Transition to school experiences influence children's wellbeing, development, and learning at the time of transition and future transitions. Effective transitions require schools to engage with children and families in ways that connect and empower them in the transition process. In this study children aged 3-6 years and their teachers used a…

Recent early childhood education and care (ECEC) reforms across the globe are placing greater emphasis on the intentionality of educators' pedagogy. In Australia, a National Quality Agenda (NQA) has significantly reformed ECEC through the country's first national learning framework, which demands educators take a more intentional (active) role in…

The authors present the literacy pedagogical approach LAUNCH and reveal its influence on young learners as engineers of literacy learning through text production. Findings are reported from design-based research in a case study of an Australian early years classroom. Using a qualitative orientation, data were generated from video and audio…

This paper contributes to the Research Symposium, "Strengths approaches in early childhood mathematics education" by providing an illustration of how an early childhood centre adopts a strengths approach to mathematics education for birth to three-year-old children. A case illustration is drawn from a current Australian Research…

This paper explores the interconnectedness between Australian teachers' literacy practices and their pedagogic identity during the global pandemic. In doing so, the paper presents pedagogic identity as a dynamic, ever-evolving construct involving teachers and their teaching environment. Findings are reported from a case study of early years and…

This paper draws from a cross-cultural study of young children's arts curricula. The initial phase of the original study consisted of a comparison of the intended arts curriculum for 5--6 year old children in China and Australia. This was followed by a survey in Beijing exploring 88 contemporary early childhood educators' beliefs about children's…

Museums are a place of experiential and inquiry learning for young children. We know that children's experiences at museums can provide novel opportunities to interact with rare artefacts, can extend concepts explored in early childhood curricula and encourage knowledge sharing with families. Research on the efficacy or outcomes of museum programs…

Many governments have launched the top-down early childhood curriculum (ECC) reforms to enhance the accountability of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services. The present discourse analysis of latest ECC policies across four diverse but representative countries -- Australia, China, New Zealand, and Singapore -- aims to examine the…

This paper presents findings from a small exploratory study examining eight diversely qualified early childhood (EC) educators' understandings about belonging. Data from interviews were analysed drawing on 10 dimensions and 3 axes of belonging. Findings from this study demonstrate that educators had a strong sense of social, emotional, spatial and…

This article shares a case study of a classroom of multicultural and multilingual children in an early childhood center to explore how iPad apps can support young children in learning English as an additional language. Situated in Sydney, Australia, this study found that iPad apps have the potential to promote 4- and 5-year-old children's language…

This article considers opportunities and risks arising from the prominence of the belonging motif in Australia's Early Years Learning Framework and, more implicitly, in the National Quality Standard, against which the quality of the early childhood education and care services is assessed. A vignette constructed from case study data generated in…

This paper illustrates an evaluation model emerging from Australian research. With reference to a range of contexts, its usefulness is demonstrated through application to two professional development initiatives designed to improve continuity of learning in the context of the transition to school. The model reconceptualises approaches to…

This article examines how an educator develops a drama pedagogy through the course of her dramatic interactions with three toddlers. A cultural-historical approach was used to explore the concepts of dramatic interactions and dimensions of drama pedagogy. Visual research methodology involved video observations and a reflective interview with the…

This research aimed to explore children's play in relation to gender stereotypes and beliefs and practices of educators in preschool settings. A feminist poststructuralist approach framed the design of the research and data were collected in two settings through predetermined categories of play during periods of spontaneous free play. The question…

Intercultural competence among educators has long been recognised as important, especially in contexts characterised by growing and shifting cultural diversity such as Australia. However, the capacity to be interculturally competent has only recently been enshrined in teacher standards in Australia, and research into this field among early…