of the child’ and how the image people hold of the child influences professional relationships and the interactions ECEC educators have with children and their families. Like the knowledge and values held by research communities involved in ECEC, the image the educator holds of the child consequently influences how they construct the learning environment in which children participate. Environments consequently provide options for children’s learning. We are reminded by Carlina Rinaldi (in Millikan, 2003) that:
{"title":"Diverse Practices of Early Childhood Educators","authors":"W. Boyd","doi":"10.1177/18369391221107415","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/18369391221107415","url":null,"abstract":"The diversity of approaches to early childhood education and care research has been highlighted in recent Australasian Journal of Early Childhood editorials (Blewitt, 2022; de Rosnay, 2021; Edwards, 2021). These editorials have highlighted how knowledge and values are socially constructed and in doing so shape research in practice. Like diversity in research, the beliefs and values that educators bring to their professional practice are also significant and known to impact upon children’s learning and development (Sandvik et al., 2014). In early childhood education and care (ECEC), beliefs and values about learning and development can be seen in the views educators hold about young children. In 1993, Loris Malaguzzi shared the idea of the ‘image of the child’ and how the image people hold of the child influences professional relationships and the interactions ECEC educators have with children and their families. Like the knowledge and values held by research communities involved in ECEC, the image the educator holds of the child consequently influences how they construct the learning environment in which children participate. Environments consequently provide options for children’s learning. We are reminded by Carlina Rinaldi (in Millikan, 2003) that:","PeriodicalId":46779,"journal":{"name":"Australasian Journal of Early Childhood","volume":"47 1","pages":"89 - 91"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47629520","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-29DOI: 10.1177/18369391221104353
Yan-ming Qi, M. Campbell
Early childhood education and care is recognised as extremely important for the health, education and welfare of all children. As Australia is a multicultural society then the early childhood education and care workforce needs to reflect the proportion of the population who were born overseas in non–English-speaking countries, often referred to Culturally and Linguistic Diverse individuals. With the staff shortages in the sector, we propose that supporting students in initial teacher training from a CALD background is important. Several ways to accomplish this goal are discussed.
{"title":"Encouraging diversity in the early childhood education and care workforce","authors":"Yan-ming Qi, M. Campbell","doi":"10.1177/18369391221104353","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/18369391221104353","url":null,"abstract":"Early childhood education and care is recognised as extremely important for the health, education and welfare of all children. As Australia is a multicultural society then the early childhood education and care workforce needs to reflect the proportion of the population who were born overseas in non–English-speaking countries, often referred to Culturally and Linguistic Diverse individuals. With the staff shortages in the sector, we propose that supporting students in initial teacher training from a CALD background is important. Several ways to accomplish this goal are discussed.","PeriodicalId":46779,"journal":{"name":"Australasian Journal of Early Childhood","volume":"47 1","pages":"233 - 240"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48260736","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-19DOI: 10.1177/18369391221103286
C. Neilsen-Hewett, G. Lindsay, Jane Warren, Karen L. Tonge, L. Cronin
COVID-19 has impacted Early Childhood Education (ECE) globally. The cancellation of a final year leadership practicum presented an opportunity to partner with pre-service teachers as co-researchers to investigate the leadership experience of four service directors during COVID-19. A multi-case study design included four focus groups consisting of one early childhood sector leader, final year pre-service teachers and one academic mentor aimed to explore the impacts of COVID-19 on service leadership while identifying the leadership strategies that offered protective mitigation for the risks posed by the pandemic. Leadership challenges included shifting health orders, support for the home learning context and disseminating policy shifts to staff and families, all while maintaining viability, managing anxieties of staff, parents and children, while negotiating lockdowns and service restrictions. Findings spoke to the complexity of the situation for leaders, while spotlighting the protective function of high-quality practice; strong service-based philosophy; and prioritisation of relationships.
{"title":"Early childhood leadership: Risk and protective factors during the COVID-19 pandemic","authors":"C. Neilsen-Hewett, G. Lindsay, Jane Warren, Karen L. Tonge, L. Cronin","doi":"10.1177/18369391221103286","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/18369391221103286","url":null,"abstract":"COVID-19 has impacted Early Childhood Education (ECE) globally. The cancellation of a final year leadership practicum presented an opportunity to partner with pre-service teachers as co-researchers to investigate the leadership experience of four service directors during COVID-19. A multi-case study design included four focus groups consisting of one early childhood sector leader, final year pre-service teachers and one academic mentor aimed to explore the impacts of COVID-19 on service leadership while identifying the leadership strategies that offered protective mitigation for the risks posed by the pandemic. Leadership challenges included shifting health orders, support for the home learning context and disseminating policy shifts to staff and families, all while maintaining viability, managing anxieties of staff, parents and children, while negotiating lockdowns and service restrictions. Findings spoke to the complexity of the situation for leaders, while spotlighting the protective function of high-quality practice; strong service-based philosophy; and prioritisation of relationships.","PeriodicalId":46779,"journal":{"name":"Australasian Journal of Early Childhood","volume":"47 1","pages":"219 - 232"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46158684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-09DOI: 10.1177/18369391221099370
A. Gregoriadis, M. Evangelou
This commentary paper offers a broader definition of the construct of the home learning environment and an updated conceptual framework. Recent empirical research has burgeoned on the home learning environment and is mainly examining how processes mediate the way parenting practices influence a child’s development and learning. By introducing the Home Learning Ecosystem, the paper presents a holistic view of the different home learning environment components and focuses on the interaction among those. It also expands and updates the way learning activities are perceived and acknowledges the quality of the home learning interactions – by distinguishing them from the general parenting styles – and the quality of the proximal caregiving environment as the heart of the home learning environment.
{"title":"Revisiting the home learning environment: Introducing the home learning ecosystem","authors":"A. Gregoriadis, M. Evangelou","doi":"10.1177/18369391221099370","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/18369391221099370","url":null,"abstract":"This commentary paper offers a broader definition of the construct of the home learning environment and an updated conceptual framework. Recent empirical research has burgeoned on the home learning environment and is mainly examining how processes mediate the way parenting practices influence a child’s development and learning. By introducing the Home Learning Ecosystem, the paper presents a holistic view of the different home learning environment components and focuses on the interaction among those. It also expands and updates the way learning activities are perceived and acknowledges the quality of the home learning interactions – by distinguishing them from the general parenting styles – and the quality of the proximal caregiving environment as the heart of the home learning environment.","PeriodicalId":46779,"journal":{"name":"Australasian Journal of Early Childhood","volume":"47 1","pages":"206 - 218"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47445665","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-05DOI: 10.1177/18369391221091295
Belinda Davis, Rosemary Dunn
Research shows that high quality programs can support positive outcomes for all children, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Little research has examined the perspectives of directors working with infants and toddlers in families who are experiencing low socio-economic status (SES) in early childhood settings. This qualitative research addresses this gap by exploring directors’ understandings of inclusion relating to the needs of low SES children under 3 years and their families in the ECEC context. Qvortrup and Qvortrup’s (2018) lens of inclusion was used to analyse (a) the conceptualisation of inclusion held by the directors interviewed for this project and (b) what aspects of inclusion directors were able to influence. Findings showed that directors’ understandings were multidimensional, involving a combination of professional and contextual concerns. This paper discusses implications for working with infants and toddlers from low SES families.
{"title":"Supporting infants and toddlers in low socio-economic early childhood settings in Australia","authors":"Belinda Davis, Rosemary Dunn","doi":"10.1177/18369391221091295","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/18369391221091295","url":null,"abstract":"Research shows that high quality programs can support positive outcomes for all children, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Little research has examined the perspectives of directors working with infants and toddlers in families who are experiencing low socio-economic status (SES) in early childhood settings. This qualitative research addresses this gap by exploring directors’ understandings of inclusion relating to the needs of low SES children under 3 years and their families in the ECEC context. Qvortrup and Qvortrup’s (2018) lens of inclusion was used to analyse (a) the conceptualisation of inclusion held by the directors interviewed for this project and (b) what aspects of inclusion directors were able to influence. Findings showed that directors’ understandings were multidimensional, involving a combination of professional and contextual concerns. This paper discusses implications for working with infants and toddlers from low SES families.","PeriodicalId":46779,"journal":{"name":"Australasian Journal of Early Childhood","volume":"47 1","pages":"193 - 205"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43609062","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-04DOI: 10.1177/18369391221089383
Yinshan Su, Yuejia Chen, Jin Huang
The body is the very basis of children’s self-growth and their understanding of the world. However, children’s body experiences of growing up have rarely been studied. This paper uses a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to study the body experience of 35 kindergarten children aged 5–6 from Nanjing, China. We found that children’s body experiences can be grouped into two themes: the experience of body through physical changes, that is, children’s experience of their physical changes; and the experience of body through actions, that is, children’s experience of using their bodies to learn different skills and knowledge. Children’s body experiences are multi-dimensional, ambivalent, and socially interactive throughout different events growing up. Even the same event involves multiple and contradictory experiences, which are influenced by both internal and external sources. Suggestions are discussed to address the problem of children’s body experiences being neglected by adults.
{"title":"‘Why can’t I grow shorter, only taller?’—the body experience of growing up for Chinese children aged 5–6","authors":"Yinshan Su, Yuejia Chen, Jin Huang","doi":"10.1177/18369391221089383","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/18369391221089383","url":null,"abstract":"The body is the very basis of children’s self-growth and their understanding of the world. However, children’s body experiences of growing up have rarely been studied. This paper uses a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to study the body experience of 35 kindergarten children aged 5–6 from Nanjing, China. We found that children’s body experiences can be grouped into two themes: the experience of body through physical changes, that is, children’s experience of their physical changes; and the experience of body through actions, that is, children’s experience of using their bodies to learn different skills and knowledge. Children’s body experiences are multi-dimensional, ambivalent, and socially interactive throughout different events growing up. Even the same event involves multiple and contradictory experiences, which are influenced by both internal and external sources. Suggestions are discussed to address the problem of children’s body experiences being neglected by adults.","PeriodicalId":46779,"journal":{"name":"Australasian Journal of Early Childhood","volume":"47 1","pages":"168 - 180"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47235088","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-01DOI: 10.1177/18369391221095570
M. Schürer, Sue Dockett, B. Perry
This paper explores memories of children in the upper years of primary school about their transition into the first year of school and the ways in which this transition impacted on their ongoing relationship with primary school. The insights shared by eleven Year four and five students (aged 10–11 years; five boys and six girls) in an Australian primary school contribute to understandings of the strategies children develop and utilise in their educational transitions (transitions capital), not only in the transition to school but also in ongoing educational transitions throughout school. The older children reflected on their younger selves related to transitions expectations, and experiences and illustrated their strategies for self-management of change, positioning them as potential resources within transition programs. Despite this, the participants reported that their expertise and experience generally were not acknowledged, and they were often not invited to contribute to transition programs involving new school entrants.
{"title":"Children’s memories of starting school: Building and sharing transitions capital","authors":"M. Schürer, Sue Dockett, B. Perry","doi":"10.1177/18369391221095570","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/18369391221095570","url":null,"abstract":"This paper explores memories of children in the upper years of primary school about their transition into the first year of school and the ways in which this transition impacted on their ongoing relationship with primary school. The insights shared by eleven Year four and five students (aged 10–11 years; five boys and six girls) in an Australian primary school contribute to understandings of the strategies children develop and utilise in their educational transitions (transitions capital), not only in the transition to school but also in ongoing educational transitions throughout school. The older children reflected on their younger selves related to transitions expectations, and experiences and illustrated their strategies for self-management of change, positioning them as potential resources within transition programs. Despite this, the participants reported that their expertise and experience generally were not acknowledged, and they were often not invited to contribute to transition programs involving new school entrants.","PeriodicalId":46779,"journal":{"name":"Australasian Journal of Early Childhood","volume":"47 1","pages":"181 - 192"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46811549","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-21DOI: 10.1177/18369391221089382
Ashley Zhou, Marianne Fenech
Despite the role pedagogical leadership plays in quality early childhood education and care services, limited research to date has explored the appointment and enactment of educational leaders in Australia. This qualitative study explored the role and influence of two educational leaders in a high-quality rated service. Findings revealed that these educational leaders’ exercising of distributed and transformational leadership enabled ongoing quality improvement. Appointing the ‘right’ person; a supportive, effective and cohesive team; the whole-of centre valuing of the educational leaders and their role; investment of resources; and professional autonomy, were identified as key enablers of quality education across the service. As the first study to investigate the educational leader role in an ‘excellent’-rated service in Australia, this study highlights that the effectiveness of an EL is dependent on the person in the EL role and the context in which they are working. Implications for policy and service providers are discussed.
{"title":"The role and influence of educational leaders in centres rated as providing high quality early childhood educational programs","authors":"Ashley Zhou, Marianne Fenech","doi":"10.1177/18369391221089382","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/18369391221089382","url":null,"abstract":"Despite the role pedagogical leadership plays in quality early childhood education and care services, limited research to date has explored the appointment and enactment of educational leaders in Australia. This qualitative study explored the role and influence of two educational leaders in a high-quality rated service. Findings revealed that these educational leaders’ exercising of distributed and transformational leadership enabled ongoing quality improvement. Appointing the ‘right’ person; a supportive, effective and cohesive team; the whole-of centre valuing of the educational leaders and their role; investment of resources; and professional autonomy, were identified as key enablers of quality education across the service. As the first study to investigate the educational leader role in an ‘excellent’-rated service in Australia, this study highlights that the effectiveness of an EL is dependent on the person in the EL role and the context in which they are working. Implications for policy and service providers are discussed.","PeriodicalId":46779,"journal":{"name":"Australasian Journal of Early Childhood","volume":"47 1","pages":"148 - 161"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2022-04-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47347900","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-18DOI: 10.1177/18369391221089381
S. Walker, J. Brownlee, Laura Scholes, Clare D. Harris
Research shows that epistemic cognition can support reasoning about the inclusion of diverse children. We argue that, to engage in such reasoning, children need the capacity to consider and evaluate competing knowledge perspectives (epistemic cognition) and to be cognitively flexible. Cognitive flexibility involves a subset of skills within the suite of self-regulation skills known as executive functions (EF). This study explored the extent to which cognitive flexibility might be related to epistemic cognition and the effectiveness of a pictorial and interview methodology to explore children’s epistemic cognition. Eighty-two children participated in three EF tasks designed to assess their ability to flexibly shift from one mental set to another (cognitive flexibility). Children were also interviewed about the drawings they created to represent social exclusion/inclusion in their play settings. Results indicated that, in contrast to expectations, cognitive flexibility and epistemic cognition were not related. Challenges associated with using the pictorial and interview methodology are discussed.
{"title":"Understanding relationships between epistemic cognition and executive functioning: Implications for measurement and practice in early childhood","authors":"S. Walker, J. Brownlee, Laura Scholes, Clare D. Harris","doi":"10.1177/18369391221089381","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/18369391221089381","url":null,"abstract":"Research shows that epistemic cognition can support reasoning about the inclusion of diverse children. We argue that, to engage in such reasoning, children need the capacity to consider and evaluate competing knowledge perspectives (epistemic cognition) and to be cognitively flexible. Cognitive flexibility involves a subset of skills within the suite of self-regulation skills known as executive functions (EF). This study explored the extent to which cognitive flexibility might be related to epistemic cognition and the effectiveness of a pictorial and interview methodology to explore children’s epistemic cognition. Eighty-two children participated in three EF tasks designed to assess their ability to flexibly shift from one mental set to another (cognitive flexibility). Children were also interviewed about the drawings they created to represent social exclusion/inclusion in their play settings. Results indicated that, in contrast to expectations, cognitive flexibility and epistemic cognition were not related. Challenges associated with using the pictorial and interview methodology are discussed.","PeriodicalId":46779,"journal":{"name":"Australasian Journal of Early Childhood","volume":"47 1","pages":"135 - 147"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2022-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45285508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-01-12DOI: 10.1177/18369391211072582
{"title":"Early Childhood Education and Care: A sustainable system?","authors":"","doi":"10.1177/18369391211072582","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/18369391211072582","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46779,"journal":{"name":"Australasian Journal of Early Childhood","volume":"47 1","pages":"3 - 6"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2022-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44664064","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：