Attracting, preparing, and sustaining quality teachers in early education. This project aims to address the chronic shortage of early childhood teachers in Australia, which is compromising quality and return on investment in early education. The project expects to generate new understandings about this specialist teacher workforce through an innovative, ecological, longitudinal design that will track early childhood teachers’ career trajectories and develop a world-first tool to assess early chi ....Attracting, preparing, and sustaining quality teachers in early education. This project aims to address the chronic shortage of early childhood teachers in Australia, which is compromising quality and return on investment in early education. The project expects to generate new understandings about this specialist teacher workforce through an innovative, ecological, longitudinal design that will track early childhood teachers’ career trajectories and develop a world-first tool to assess early childhood teacher quality. Findings are expected to inform policy— including the Australian Government-endorsed 10-year national Workforce Strategy and the Australian Government's Early Years Strategy— to support the future sustained supply of a quality early childhood teacher workforce and improve outcomes for young children.Read moreRead less
Examining play-based approaches to teaching and learning in early childhood education and care. Children's learning in pre-school settings is important to their current and later educational success. This project offers a significant opportunity to examine how teachers teach, and children learn, through different approaches to play. It is anticipated that the conceptually-sustaining approach to play will support children's learning outcomes more so than other forms of play. Knowing about this ap ....Examining play-based approaches to teaching and learning in early childhood education and care. Children's learning in pre-school settings is important to their current and later educational success. This project offers a significant opportunity to examine how teachers teach, and children learn, through different approaches to play. It is anticipated that the conceptually-sustaining approach to play will support children's learning outcomes more so than other forms of play. Knowing about this approach to play will help teachers better understand the relationship between teaching, play and learning, instead of focussing only on play and learning. This will also help the field interpret the forthcoming Australian Early Years' Learning Framework, which advocates for the role of play in early childhood education.Read moreRead less
Reconceptualising early mathematics learning: The fundamental role of pattern and structure. The critical shortage of mathematicians, statisticians and scientists in Australia today can be traced in large part to inadequacies in early mathematics learning. Many students fail to achieve a basic understanding of mathematics, although the subject is crucial to participation in a technology-based society and the building of a knowledge culture. The innovative program for the first year of formal sc ....Reconceptualising early mathematics learning: The fundamental role of pattern and structure. The critical shortage of mathematicians, statisticians and scientists in Australia today can be traced in large part to inadequacies in early mathematics learning. Many students fail to achieve a basic understanding of mathematics, although the subject is crucial to participation in a technology-based society and the building of a knowledge culture. The innovative program for the first year of formal schooling, to be developed and tested in this study, will provide a much firmer foundation for later development. The project will enhance the achievement of national numeracy goals by enabling a high quality, effective mathematics education for all Australian children. Read moreRead less
Learning about social and moral values for active citizenship: Educational policy and practice in early education. It is economically sound to invest in quality early education programs to ensure productive engagement for individuals in society. In particular, the early years are considered to be a significant period for learning moral and social values necessary to ensure a tolerant and cohesive society. This study will provide an evidence base for how educational policy and practice, informed ....Learning about social and moral values for active citizenship: Educational policy and practice in early education. It is economically sound to invest in quality early education programs to ensure productive engagement for individuals in society. In particular, the early years are considered to be a significant period for learning moral and social values necessary to ensure a tolerant and cohesive society. This study will provide an evidence base for how educational policy and practice, informed by teacher beliefs, do (or do not) support children's moral and social learning about active citizenship.Read moreRead less
Risky spaces: Children experiencing governance across school, home and community sites. Children's lives are being increasingly governed through adult policy and practices designed to protect children, but about which children themselves have hitherto had little say. This project invites young children to account for their experiences in managing risky spaces in everyday interactions at school, home and community. Risky spaces refer to those potentially dangerous social, political and economic ....Risky spaces: Children experiencing governance across school, home and community sites. Children's lives are being increasingly governed through adult policy and practices designed to protect children, but about which children themselves have hitherto had little say. This project invites young children to account for their experiences in managing risky spaces in everyday interactions at school, home and community. Risky spaces refer to those potentially dangerous social, political and economic sites of childhood. This is the first Australian project to investigate children's understandings of these matters. Outcomes will inform national educational and social policy directions and provide strategies for educators and human service providers working with young children and their families.
Read moreRead less
Preschool children's constructions of cultural and 'racial' diversity. This project seeks to study how 60 preschool children understand cultural and 'racial' diversity. The preschool years are critical in forming cultural and 'racial' understandings and Australian data about children's understandings of diversity is scarce and poorly theorised. Given the national debate engendered by Australia's cultural and 'racial' diversity an urgent need exists to redress this and to improve understandings a ....Preschool children's constructions of cultural and 'racial' diversity. This project seeks to study how 60 preschool children understand cultural and 'racial' diversity. The preschool years are critical in forming cultural and 'racial' understandings and Australian data about children's understandings of diversity is scarce and poorly theorised. Given the national debate engendered by Australia's cultural and 'racial' diversity an urgent need exists to redress this and to improve understandings about achieving cultural and 'racially' inclusive curriculum in the crucially formative early years. This trailblazing study is uniquely placed to generate these improved understandings and to lead international thinking about effecting greater 'racial' and cultural justice through early education.
Read moreRead less
Negotiating Staff-Parent Relations in Culturally Diverse Early Education Settings. The Australian federal government invests nearly $A1.25 billion annually in childcare and more than 1.6 million children attend some form of childcare. There is an international consensus that parental involvement in early childhood programs enhances their economic and social benefits, including improved educational outcomes, enhanced employment opportunities and increased social participation. This project increa ....Negotiating Staff-Parent Relations in Culturally Diverse Early Education Settings. The Australian federal government invests nearly $A1.25 billion annually in childcare and more than 1.6 million children attend some form of childcare. There is an international consensus that parental involvement in early childhood programs enhances their economic and social benefits, including improved educational outcomes, enhanced employment opportunities and increased social participation. This project increases the likelihood that an increasingly culturally diverse Australia wil.l attain those benefits by offering a radical approach to improving staff-parent relations in culturally diverse settings and helping to reduce the occupational stress often linked with those relations
Read moreRead less
Managing Risk in Primary Schools: Teachers' Professional Identity and Work Practices. This study seeks to investigate the ways that primary school teachers' identities and practices are being shaped in the context of differing State government mechanisms for risk management in relation to the care of children. The study will identify appropriate risk response conduct as it is understood by teachers from government and non-government schools in rural and urban locaions in Queensland and New South ....Managing Risk in Primary Schools: Teachers' Professional Identity and Work Practices. This study seeks to investigate the ways that primary school teachers' identities and practices are being shaped in the context of differing State government mechanisms for risk management in relation to the care of children. The study will identify appropriate risk response conduct as it is understood by teachers from government and non-government schools in rural and urban locaions in Queensland and New South Wales. It will then analyse these data to show how risk response practices are impacting on pedagogic work and professional identity,including any context-specific variations that may exist in such practices.Read moreRead less
A multi-modal investigation of current and proposed structures and processes determining and sustaining quality in Australian centre-based child care. Access to good quality government-regulated child care is a national policy direction, underpinned by Australia's quality assurance and accreditation mechanisms, and based on evidence that high quality care positively affects children's developmental wellbeing. Of concern is that care of poorer quality is linked with adverse outcomes, especially f ....A multi-modal investigation of current and proposed structures and processes determining and sustaining quality in Australian centre-based child care. Access to good quality government-regulated child care is a national policy direction, underpinned by Australia's quality assurance and accreditation mechanisms, and based on evidence that high quality care positively affects children's developmental wellbeing. Of concern is that care of poorer quality is linked with adverse outcomes, especially for more vulnerable children. The effective provision of high quality care requires a thorough understanding of the structures and processes that contribute to and sustain quality outcomes. The results of this study will provide invaluable information to guide the decisions of policy makers and service providers in determining new directions in child care quality assurance.Read moreRead less
Enhancing quality in long day care: Investigating professional beliefes and practices of child care workers. The Commonwealth Government's National Agenda for Early Childhood recognises the importance of quality of staff in children's services to ensure overall program quality. This research focuses on the vocational training for child care workers. It advances knowledge about how contextual and personal factors contribute to the development of epistemological beliefs about teaching in early ed ....Enhancing quality in long day care: Investigating professional beliefes and practices of child care workers. The Commonwealth Government's National Agenda for Early Childhood recognises the importance of quality of staff in children's services to ensure overall program quality. This research focuses on the vocational training for child care workers. It advances knowledge about how contextual and personal factors contribute to the development of epistemological beliefs about teaching in early education that enables child care workers to become more critical and reflective practitioners. The research recognises the directions of the National Strategy for Vocational Education and Training, 2004 -2010 which emphasise that vocational education needs to provide skills and knowledge which enhance employability and lifelong learning.Read moreRead less