Diverse Practices of Early Childhood Educators

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: