Rohan, Author at Teachers Aide Courses

Honouring educators

Rohan — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 05:22:29 +0000

Each year hundreds of Australians receive Australia Day Honours for the outstanding service and contributions they make to everyday life in Australia. This year, three notable Australians, The Honourable Jay Weatherill, Megan Mitchell and Professor Lester-Irabinna Rigney, were honoured for their contributions to early childhood education.

The Honourable Jay Weatherill, AO, received his Officer of the Order of Australia award for distinguished service to the people and Parliament of South Australia, particularly as Premier, and to early childhood and tertiary education. Jay is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Thrive By Five.

Megan Mitchell, AM, received her Member of the Order of Australia award for significant service to children, to human rights and to wellbeing initiatives. Currently Megan serves as a member of the National Forum for Protecting Australia’s Children and is a board member of Berry Street, Yourtown, Family and Relationship Services Australia, Maranguka and a member of Global Access Partners Standing Committee on Early Childhood Education. Megan has presented at a number of ECA conferences over the years and the Chair of the ECA advisory group who developed Supporting Young Children’s Rights: Statement of Intent (2015-2018).

Professor Lester-Irabinna Rigney, AM, received his Member of the Order of Australia award for significant service to Indigenous education and to social inclusion research. Professor Lester-Irabinna Rigney has worked in Aboriginal Education for over 20 years and has been a member of several high profile expert committees on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander early childhood and school education. Lester also presented at the 2018 ECA National Conference in Sydney.

ECA would like to acknowledge and express our appreciation for the work these individuals have undertaken in our sector. But there are thousands of ‘unsung heroes and heroines’ who dedicate their lives to educating the next generation of Australians who go publicly unacknowledged and are often under appreciated.

The Australian Honours system provides a way to say ‘thank you’ to those who make our communities a better place. Anyone can nominate someone to be recognised through the Order of Australia and the nomination form can be found on the Governor-General’s website.

ECA would like to see more people who are dedicated to early childhood services nominated and receive awards. We are happy to nominate deserving potential recipients in our sector but we need your help. Who do you think goes above and beyond for early childhood education? Who would you like to see receive a nomination for an Australia Day Honour? Let us know in our comments below.

Together we can help acknowledge some of the wonderful people who dedicate their lives to improving early childhood education in Australia.

The post Honouring educators appeared first on Teachers Aide Courses.

Use your voice for change

Rohan — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 05:22:28 +0000

With the widespread acceptance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional custodians of the land comes the simple proposition that we must change the date—the 26^th of January is not an inclusive day of celebration for all Australians. And yet the controversy rages. There are many different views around the date of Australia Day and it is difficult to understand why more Australians do not empathise with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who feel that the 26^th of January is not an appropriate day for celebration.

What is it about the celebration of this date that sees frenzied displays of the Australian flag? (By the way, that reminds me of another long overdue conversation that this country needs to have). Is it about national identity and patriotism? Clinging to untruths about the colonisation of Australia? Fear that something is being lost? I truly don’t get it and do not understand this behaviour. What I do know is that we all have a responsibility to progress and hopefully witness some change about this date so that we all can celebrate Australia Day with pride.

The bigger question is how we go about doing this in a respectful way so that we begin to heal and truly engage in a process that supports reconciliation. I think the first step is to be curious. Differing worldviews, values and belief systems shouldn’t create an ‘us and them’ divide. In fact, engaging in healthy debate can facilitate understanding and empathy with those whose viewpoint differs from our own. Express your feelings and share your thoughts, listen to understand and when the opportunity presents, provide the facts about the colonisation of Australia.

In the meantime, how can we explore the concept of colonisation with our families and children? The 26^th of January provides an opportunity to learn about our nation’s past and to learn about the true history of Australia, to talk to them about the controversy of the date and to provide information about the Change the Date initiative. It is a chance to help them to understand intergenerational trauma and the impact that is felt today by our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities.

In fact, this is the ideal time to explore empathy and kindness with our children and families, to ask them what can we do to acknowledge the loss and sadness that is felt by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on this day. This effort could involve planting a garden or drawing their feelings, or they may create a patchwork of their feelings into a display, and this will encourage further conversations with families and visitors to your service about reconciliation. The most important thing is to do something, and not to waste the opportunity to promote empathy and understanding about these issues.

For change to happen it is going to come from us, we cannot rely on our politicians to make this change out of the goodness of their hearts, it will not happen. It will be our collective voices that will bring about this long overdue change. Find your voice and use it to promote empathy and understanding about the true history of the 26^th of January.

ECA recommends

A guide to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures: The important first step to reconciliation

By Jo Goodwin

Whether or not you are beginning or continuing your learning on how to best include and explore Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures with young children, it is your commitment, time, values and attitudes that will progress these ideas. Progressing reconciliation can at times be challenging, difficult and slow. It can also be inspiring, energising and open a world of possibilities. You can purchase your copy on the ECA Shop here.

The post Use your voice for change appeared first on Teachers Aide Courses.

Australia Day, Invasion Day, Survival Day

Rohan — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 05:22:27 +0000

Every year on the 26th of January we celebrate what it means to be Australian. It’s a day when we welcome new Australians into the fold through citizenship ceremonies and we get together for barbecues, that most inexplicably Australian of meals. We mark the day in a myriad of ways and yet we continue to ignore the elephant in the room: the continued requests by Aboriginal communities to change the date on which we celebrate togetherness and the Australian way of life.

Each year I ruminate and then write about the ways in which I had hoped Australia would have changed over the past 12 months. I hope and I hope for a shift in the public attitude, so that my two children might see the Australia in which they live understands the hurt of the past, the history of violence, the dispossession and loss. I hope that they are supported in their Aboriginal identities, and that they can be proud and loud about how fantastic it is to live in Australia, a country that understands, values and cherishes its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Every year I am disappointed.

2020 marked some outstandingly tragic losses to cultural heritage and some incredible backward steps in regard to community consultation and respect for Aboriginal ways of knowing and being.

In 2020, the young people with whom I work at Wiradjuri Preschool and Child Care, shared the incredible sense of loss and mourning that I experienced with the destruction of the Djab Wurrung Directions birthing tree. We spoke at length about the value and ongoing relationships this and other important cultural heritage sites have for, and with, Aboriginal communities.

Country is more than land, it is family.

The young people I shared this loss with felt a large range of emotions. Some felt the grief I was feeling, others felt shame and still others felt anger and confusion. These young Australians were ranging between the ages of 2-5 years of age. These young people, for whom life is just starting, and with whom the hope for a future Australia that truly values Aboriginal ways of knowing and being lays, already share with Aboriginal people the sense of loss that continues to be an everyday experience for us. They share with us the sense that our ‘go’ is not the fair one we are all promised in Australia, and it is this sense that I try to focus on, this year as Australia Day, Invasion Day, Survival Day approaches.

Continue to have these real and hard conversations with the young people in your lives, be they professional or personal relationships, as generations of children that understand and share a respect, love and connection to Country are our best hope for an improvement to things for everyone: true reconciliation.

Australia Day, the 26th of January, remains the date which marks the beginnings of the damage done to Aboriginal lives, cultures, languages, families.

It doesn’t need to stay this way.

The date can be changed, and it is only through developing understanding and empathy in young people, that the need to change the date will become apparent. Spend time leading up to Australia Day this year reading, learning, speaking with community members, and educating yourself and your communities about the impact of this celebration.

Hopefully next year, and with the early childhood education and care community leading the charge, things will have taken a turn for the better.

Then, I will REALLY have something to write about.

ECA recommends

ECA Research in Practice Series, Acceptance, justice and equality: exploring reconciliation in early childhood education and care

By Catharine Hydon and Adam Duncan

This edition of the Research in Practice Series aims to support early years practitioners in exploring reconciliation with young children. Starting with insights into the history of reconciliation in Australia, the book provides ideas for reflection and action towards a reconciled Australia. You can purchase or subscribe to get a copy here.

The post Australia Day, Invasion Day, Survival Day appeared first on Teachers Aide Courses.

Seizing the moment: Telling a new story for early childhood

Rohan — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 05:22:26 +0000

We have heard so many times in the last year that we are experiencing unprecedented times, and indeed we are. This quote from Monbiot (2017, p. 1), highlighted in the concluding chapter of Claire Cameron and Peter Moss’s new book, aptly outlines the situation:

The old world, which once looked stable, even immutable, is collapsing. A new era has begun, loaded with hazard if we fail to respond, charged with promise if we seize the moment. Whether the systems that emerge from this rupture are better or worse than the current dispensation depends on our ability to tell a new story, a story that learns from the past, places us in the present and guides the future.

This new book, Transforming Early Childhood in England, describes an English early childhood system that is fractured, shaky and dependent on a feminine workforce that is ‘scandalously underpaid’. Particularly in the last chapter, Cameron and Moss talk of a fragmentation of children’s services, a divide between early childhood education and care, a push for accountability that calls into question notions of measurable outcomes and a push down curriculum to get children ready for a focused future of ‘more of the same’. Sound familiar?

Peter Moss at Early Childhood Australia’s National Conference in 2019 in Hobart.

AJEC Research Symposium Panel Discussion

For a panel discussion in the upcoming AJEC Research Symposium, we will be using this chapter as a starting point for ‘seizing the moment’ and asking each of the panel members how they would re-imagine and change the early childhood story. The panel members include:

The CEO of a not-for-profit organisation (Early Childhood Australia), Samantha Page
An experienced research academic, Professor Susan Greishaber (La Trobe University)
An astute policy negotiator, Dr Rosemary Cahill (Telethon Kids Institute)

They will respond to the ideas, notions and wonderings that this chapter provokes, and they will consider how, as early childhood professionals, we might use this time to be the agents of our own narratives and seize the moment.

Unprecedented times do present challenges, but they can also offer new opportunities and possibilities. Through their latest book Cameron and Moss are asking us to contemplate transformative change and to not tinker with ‘reformist thinking’. They are calling on people all over the world to ‘tell a new story’.

Join us at the virtual AJEC Research Symposium to hear panel members’ perspectives on what this story might look like. To be part of the discussion, please read the concluding chapter* of the book and have your questions ready for the panel.

To register or to find out more about the virtual AJEC Research Symposium on 11 and 12 February 2021, click on this link.

Links:

The reading is available as a free pdf through Open Access and can be found at this link. Turn to Chapter 14 ‘Conclusion: from the state we’re in to what do we want for our children?’ (pp. 220–237).

ECA Recommends

Loris Malaguzzi and the Schools of Reggio Emilia: A selection of his writings and speeches 1945-1993

Edited by Paola Cagliari, Marina Castagnetti, Claudia Giudici, Carlina Rinaldi, Vea Vecchi, Peter Moss

Loris Malaguzzi was one of the most important figures in 20th century early childhood education, achieving world-wide recognition for his educational ideas and his role in the creation of municipal schools for young children in the Italian city of Reggio Emilia, the most successful example ever of progressive, democratic and public education.

Despite Malaguzzi’s reputation, very little of what he wrote or said about early childhood education has been available in English. This book helps fill the gap, presenting for the first time in English, writings and speeches spanning 1945 to 1993, selected by a group of his colleagues from an archive established in Reggio Emilia. They range from short poems, letters and newspaper articles to extended pieces about Malaguzzi’s early life, the origins of the municipal schools and his ideas about children, pedagogy and schools. This material is organised into five chronological chapters, starting at the end of World War Two and ending just before his death, with introductions to each chapter providing background, including the historical context, the main events in Malaguzzi’s life and the rationale for the selection of documents.

Purchase your copy here on the ECA Shop.

The post Seizing the moment: Telling a new story for early childhood appeared first on Teachers Aide Courses.

Early childhood educators are leaving in droves. Here are 3 ways to ensure Australia has enough

Rohan — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 05:22:25 +0000

Childcare centres across Australia are suffering staff shortages, which have been exacerbated by the COVID crisis.

Many childcare workers across Australia left when parents started pulling their children out of childcare due to the pandemic, especially casuals not eligible for JobKeeper. And when the federal government introduced its temporary free childcare package, centres struggled to get the staff back.

The situation is not new. In a 2016 survey of 1,200 early childhood educators and degree-qualified teachers in childcare centres and preschools across Australia, one in five said they planned to leave their job within a year. The reasons included low pay, feeling undervalued and increasing time spent on paperwork.

And a survey conducted in 2019 showed up to two in three early childhood educators in Victoria were considering leaving their role. High staff turnover — of up to 30% — is an enduring problem in early childhood services.

Whenever an educator leaves the sector, it’s a loss for children that affects their learning and well-being. Staff turnover also means more public money needs to be spent training new workers.

Based on unpublished Mitchell Institute analysis of ABS census data, just over half the educators who gained early childhood certificates since 2012 (when qualification requirements were introduced) are still working in relevant jobs. In comparison, almost all of those who completed vocational certificates in building are still working in the sector.

To address workforce issues in the sector, Australian governments are developing a National Early Childhood Workforce Strategy, due for release in the latter half of 2021. It’s more important than ever before to get this right.

A report from the Mitchell Institute shows three policy moves needed to retain and attract skilled educators to the sector.

1. Early childhood careers need to be valued

Teaching and caring for young children is complex, and requires people with the right training and qualifications. Qualified educators provide better-quality education and care, which benefits children’s learning and development, as numerous international studies have shown.

Yet, most early childhood educators are paid well below the Australian average gross weekly earnings. Educators with vocational certificates are the lowest paid, and earn less for doing skilled work with children than a trainee working in a call centre.

These educators are vital to the sector’s survival: they make up almost 40% of the early childhood workforce, working alongside colleagues with diplomas and degrees.

Recent gains have been made in some states. Victoria has introduced a pay increase of up to 31% for qualified preschool teachers. But this only covers a small proportion of the around 50,000 educators in the state.

More people using early childhood education and care services, and governments lifting the bar for quality means Australia will still need to recruit 6,800 degree-qualified early childhood teachers to 2024, as well as over 30,000 more educators with vocational diplomas and certificates. This will only happen if all educators are valued, and have opportunities for rewarding careers.

2. Educator well-being needs to matter too

COVID-19 has been tough on early childhood educators’ well-being. While school teachers had it tough with the transition to remote learning, early childhood educators also had to contend with rapid changes to policy, funding and work arrangements, as governments worked to keep the sector afloat.

The well-being of educators matters to children’s learning. Recent Australian research has shows well educators can better respond to children in playful, educational ways that support their learning and development. Educators need support for their physical health and well-being, especially given the challenges of maintaining COVID-safe environments.

Early childhood educators have experienced many stressors during the pandemic. Many have worked hard to adapt their services to the changing needs of children and families, whose lives were turned upside down. Others have experienced financial insecurity themselves, or uncertainty about their future employment.

Under any circumstances, educators need support to cope with the emotional labour of working with young children, and putting their heart into their job.

Skilled early childhood educators make a demonstrable difference to children’s learning.

Research shows one way to boost retention and well-being for early childhood educators is to have meaningful career paths and supportive workplace cultures. While 80% of educators feel supported by their managers, low wages and limited access to professional development and promotion constrain educators’ careers.

Expert educators need more opportunities to become mentors and leaders, to motivate them to stay in the sector and inspire new educators to learn.

3. Streamline funding responsibility

The reason it’s so hard to get educators’ pay and conditions right is that the money comes from different sources.

Governments pay around half the total cost of early childhood services, mainly through the childcare subsidy from the Australian government that helps families pay fees. State governments also contribute to preschool. Families pay the remainder of the fees, with many paying more for early childhood services than they would for private schools.

Employers ultimately make decisions about how much to pay their staff, within various industrial agreements.

This means educators’ wages and conditions are everybody’s problem and nobody’s problem. Former Education Minister Dan Tehan has said paying educators more is up to employers. Employers and unions argue governments need to contribute more funding to the sector before educators’ wages can increase.

Families are already stretched, and passing costs on to them seems unthinkable in the current economic climate.

Similar problems arise in determining who pays for improvements to educators’ conditions, such as making sure they have time for professional development (something few currently receive).

Government funding to early childhood services needs to be high enough to support fair wages, and delivered in a way that ensures it is spent well. With different funding models in each state, and thousands of employers, it won’t be easy to design a system that works for everyone. But governments have a responsibility to Australian families to ensure all educators are paid enough to stay.

Can Australia get this right in 2021? Maybe – in 2020, governments, employers and unions worked together on some of the most critical workforce challenges Australia has faced. Perhaps the education and care of our children will be important enough to bring them together again.

Author

Jen Jackson

Program Director, Centre for Policy Development, and Associate Professor of Education, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University,

This article was originally published on The Conversation, you can read it here.

The post Early childhood educators are leaving in droves. Here are 3 ways to ensure Australia has enough appeared first on Teachers Aide Courses.

Nappy change and toilet learning

Rohan — Fri, 08 Jan 2021 06:17:11 +0000

Attuned routines give us the chance to reconsider our interactions and focus on pausing to be truly with a child. One opportunity for an attuned routine experience is nappy changes. Here Dr Katherine Bussey and Michelle Richardson share some insights for us as we reconceptualise this routine task.

Reconceptualising nappy changes and toileting key times for learning requires educators to facilitate opportunities for children to be actively involved. This supports children to learn how to lead their toileting experiences independently in the future. It also helps children build communication skills, through rich one-on-one conversations with educators about what is happening, and supports them to gain understandings of consent, of their bodies and how they work.

Children experience thousands of nappy changes during the early years. This provides regular opportunities for creating predictable patterns for children and consistent ways of approaching routines for educators. Toilet learning is a more relevant term, as toileting should be a learning process that children facilitate and learn to understand.

It is important for toileting to be an autonomous activity led by the child and not a process that families or educators ‘accelerate through training’ (Belza et al., 2019, p. 497).

The child’s role in nappy changes is to be an active participant. Toddlers can lift their legs and bottoms when educators ask them to, and educators can pause and wait for a response. Older children can unstrap their own nappies. Toddlers can gradually learn to undress themselves and wipe their own bottoms, kick-starting their journey to independent toilet learning. Encouraging children to be active participants and to pay attention to what is happening with their bodies is also a vital part of learning more about consensual touch to their most intimate parts.

‘… toileting should be a learning

process that children facilitate

and learn to understand.’

The role of educators, when changing nappies, is to ensure that children get their full attention. This is an integral part of the curriculum, so time and resources need to be allocated to this routine. This can be a chance for educators to support language learning by continually describing what is happening during the experience. They can label and put words on actions and feelings, for example, by describing what will happen next, when the child should be involved and in which way. These times are a great opportunity for using rich, full sentences; pausing and observing the child’s eyes, face and body; and waiting for cues and responses. This way, children learn how conversations work, what it means

to be listened to and how to share with someone else. During the process, educators need to ensure that their hands are gentle and their facial expressions are positive and inviting.

Nappy changing spaces should ideally be peaceful and quiet, allowing genuine opportunity for one-on-one conversation, connection and learning. If nappy change spaces are lined up

next to one another, educators and children may miss the opportunity to focus together. The environment should be set up in a way that helps avoid distractions from what is

happening in the moment.

‘Nappy changing spaces should

be set up in a way that helps

avoid distractions from what is

happening in the moment.’

Using clear communication not only helps the child know when it is time to change their nappy, it gives them information about the physical sensations relating to toileting and what will happen next. For example, you could say, ’Your nappy is looking heavy and wet. Let’s go change it together.’ Give the child advance notice before you touch them with a wipe—‘This will be cold and wet. Are you ready?’ Pause and look at the child’s face for indications that they have understood what you said. For young infants, slight changes in their muscle tone indicate they have heard you and are likely ready for the next step.

Through attuned routine experiences, children feel safe and are encouraged to stay present in the moment. They learn that educators listen carefully to what they say and pay attention to their verbal and non-verbal cues. Children will also learn about their bodies and develop their sense of agency, while practising self-help skills they will build on for the rest of their lives.

Co-authors

Dr Katherine Bussey is an infant and toddler specialist academic from New Zealand, currently living in Melbourne, Australia. Katherine is a strong advocate for infants and toddlers, having spent the last 20 years actively engaging in international infant and toddler professional learning and developing practice in early childhood education based on the Pikler® approach and Magda Gerber’s Educaring Approach (RIE™). Katherine mentors, consults and provides professional learning and development to educators and infant and toddler teams by helping them engage in inspiring critical reflection, learning and growth.

Michelle Richardson is an early childhood teacher and graduate of Macquarie University. More recently Michelle has worked in senior leadership roles, supporting teams and individual educators in the crucial role they enact each day with children and their families. Michelle oversees the Education Hub, Gowrie NSW’s professional learning program and provides pedagogical leadership across the programs of the organisation. Michelle is driven to ensure spaces for children and their families are deeply respectful, meaningful and connected places for children to uniquely be themselves and thrive.

ECA Recommends

Attuned routine experiences

By Dr Katherine Bussey and Michelle Richardson

The way in which routine experiences are established and enacted with infants and toddlers in early childhood settings significantly influences opportunities for learning and relationship-building. This Everyday Learning Series title uses research and evidence-based practice to provoke thinking and promote routines as key, meaningful moments for young children. Purchase your copy on the ECA Shop here.

The post Nappy change and toilet learning appeared first on Teachers Aide Courses.

What children ‘really’ want for Christmas

Rohan — Fri, 08 Jan 2021 06:17:10 +0000

Many of us are looking forward to celebrating the end of the year with friends and family—perhaps even more than usual after the stress and isolation of COVID-19. Hopefully, the New Year will bring more reasons for optimism and fewer challenges like those experienced by so many in 2020, due to natural disasters as well as the pandemic.

The upcoming celebrations of Christmas and other significant holidays will likely bring some degree of stress over food, family gatherings and gifts. Thousands of parents will be asked what their children want or need. Many parents will say no to more toys and stuff children don’t really need; often what they would really like to give their children is less screen time and more time outside.

Research with young children consistently tells us that rather than the latest gadget or toy, most want more quality time with loved ones, particularly their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Adults are often surprised to hear that, perhaps even a tad sceptical. But isn’t it natural for children to want time and connection, to feel important to someone and of course to engage the grown-ups in play? Perhaps the most valued gift we can give is to slow down, spend time and connect with our families.

‘That’s all very well’, you might think, ‘but I still need something to wrap and leave under the tree!’ There are some gifts that are perhaps more likely to support play and engagement and can be tailored to a child’s interests, such as:

an entry pass or membership to a fun attraction like a national park, swimming pool, theme park, skating rink, botanic gardens, zoo or reptile park
a card or set of cards promising to spend time with them, and perhaps playing a favourite game, watching a movie, kicking a ball at the park, going swimming or getting an ice cream
a storybook that features the child, and possibly their pets, friends, family members, favourite characters or activities
a children’s cookbook with recipes for the child to pick that you can make together (Wombat Stew was a favourite in my household when mine were little)
simple musical instruments. Drums, bells, triangles, xylophones and glockenspiels are all good options to provide hours of fun without being expensive or needing to be charged
materials for being creative. Things like playdough, crayons, chalk, packets of (recycled) paper or card, parent-approved pencils or textas can be great-value gifts
items for the dress-up box. Colourful silks, hats, capes, aprons and so on are versatile and provide an endless variety of role-play options
imaginative play props—maybe felt puppets or a tea set. These are even better if you are willing to join in!

Another way to make this a special time of the year for children is to develop or strengthen rituals or traditions. This can help build a sense of security, identity and belonging. Over the years they learn what to expect and how to participate. For example, you could:

read Christmas-themed storybooks and poems in the nights leading up to Christmas
play your favourite carols or songs in the lead-up to the holidays. Babies love the sound of your voice singing to them and as they grow, they can start to join in. There are lots of collections like this one on YouTube or this one on ClassicFM
plan some time to visit houses, shops or local government with Christmas displays
have a photo taken with Santa—most shopping centres offer this but also some community and volunteer groups
decorate a tree or make decorations together (SBS has some great ideas)
watch holiday-themed movies suitable for the whole family (Dr Seuss’s The Grinch was a favourite with my family, and the Raising Children website has movie reviews for children)
cook some special Christmas treats (these Kidspot recipes might be a good starting point) discuss how to help others who are less fortunate or who are alone for the holidays, and find local organisations that support giving or sharing at this time of year.

Perhaps the most important message is to please be kind to yourself and others. It has been a difficult year, family gatherings can be stressful and for those navigating separation or grieving the loss of a loved one, it can be a particularly tough time. Give yourself time to think and plan how you want to spend the holidays, and reach out for help if you need to—beyondblue has a lot of useful information on mental health and support services available.

If you make time to play, cherish and listen to the children in your life, that in itself is a gift. Try not to let the stress or pressure of other demands get in the way, or overstretch yourself financially.

From all of us at Early Childhood Australia, we wish you a safe and happy holiday season.

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,

Stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?

It came without ribbons. It came without tags.

It came without packages, boxes or bags.

And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before.

What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store?

What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?

Excerpt from The Grinch, by Dr. Seuss

ECA Recommends

Faiths and their festivals: A guide to religions and celebrations in our multicultural society

By Christine Howard and Kay Margetts

Faiths and their festivals is designed to help by giving background information to the faiths and celebrations in our multicultural society. It looks at the beliefs and core practices of the main faiths and describes the festivals associated with them. Purchase your copy on the ECA Shop here.

The post What children ‘really’ want for Christmas appeared first on Teachers Aide Courses.

The 12 days of Christmas (except when it’s more!)

Rohan — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 02:18:12 +0000

‘Being a professional requires you to exercise pedagogical judgment—every day. It does seem though we now have a ‘Christmas’ curriculum and it starts early.’ Karen Hope encourages educators to reflect on more than just the art and craft of Christmas in early childhood settings.

I like this time of year and I celebrate Christmas. For me it’s a time to ‘power down’ spend time with my family, remember why I like them, and cooking—lots of cooking. Christmas can for many, be a nostalgic time of year, and nostalgia can be seductive. We often think back to when we were children and try and replicate those feelings and experiences or we might try and create new ones—better ones.

In the early learning environment what is celebrated and how are questions for each individual context and should reflect shared understandings of what children, families and educators’ value. I think we are quite good at understanding the need to respect and understand many different types of diversity; cultural, social, sexual, economic—to name a few. We have an awareness of how celebrations—all kinds—can be incorporated into our early learning programs and many different types of celebrations take place. By acknowledging and incorporating different ways of celebrating into our programs they can support us to; be, become and belong.

The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) encourages us to be reflective and intentional in our curriculum decisions and pedagogical approaches. Being a professional requires you to exercise pedagogical judgment—every day. It does seem though we now have a ‘Christmas’ curriculum and it starts early. Early learning services can be fertile ground for all kinds of Christmas activities and I have seen some truly perplexing examples of art/craft activities being implemented. These types of experiences are often closed-ended, using resources that are often not sustainable, built around an idea that for some, has no context. Snow, sleighs and reindeers are hard to place in Australia in December.

I look at some of these artefacts and think, why?

Social media has become an enabler of sorts providing us with an abundance of Christmas ideas that can be used with young children. A quick desk top review of popular social media pages and department store hacks reveals literally thousands of craft ideas and activities that can be rolled out. I wonder, given the enthusiastic participation of some of the early learning workforce on these pages if the Christmas curriculum is the green light to do the types of ‘art and craft’ activities they really want to be doing? Finally, we get to use paper plates!

When I query the inclusion of these type of experiences the responses, I get generally fall into three categories;

It’s fun! (When know that children learn best through play and fun is an integral part of that. Be intentional about how you build this into your programming.)
The families love it. (Do they? Families love a lot of things, but it doesn’t always mean we should do them. We have a whole lot of pedagogy and theory that sits behind the curriculum decisions that we make. Use that to explain your programming decisions at this time of year)
The children love it. (Do they? Give them a range of art materials and let them go. No templates or fake snow required.)

You might be thinking—does it really matter? but it is worth thinking about the unintended consequences of these approaches.

It can reinforce a dominant western discourse. (The modern version of Santa Claus that many of us know, with red suit and matching hat is an image that Coca-Cola helped shape).
It can reinforce consumerism.
It can be a waste of children’s time, talent and creativity?
It can de-stabilise our quest for recognition of our professional status. The work we do is complex and skilled. It is more than pasting cotton wool balls on a paper plate.

When you consider that this curriculum approach to celebrations is also being equally applied to Easter, Halloween, Valentine’s Day, Australia Day, the ALF grand final etc, etc. you can probably see the issue.

What could you do?

Quarantine celebration activities and experiences until closer to Christmas. Little children do not need to spend a long time today getting ready for tomorrow.
Perhaps emphasise the end of the year or the beginning of a new one as the focus of celebration. Focus on accomplishments and learning.
If children are to participate in art/craft experiences, make them authentic and contextual. Parents do like the artefacts that children bring home so make sure they reflect the child’s ideas and work.

You do not need to lose yourself or what you value in this process. What you hold to be important should infuse your work with children and what you value should be reflected in the curriculum decisions that you make. Think of pedagogical values here rather than personal. There is a difference.

I do offer a big shout out to all of those educators reflecting on the meaning of this time of year for all children and families and thinking about how they will celebrate in authentic and child-led ways. Perhaps a social media page for them?

Before you become a keyboard, warrior preparing to defend the use of baubles, paper plates and sustainable glitter; it is worth remembering the words of Cindy Lou Who in the cinematic adaption of ‘How the Grinch stole Christmas’; ‘No matter how different a Who may appear, he will always be welcome with holiday cheer.’

ECA Recommends

Multicultural Celebrations and Festivals: A month-by-month guide to celebrations around the year

By Karen Hart and Kay Margetts

This book is full of fun, practical ideas for supporting inclusive practice and introducing multicultural learning within an early years setting. The book includes role play suggestions, traditional festival foods, party ideas, craft activities and more. You can purchase your copy on the ECA Shop here.

The post The 12 days of Christmas (except when it’s more!) appeared first on Teachers Aide Courses.

STEM Superstars in early childhood education

Rohan — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 02:18:11 +0000

Sixty accomplished women in science, technology, engineering and maths and technology have been announced as Australia’s newest Superstars of STEM.

The Superstars of STEM program, supported by the Australian Government’s Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, sets out to smash traditional stereotypes of scientists, engineers and mathematicians. The program provides women in these fields with training in media and a platform to share their research with the broader community.

ECA congratulates all of the participants chosen for the 2021-2022 program, in particular Dr Holly Tootell, as ECA will be working closely with her to link her research to early childhood education. Holly currently explores meaningful ways to understand both the adult and child perspectives in Information Technology (IT) research. She is interested in learning how the relationships between educators and families/carers can support children to be participants in technology design processes.

Her main research topic is on human-computer interaction methods, and how we can adapt them to be meaningful to pre-school age children. She says most technology-based research engages with children aged six years and above, and that we know little about how children under the age of six engage with technology design processes.

‘I come from an Information Technology background, and there is not a lot of focus on young children in this field of work. As a mother, I was curious about how my children made choices about the technology they engaged with; that was the start of this exciting, and inspiring area of work.’

Holly is constantly learning and shaping her understanding of the voice of both educators and children in her research field. She says it’s important that there are ‘advocates for both children, as users of technology, and educators, as technology providers.’

Holly’s work aligns with the ECA Statement on young children and digital technologies, in that her research acknowledges and encourages children to be active participants in their community and future. She also says, it ‘highlights the importance of relationships that young children have with adults and peers as we seek to understand their views and opinions as technology designers.’

Congratulations Holly! ECA is very excited to work with you and to see your research come to progresses.

Links:

Media release
ECA’s Statement on young children and digital technologies
In this 45-minute video, Dr Holly Tootell from the University of Wollongong talks about her research into technology design with pre-schoolers and answers questions from the audience. Pre-schoolers views on technology design.

ECA Recommends

STEM in early childhood education

By Marianne Knaus and Pauline Roberts

In this edition of the Research in Practice Series, we explore the integrated learning approach focusing on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The book will help educators in the early childhood sector to understand the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of STEM and to learn how to implement hands-on, inquiry-based pedagogies within the STEM disciplines for young children. Purchase your copy here on the ECA Shop.

The post STEM Superstars in early childhood education appeared first on Teachers Aide Courses.

The time to welcome students back to early childhood services is now!

Rohan — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 02:18:10 +0000

Catharine Hydon and Kerrie O’Neill share nine compelling reasons why now is the time for students studying early childhood education and care need to be in services doing placement.

It’s been bubbling for months but do you realise the gravity of the problem?

The niggling concern identified by the pre-service sector that many students have not been able to complete their placements has been replaced by widespread alarm. Anecdotal evidence available from pre-service teachers, especially those in the VET sector, identify that there are hundreds of Certificate III and Diploma student across the country unable to complete their qualifications. They have successfully pivoted, alongside their training institutions, to complete the theoretical components of the required units to now find themselves in a holding pattern, waiting to complete the critical placement units that enable them to become qualified members of our profession.

What’s going on, you might ask?

COVID is to blame, of course. Students have, for good reasons, been unable to complete their placement hours in services. This problem is particularly acute in large cities but is also a concern in regional locations. Still, in many cases despite the easing of restrictions, individual early childhood services and organisations across Australia have decided against allowing students to undertake placements this year. The decision is understandable; it’s been a very uncertain year. Governments have mandated strict restrictions, and collective capacities have been depleted.

However, now is not the time to decline or delay student placements. To do so will have an ongoing negative impact on the early childhood sector’s ability to provide high-quality education and care.

It may sound counterintuitive but bear with us as we offer some compelling reasons to welcome students back to early childhood services NOW.

1. We have an overarching ethical commitment to students to support them to become the best educators and professionals they can be. Colleagues helped us to become great educators, and we need to return the responsibility.

2. Great practice takes place in good times and when things are tough, so let’s invite students into our spaces, so they begin to understand the joy and complexities of children’s service provision.

3. It’s a perfect time for students to learn about the importance of risk assessments, cleanliness and planning for the health and safety of the early childhood community during a pandemic.

4. Learning to become an effective educator is about planning for what happens across a whole year, including settling children in and saying goodbye at the end of the year. Why do we ‘ringfence’ these times as not appropriate for student placements? We know it’s a busy time of the year, but it is a perfect time to offer emerging educators an opportunity to have professional experiences during this period. Students can provide fresh thinking about end of year celebrations, enrolment and orientation processes which can assist in critical reflection of dominant discourses.

5. Emerging educators need all the help they can get. Work in early childhood education is challenging, and we need more people working together as a team to share the load. However, just to be clear, it is not ethical for students to do the dirty, mundane and crappy jobs. We should provide opportunities for teams to think together with children and families to deliver meaningful learning experiences, a task made more comfortable with more people assisting.

6. Student placements address recruitment challenges. Many services report that they have found their best people via student placements. They welcome them in and never let them go!

7. Students bring new ideas and challenge our thinking – if we let them. 2020 has been a time of complexity, but it has also created space for creativity and innovation. Why stop now?

8. Australia already has significant workforce challenges in early childhood. Delaying students’ placements makes it more difficult for students to complete their qualifications, and we risk their departure from the sector.

9. And last but not least, if we don’t welcome students back, there will be no-one to work in our services into the future, and we will never be able to retire. There is a BIG pool of students waiting to complete placements. If they do not undertake these placements soon, we risk an even more significant problem – a backlog that could result in a long-term ripple effect. The most practical solution to this is to take student now.

Students are waiting—let’s welcome them back!

Authors

Catharine Hydon is the Director and Principal Consultant at Hydon Consulting. Over the last 10 years Catharine worked with a range of organisations and governments to understand and articulate quality and inspire change. With a Masters in early childhood education, Catharine has extensive experience in the early childhood sector beginning as a teacher in a kindergarten program in the northern suburbs of Melbourne to lead roles in a range of services and projects.

Catharine draws on her experience and ongoing practice research to consider how theory connects and informs practice. Specialising in early childhood practice and pedagogy, quality improvement, policy and governance, the delivery of integrated services to engage vulnerable children and their families.

Kerrie O’Neill is the Director and Principal Consultant of Early Childhood Hub. She works as a consultant for a range of different organisations, coaching, mentoring and training. Kerrie’s experience with the early childhood sector spans over 30 years. She has worked as a kindergarten teacher, a Director of an Early Learning Centre, a Trainer and Assessor delivering the Certificate III and the Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care and as a tertiary level lecturer at Melbourne Polytechnic (formerly NMIT). Kerrie has worked for the Department of Education and Training in Victoria as both an Authorised Officer and as a Senior Policy Officer.

Kerrie is a passionate presenter whose vision is to deliver engaging, interesting and accurate information to early childhood educators.

The post The time to welcome students back to early childhood services is now! appeared first on Teachers Aide Courses.