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Reconceptualising documentation: Authenticity, purpose and educator wellbeing in early childhood education

In our service, we pride ourselves on being strong advocates for inclusion. We adapt our environments, our daily rhythm and our teaching to meet the diverse needs of every child in our care. We discuss individual learning styles, walking in…
Child playing

Infant and toddler participation is not what we say. It is what we do

Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN, 1989) affirms that children have the right to express their views on matters that affect them, and to have those views taken seriously. Despite the clarity of…
Understanding resilience: adversity, supports and skills

What Surrounds Us Shapes Us: Brain Building in the Early Years

This week, as part of Brain Awareness Week, we celebrate the science of how brains grow, learn and adapt throughout life. One of the most powerful insights from neuroscience is simple but profound: children’s brains are shaped by what surrounds…
Young children are little engineers (and why that matters)

Young children are little engineers (and why that matters)

Did you know that when a child pulls on a blanket to bring a toy within reach, tests different ways to make their cars go faster down a ramp, or figures out how to transport water across the sandpit without spilling it, they’re actually demonstrating…
Gen-AI in early childhood education: Navigating a not-so-new frontier?

Gen-AI in early childhood education: Navigating a not-so-new frontier?

Have you had that experience where a colleague shares a topical link, and the group chat goes wild? Constructive and rich discussion filled with critical reflection follows and then slowly it fizzles out, lost to the group chat ether forever.…
‘Stretched time’ in early childhood education and care

‘Stretched time’ in early childhood education and care

Sometimes a question can stay with you: ‘Are we making the best use of children’s time?’ This was Chloe Kerr1’s question after an In Service day in Shetland last year about slow pedagogies. Chloe’s question is key to reconsidering…
Digital Child Ethics Toolkit: Considerations for research

Digital Child Ethics Toolkit: Considerations for research

It is naive to think our young children are growing up in the same way that adults did. Young children today are growing up in a digital world, and a vast range of digital technologies are shaping young people’s lives, learning and wellbeing.…
Rethinking ‘School Readiness’: It’s Time for Schools to Be Ready

Rethinking ‘School Readiness’: It’s Time for Schools to Be Ready

‘School readiness’ programs are advertised across the nation, with some early learning services and preschools promising to provide children with literacy and numeracy skills for a head start in school. On social media, parents frantically…
“This is a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before”. (Maya Angelou)

“This is a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before”. (Maya Angelou)

The privilege of working with our youngest citizens. The engine room of any organisation is the most important and influential. This is where the key driving force for ongoing propulsion happens. Everything moves forward when this room is in…
Why Is It Important to Make Children’s Thinking Visible?

Why Is It Important to Make Children’s Thinking Visible?

If we see learning as a consequence of thinking, then it is paramount that children have the opportunity and are supported to explore their ideas and thinking during the learning experience.  This allows children to then understand their own…
‘I wish I was small enough’, How could a green screen make this a reality?

‘I wish I was small enough’, How could a green screen make this a reality?

‘I wish I was small enough to go inside the house!’ (Audrey, age 4) Statements like this open the door to think differently about how children engage with technology. Why couldn’t they shrink and jump into or out of an imaginary world…
Tinker play with unplugged tech

Tinker play with unplugged tech

Tinkering with non-working digital technologies, writes Honor Mackley, a Brisbane-based primary teacher and ECEC researcher at Australian Catholic University, increases children’s wellbeing, boosts active learning and interest in technologies,…