The potential for professional development initiatives to improve quality in ECEC is an area of increasing international interest. This article presents insights from an ethnography into the manifestation of a two-year practice-based continuous professional development initiative (Educational Quality in Daycare: EQD) informed by the Abecedarian…

Reflective practice is one of the key recommended practices in early childhood (EC) education and has been positively associated with the quality of EC teaching; however, research on reflective practice in preschool teaching is limited. In this study, we examined four preschool teachers' reflections on their science teaching exhibited through a…

My reflections direct a performativity-theoretical perspective on the pedagogical tact, which in its systematic breadth should consider both the application approach for practice and the connectivity to theory. Regarding these dimensions, terms such as 'context sensitivity" and "reflective competence" oscillate around the nature of…

In this article, a collaborative Deleuze-Guattarian-inspired cartography is produced with preschool practitioners to explore the assemblages of teaching in preschool. The aim is to map how teaching comes into being in preschool planning and reflection practices following the movements of territorialisation and re-/de-territorialisation. Unwinding…

Educator reflective practice is fundamental to quality early childhood education with robust practice benefitting pedagogy and improving outcomes for children. Yet, examination of individual and collaborative reflective practice in experienced professional early childhood teams is scarce. This qualitative case study used an action research design…

This article addresses the pedagogical practices applied by teachers at pre and primary school level when working with children with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CALD) as well as potential challenges in a research collaboration between teachers and academics. A praxeological study was conducted with two preschool teachers and…

When first released in 2009, the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) recognised intentional teaching as one of its eight core practices (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) (2009). In 2022, the EYLF was revised to include a broader understanding of 'intentionality', encompassing both the educator and the child…

An educator's ability to engage in critical reflection is core to provision of high quality early childhood education and care (ECEC), and is a priority for quality improvement in Australia. This study explored the nature of critical reflection using the example of sleep-rest practices. These practices have been identified as a 'barometer of ECEC…

Although writing is often used for personal reflection in teacher education, it is less commonly leveraged to imagine educational futures (Gilligan, 2020)--particularly those centered on collective liberation. Amid intersecting social crises, however, imagining futures is critically important (Ladson-Billings, 2021), and writing is a crucial step…

Using a drawing-based research approach, this qualitative study explored in-service infant teachers' reflections on their play experiences and ways of supporting and scaffolding infants' play at a childcare center in Korea. The participants engaged in a drawing task that illustrated their reflections and memories of their play. They then discussed…

This article proposes the diffractive practice of blogging-with Place as an alternative to a reflective journal. Reflective practice is a priority for teachers, with reflective journaling often employed as a method for documenting a teacher's experiences and knowledge about sites that are intended for place-based teaching and learning. However,…

Positive early classroom interactions are crucial for children's development. Increasingly, more professional development programs focus on improving interactions and their underlying skills. Research on interventions has focused on their effectiveness in changing teachers' classroom interactions; however, less is known about how this occurs. This…

Early childhood educators take on many roles over the course of their careers. One role is that of mentor. Although mentors serve a variety of functions, they primarily act as role models, facilitators, and collaborators (Kupila, Ukkonen-Mikkola, & Rantala, 2017). Mentors offer advice, guidance, counseling (Altes & Pinholster, 2013),…

This article discusses infant-toddler educators' perspectives of using the Observe, Reflect, Improve Children's Learning tool (ORICL) in practice. ORICL is a new tool informed by implementation science and co-designed with Australian early childhood education and care policy-makers, practitioners, and service providers. It aims to support…

This article focuses on preschool teachers' collegial learning in relation to children's use of digital learning tools in preschool. The aim of the study was to investigate how preschool teachers understand, change, and improve learning situations when digital tools are used, under the supervision of a film educator, a preschool colleague, and a…