In your early education service, have you ever stopped to think that every time you move – you influence children? Children near you, children nearby, children far away. Your physical positions, the conversations, and the type of conversations influence how children see themselves in your setting.
Continue reading “IN PRACTICE: Every move we make influences children”
In centres, community halls and public squares all over Australia today, early childhood educators will gather today with a simple and long-overdue ask – don’t ignore what we do for this country. Not for one more day.
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: The gaping hole in Australia’s education system”
Australia’s early childhood educators, including those working in community and private childcare centres, will walk off the job on March 27 to demand better pay. Some centres will be closed for the whole day and parents will be asked to keep their children at home.
Continue reading “Low-paid ‘women’s work’: why early childhood educators are walking out”
The experience we had visiting the National Gallery of Australia (see Part 1 of this article here) highlighted a question that has been at the forefront of my mind since the visit: How are children viewed and positioned in today’s society?
Continue reading “IN PRACTICE: Do children belong everywhere? (Part 2)”
As part of our ongoing exploration of Indigenous art in the Preschool Room, we took a group of nine Preschool Children to the National Gallery of Australia to view some of the Indigenous exhibits. When I initially planned on documenting our experience, I had a vision of an easy to read story about a pleasant day at the gallery. However, the experience we ended up having at the National Gallery wasn’t exactly what I had anticipated, and I would like to give an honest recap about our experience.
Continue reading “IN PRACTICE: Do children belong everywhere? (Part 1)”
There has been a spate of recent media reports concerning appalling conduct by workers in United States early education settings. Many of these reports have been picked up and shared by media outlets in Australia.
Regular commentator against the need for investment in early childhood education Judith Sloan has once again questioned the need for Governments to invest in this area.
Continue reading “OPINION: Where access to early education conflicts with conservative values”
The new Report Card from ARACY has drawn on a range of national and international data and indicators to provide a snapshot of children’s outcomes in areas such as health, wellbeing and education. We took a look at statistics relevant to National Quality Framework services – here are five charts that demonstrate just how Australia is faring.
Continue reading “Five charts that show Australia’s poor performance in early education”
A new report card examining a wide range of child and youth health, wellbeing and education data reveals that Australia is doing worse than, or only meeting, the international average in two-thirds of indicators.
Continue reading “New report shows Australia continues to fall behind in children’s outcomes”
A new, national radio station overseen by the ABC represents a huge opportunity to shift the conversation in Australia away from “childcare” to early childhood education.
