Expectations for increased conceptual outcomes in the early childhood education sector have foregrounded a need for more evidenced-based practice in support of children's play. One such avenue for researching models of play practices that support cognitive outcomes is to study the implementation of Playworlds. Grounded in cultural-historical…

Professional learning is a key driver for improving the use of evidence-based practices in education. However, participating in high-quality external professional learning requires a significant investment of time and resources, which can be challenging for under-resourced or minimally staffed educational settings. A peer mentoring approach to…

High-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) has a robust and long-term impact on the development of children's skills and abilities, including self-regulation. While the importance of early self-regulation is acknowledged in national curricular frameworks (Australian Early Years Learning Framework), little is known about practices…

Although international research has accumulated significant evidence on inclusive practices and their benefits for children, how this translates into early childhood settings is often unsatisfactory within and across countries. Against the background of general acceptance of the principles incorporated in the Convention on the Rights of Persons…

Objectives: This study aimed to explore the impact of early health risks on young Aboriginal children's attendance in playgroups and their early learning outcomes. Design: The study used a cross-sectional design to identify associations between children's early health characteristics, their attendance at a Families as First Teachers (FaFT)…

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted on schools globally with closures and the implementation of online learning (UNESCO, 2020). This rapid shift has resulted in a significant change to traditional modes of delivery, including classroom teaching and professional learning opportunities for teachers, as well as thinking differently about…

The educational inclusion of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can be challenging, due to behavioural issues. Scant research has been conducted to investigate behavioural interventions for students with ASD in the Chinese context. Since special education in China varies greatly from that in western countries such as Australia,…

Children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) commonly present with oral language weaknesses which disrupt the development of literacy and impede related academic progress. While there is evidence to support the delivery of manualised Tier 2 interventions with this population, little is known about the effects of Tier 1 interventions. A…

Research into the effect of questions asked during storybook reading in preschool settings has rarely investigated questions that elicit higher order thinking. In the current study, Blank et al.'s Four Levels of Abstraction were used to code teacher questions and child responses from 177 individual storybook reading sessions with eight…