Associate Professor Kym Simoncini shares research and findings ahead of her masterclass ‘STEM in the early years: We can all do STEM’ at the ECA National Conference from 5-8 October 2022. If you’re interested in seeing Kym present as part of the conference program, you can purchase a virtual ticket. The image was sourced from iStock.…
Imagine walking through your local nature trail and seeing a group of kindergarten children playing and exploring. Some are climbing a tree and playfully hanging on a branch. Some are jumping in puddles and splashing muddy water all over themselves. Some are squatting to look at insects, while others are collecting sticks and making ‘bonfires’.…
A Community of Practice (CoP) is best defined as a space for individuals to interact and learn from one another in partnership with an understanding of sharing knowledge. Engaging in a CoP will allow you to not only deepen your knowledge on a subject or topic area, but it will also allow you to network…
In part two of this blog series, we ask Dr Laura Jana about preparing children for success in the 21st century and what her hopes are for her keynote address at the upcoming ECA National Conference in October. If you missed part one, you can read it here. Dr Jana talks about her book, The…
Internationally recognised paediatrician, author and social entrepreneur Dr Laura Jana says early childhood is everybody’s business. She is on a mission to change the paradigm and the public conversation about the skills needed for success in the 21st century. Dr Jana spoke with ECA, ahead of her international keynote address at the 2022 ECA National Conference ‘Passion to…
Early Childhood Australia (ECA) is working to inform the Victorian early childhood education and care sector about the Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS)—to promote the wellbeing and safety of children. This blog explains the CISS and how services—known as Information Sharing Entities (ISEs)—can utilise the scheme, and why sharing information matters. It also includes a case…
Engaging children in a conversation on active supervision Active supervision of children is an integral part of quality early childhood education and care. Educators fulfil their essential ethical and professional responsibilities to ensure that children are safe, secure and positively included in experiences that maximise their learning and development. Educators are made aware of this…
English is not the first language of many families in Australia, with 21% of Australians speaking a language other than English at home (ABS, 2017). Today, Australia is one of the top 10 countries in the world where the most languages are spoken (Eberhard et al., 2022). This will probably not surprise early childhood educators,…
Image provided by author, Amy Rothe. Australian early learning settings follow a play-based pedagogy, in line with the emphasis placed on play in the national frameworks. Music is not a core part of this pedagogy, perhaps because of the perception that music education is about rote instruction, practising scales and reading notation—compared to play-based learning,…
Nourishing bodies and relationships: Ritualising and celebrating slow mealtimesIt’s fair to say that many educators would use the descriptor ‘busy’ to describe their days with children. With workdays full of routine care mechanics like feeding, toileting and nappy changing, educators turn to an efficient ‘task driven’ mode of care that sees success and achievement as…