Australasian Journal of Early Childhood

CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH HAS FOCUSED on the imperatives for social competence in young children. This work has explained the diverse ways this complex construct is defined and the implications for social and academic outcomes for children. As a result of this research, social competence has become an embedded feature of early childhood curriculum frameworks at both an international and national level, the most recent of which is Australia's Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF). Underpinning these frameworks are both implicit and explicit expectations that educators have, in fact, the capacity to support children's development and competence in this area. This paper explores the imperatives for the inclusion of social competencies within contemporary curriculum frameworks. It will be argued that an understanding of the influences that shape educator capacity is critical in supporting effective professional practice.

THIS PAPER CONSIDERS WHETHER simply providing and attending professional development and training opportunities enhances quality in early childhood education, or whether the educators' actual practices are a better indication. It reports on research that examined factors impacting on early childhood educators' realisation of professional development once participants returned to their organisation.

Using case studies, the paper points to a range of factors educators identified as either enabling or hindering endeavours to practise and sustain new understandings within their early childhood service. It concludes by recommending a number of strategies that lead to a more effective realisation of professional development opportunities, including the importance of continued dialogue with all stakeholders about understandings of effective professional development in the field of early childhood education.

THE AUSTRALIAN STATE-BASED educational system of a national school curriculum that includes a pre-Year 1 Foundation Year has raised questions about the purpose of this year of early education. A document analysis was undertaken across three Australian states, examining three constructions of the pre-Year 1 class and tensions arising from varied perspectives. Tensions have emerged over state-based adaptations of the national curriculum, scripted pedagogies for change management, differing ideological perspectives and positioning of stakeholders. The results indicate that since 2012 there has been a shift in constructions of the pre-Year 1 class towards school-based ideologies, especially in Queensland. Accordingly, positioning of children, parents and teachers has also changed. These results resonate with previous international indications of ‘schooling’ early education. The experiences of Australian early adopters of the curriculum offer insights for other jurisdictions in Australia and internationally, and raise questions about future development in early years education.

THE EARLY YEARS OF CHILDHOOD are critical for the successful development of adult literacy, whatever that literacy might look or feel like in the oncoming digital age. Two questions that become important are what sort of literacy (or literacies) will children need in the future to navigate new information pathways, and how can we use recent advances in neuroscience to help us understand optimal pathways for developing the fundamentally social skills of literacy. This paper reviews recent research from the two traditionally separate areas of contemporary literacies and infant brain development to re-examine the underpinnings of literacy learning in the early years.

IN THIS RESEARCH PAPER WE discuss a music program in an early learning centre and present an example of practice that involved children engaging with a picture book of The magic flute. The children researched the opera by watching a film, had conversations about the music and story, drew pictures and dramatised the story during spontaneous play. Relationships between familiar events (the literary exploration of a book) with unfamiliar experiences (watching an opera as a serial) gave the children's activities depth. These relationships are discussed to explore how children used their competence in language and literature to frame their understandings of the story of The magic flute and music of the opera and to anticipate and enjoy the weekly serial. We conclude by relating our discussion to ‘intentional teaching’ as a practice and the Early Years Learning Framework.

THIS PAPER CRITICALLY REFLECTS on the appropriateness of the methodological framework adopted in an exploratory study of young children's experiences of participation in their early childhood centre and home environments. The Mosaic and Ecocultural approaches informed the study's methodological framework as these approaches were seen to be complementary and child-friendly. While some of the data collection tools were not as successful in the current study as they have been reported in previous research, there was support for the usefulness of the Mosaic approach as an effective, adaptable and child-focused research methodology. Further, the Ecocultural approach was found to provide an appropriate and meaningful way of talking with young children about their daily routines and everyday home life.

IT IS WELL-ESTABLISHED THAT household and neighbourhood disadvantage and migrant background impact on children's cognitive, developmental and health outcomes. While participation in early childhood services and programs can mitigate the effects of such multiple disadvantages, there are barriers for families in accessing services, including local circumstances and the perceived risks of contact with services and programs. In this paper, we discuss data collected in a study that explored a supported playgroup initiative targeting parents and children from non-English-speaking backgrounds. The findings offer insights into the barriers that migrant-background families experience in accessing early childhood services and effective strategies for engaging and sustaining families within early childhood settings.

THIS QUALITATIVE CASE STUDY investigates Indian migrant parents' perspectives of early childhood education (ECE) in Melbourne, Australia. The study focuses on exploring parents' understanding of the structure, pedagogy and curriculum practices in early childhood settings. We selected a sample of six Indian parents, who had migrated to Melbourne not more than five years ago and had children attending Australian ECE. To gather their perspectives and experiences, in-depth, face-to-face interviews were conducted. A framework analysis of the data (Ritchie & Spencer, 1994) points to the preference of Australian ECE to Indian ECE. Their preference of Australian ECE is contingent on curriculum flexibility, opportunity for parent participation and active involvement of children in planning and learning. However, participatants, particularly the mothers, missed the academic aspect of Indian ECE and believed that the Australian curriculum and pedagogy distanced their children from their culture. Based on these findings, we argue for early childhood teachers to include the experiences of Indian migrant parents in their children's ECE in Australia to help sustain purposeful partnerships and incorporate culturally relevant activities into the curriculum.

THIS PAPER DISCUSSES AN EMPIRICAL research study based on a community consultation process for the development of an integrated children and families centre. Conducted in Western Australia in 2009, the consultation was designed specifically for the Noongar Aboriginal community, drawing on Indigenous research methods and sociocultural theory. The paper discusses the study's findings, considers its Australian policy and international contexts, and explores challenges to providing integrated child and family services for Aboriginal families. It identifies key elements of successful service delivery and highlights the significance of consultation and collaboration in developing culturally appropriate services. The paper concludes that the widely recognised need to ‘close the gap’ in Indigenous health and education services is not being met with sufficient funding, and notes the ever-widening gap between purported policy imperatives and the process of addressing inequalities.

THIS ARTICLE DISCUSSES THE expectations implicit in both Early Years Learning and National Quality Frameworks regarding the role of early childhood educators in promoting the development of children's social and emotional wellbeing. There is a specific focus on factors that may impact on the ability of early childhood educators to successfully adjust their practice to meet these expectations. Suggestions are made in relation to the training and education of pre-service teachers and the professional development of the current early childhood workforce to ensure that all early childhood educators are able to promote the development of social and emotional wellbeing in children.

CONTROVERSY AND CONTRADICTION SURROUND the structure, content, and delivery mode of effective professional development (PD) for early years teachers. Long-held traditions of generic and short-term solution PD courses are being replaced by customised programs relevant to participants, the learning from which is reflected as new practices, processes and strategies in work settings. If the implementation of new ways of being and doing are successful in terms of student outcome, then the participants' attitude to the PD is positive and their commitment to their new and revised practices are ongoing. These PD courses concentrate on systematic efforts that go beyond session content and focus on building participants' capacity by contextualising their learnings with action research projects within work contexts. Participants' practices and commitment to change are influenced by positive changes in student outcomes. These changes then influence their perception of the worth of the PD (Guskey, 2000; 2002).

In 2008, the Bond University team, led by Dr Margaret Anne Carter and Assistant Professor Caroline Fewster, provided action research-driven PD to 2,205 early childhood practitioners in the area of ‘guiding children's behaviour’. This PD program, funded by Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaCSIA), was administered by Professional Support Coordinator Queensland (PSCQ) and Workforce Council, and designed and delivered by the Bond University team.

This PD was delivered statewide across 13 metropolitan, regional and remote areas of Queensland. Course duration ranged from one-,two-and three-hour sessions; and one, two and three full days. Participants committed themselves to the implementation of action research projects, transferring learnings from PD sessions specific to their own needs and circumstances into their workplace. Significant change in participants' attitudes occurred primarily after evidence was gathered of growth and development in student learning. Improvements in student behaviour influenced changes in paradigm, practices, processes and strategies—new instructional methods, revised environmental systems and structures, new materials in social behaviour curriculum.

It was not the PD per se, but the successful implementation of the PD learnings that changed paradigms, resulting in new and revised practices and processes within work settings (Guskey, 2002).

THIS PAPER REPORTS ON how educators from child care, community-based kindergarten, preschool and lower primary settings changed their tightly held constructs about curriculum design after undertaking an in-service professional development (PD) program. Kelly's personal construct psychology (PCP) provided the framework for the PD and for identifying and analysing the educators' constructs and the changes that occurred. Initially teachers from all settings mainly focused on children as objects of their curriculum decision making. After the PD program the focus on children's input changed to a more negotiated approach to curriculum design—especially by teachers in childcare and kindergarten settings. Differences between cohorts were also found in changes to thinking about parents' and administrators' input into curriculum decisions which related to their ECEC contexts. Outcomes from the study can be used to demonstrate ways of analysing changes in thinking about curriculum design after engaging in PD, and the effects of educational context on these changes.

EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN EARLY childhood education and care settings has been integrated within the National Quality Framework in Australia, which came into effect on 1 January, 2012. While the appointment of educational leaders within the field is a step in the right direction, leadership development has been overlooked at governmental level until recently. The issue is being examined at this time due the regulatory reforms currently underway within the field in Australia. The paper calls for more leadership development within the field since most educators with leadership responsibilities have been appointed to their position with limited, or no, leadership training. A cultural shift is recommended in order to significantly improve the status of the profession.

EARLY CHILDHOOD PROFESSIONALS HAVE different opinions about intentionally teaching mathematics to young children. Not only is the appropriateness of teaching mathematical concepts to children in early childhood settings contested but what to teach is subject to debate. A review of the literature, however, demonstrates that children are better equipped for success if they master basic mathematical concepts before entering formal education, and that these skills can be developed in play-based activities, where teachers actively engage in maths talk. This paper argues for the purposeful integration of mathematics teaching and learning in early childhood education curricula, and the need for early childhood educators to have sound pedagogical content knowledge and clear learning objectives in order to support and extend children's emerging understanding of mathematical concepts.

WITH THE RECENT PUBLICATION of the Early Years Learning Framework for all Australian children during the years before they start school, there is now for the first time a national document to guide the work of all Australian early childhood educators. This document identifies five learning outcomes designed to capture the integrated and complex learning and development of all children in the birth to five years age range. In particular, learning outcome five addresses children as effective communicators; and one of the key components of this outcome is children gaining meaning from a range of texts. This paper reviews issues surrounding early literacy in the years before school and seeks to identify a definition of early literacy which will clarify early childhood educators' understanding of this important area of young children's learning and development, and support their practice more specifically.

THIS PRELIMINARY STUDY INVESTIGATED the level of staff knowledge and confidence in food allergy management in a group of NSW regional Australian early childhood facilities (ECFs) in 2007.

A mixed-method design including both quantitative and qualitative approaches was used to identify staff knowledge and confidence in food allergy management. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics, while qualitative data was analysed thematically.

Quantitative data revealed that knowledge and confidence about food allergy management varied considerably among the staff. Qualitative data revealed that, even though many ECF staff were knowledgeable about food allergy management, they lacked the confidence to deal with emergency situations.

This study highlights that ECF staff knowledge and confidence when dealing with children who experience food-induced allergies is relatively poor, placing these children at risk of receiving suboptimal care. It is important therefore, to ensure that staff are both competent and confident in the management of food allergies in light of the introduction of the National Quality Framework in 2012.