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Right to play

Right to play

Protecting children’s right to play Play is a vital avenue for learning and development in young children. Early Childhood Australia (ECA) is consulting with early childhood experts to find out how to stop it from diminishing. If…
The image of the child re-imagined on Instagram

The image of the child re-imagined on Instagram

Many children around the world now have a digital footprint before they can even walk! Their pictures and videos are featured on their families’ social media channels or even their own dedicated pages managed by their families. But what are…
orange-is-the-new-surv

Orange is the new surveillance

‘Putting children on a hi-vis alert in the community is depriving them an opportunity to take responsibility for their own safety.’ KAREN HOPE and HELEN JENNINGS, explore what this means and give their perspective on pre-school aged children…
the spoke budget

Budget 2019: little new for schools and even less for early childhood education experts respond

Frydenberg may claim education is critical to the prosperity of our country, but his budget does not reflect this. In his first budget speech, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said education was the ‘first defence of the nation […] it…
Children’s right to play

Children’s right to play

‘No-one is born a good citizen’ said Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary-General. But children are born with rights. This blog explores children’s rights and how they are identified in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Children’s…
Who is the child?

Who is the child?

On an international study tour to Reggio Emilia 20 years ago, a question boldly crossed the screen in the first lecture. KAREN SZYDLIK, the Professional Learning Coordinator with Reggio Emilia Australia Information Exchange (REAIE), reflects…
Children’s right to play and its benefits

Children’s right to play and its benefits

Play. We think we all agree on what it is when we talk about it. But it has no agreed definition (Burghardt, 2011; Sutton-Smith, 1997), and unless we can describe what play is—and is not—we will struggle to describe how it leads to learning.…
Collaboration for inclusion

Collaboration for inclusion

Collaboration is vital to inclusion for young children with developmental delay or disability, but it doesn’t always happen easily. Early childhood educators are well positioned to nurture collaborative partnerships with families and communities…
Embracing inclusion—an educator’s experience

Embracing inclusion—an educator’s experience

During my time as an educator, the children in my group spanned across a three-year age range and hailed from 15 or more distinct cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Two were funded for educational support, one with an Autism Spectrum Disorder…
Why play-based learning?

Why play-based learning?

‘ … for the EYLF to be implemented properly, all early childhood educators need to know what play is, why it is important, how to implement and assess a play-based program and their role in it.’ Questioning practice The Early Years Learning…