Governments across Australia have engaged Macquarie University, Queensland University of Technology and Edith Cowan University to lead the 2021 National Quality Framework Approved Learning Frameworks Update project. The aim is to ensure the ongoing currency and relevance of the two Approved Learning Frameworks (ALFs): Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia…
Storytelling exists as a vital aspect of every culture and has existed in every corner of the world which people call home. Stories exist to inform, explore and hypothesise as well as to entertain and amuse. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have used stories as their main way of sharing their worldview and understandings…
From the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic, the early childhood sector was tasked with expanding their required health practices to include up-to-date, health information to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among staff, families and children. Despite considerable concern about their own health and safety, educators and providers responded quickly to this new challenge, drawing on their established health knowledge…
Hello from the dark side! With all the talk of using digital platforms in documenting our early learning programs, I feel the need to fly the flag for those with another point of view; those who can’t quite cross over; those who wrestle with the ethics of digital documentation of children; those who wonder about…
The 2021-22 budget includes funding for 15 hours per week of free preschool education for all children in the year before school. Although in his budget speech, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said there would be $2 billion for preschools, the budget papers specify: ‘the government will provide $1.6 billion over four years from 2021-22 (and $589.0 million…
Many hands over each other as a symbol of cohesion In the past, the word consent has not been commonly associated with young children or the early childhood education sector more broadly. Dictionary definitions of consent emphasise giving permission for something to happen—in other words empowering children to understand their own rights in regard to…
Catharine Hydon speaks to Jean Eden who is retiring after 44 years in the early childhood sector. A chance conversation got me thinking. How does an early childhood professional sum up their career as they prepare to step into retirement? How does the legacy of decades of hard work and dedication to the wellbeing of…
‘Mesmerised. Excited. Engaged. Amazed.’ These were the words early childhood educator Kristy Edwards used to describe the childrens’ reaction at her early learning centre when they took part in their first Conceptual PlayWorld. It was based on The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and after reading it, the children ventured out into their imaginary world. There they…
ECA recently launched a new series of Learning Hub modules on Digital Documentation and Technology in collaboration with Storypark. In this co-authored blog piece, we pose questions for services to reflect on their approach to documentation. Without any checklists or strict guidelines, the requirements of documenting children’s learning are largely open to interpretation. What’s certain…
‘Children leave the caregiver; the caregiver does not leave the child.’ Who would have thought that a global pandemic would lead to a world where social normality and early childhood practice was completely transformed? In early childhood, the ‘gate drop off’ quickly became one of the most significant socially normal practices emerging during COVID-19. The practice…