Supported playgroups are a service model used widely in Australia with the dual focus of providing stimulating early childhood environments for children and supportive environments for parents. This article describes research findings from a recent doctoral study that explored three supported playgroups in western Sydney. In particular it focuses…

This article presents the findings of a literature review of research on teacher preparation for rural settings. In the past there has been little or no preparation of teachers for rural teaching, with the emphasis placed on supporting beginning teachers once they commenced (Baills, Bell, Greensill & Wilcox, 2002; Howe, 2006); now there is a…

Increased national and international attention towards early childhood education has resulted in the development of an Australian "Early Years Learning Framework" (EYLF) called "Belonging, Being and Becoming" (DEEWR, 2009) for realising agreed practice, principles and outcomes. The EYLF highlights the importance of educators…

Music in early years classrooms is an important learning area for young children. Young children need access to hear different genres of music, learn a variety of repertoire, engage in composing and play musical instruments. With the changing reform agenda in early childhood education however, little is known about the way music is positioned in…

This article investigates early childhood educators' perceptions of advocacy in raising the professional status with multiple stakeholders in diverse contexts. The article reports on findings from a phenomenological study investigating the perceptions of 12 educators working full time in long-day-care settings across Sydney, New South Wales (NSW),…

Environmental and sustainability issues pose challenges for society. Although education is seen as being a contributor to addressing sustainability, teacher education has been slow to act in preparing future teachers to teach sustainability. Recent Australian curriculum documents nominate sustainability as one of three cross-curriculum priorities.…

Outdoor environmental education and provision of unstructured exploration of nature are often forgotten aspects of the early childhood experience. The aim of this study was to understand how adults' early experiences in nature relate to their attitudes and practices in providing such experiences for young children. This study surveyed 33 parents…

Australian "Play School" is a children's television programme developed in collaboration with early childhood educators. It is screened free to air across Australia. Two hundred and twenty-four adult carers of young children aged 1-8 years completed an online survey via a link on the "Play School" website. The survey addressed…

The first part of this article reports a project in which children were consulted about ways to improve transition to school. Children from 14 schools and prior-to-school settings collaborated with their peers and teachers to plan, implement and document transition to school. Children attending school reflected on their own experiences while…

This paper provides an overview of one aspect of a research project to investigate the contribution of the television program "Play School" to the health and wellbeing of young Australian children. The research question for this aspect of the study was: How do young children respond to the various elements and segments of "Play…

Positive risk-taking in the context of outdoor physical play is important for fostering children's optimal health and development. Despite this, there is mounting concern that many developmentally beneficial activities are now seen as dangerous and something to be avoided. However, perceptions of risk are very much subject to cultural…

When the author was adviser to the Australian Minister for Education for writing the national Safe Schools Framework (2003), meetings were held with early-childhood care and education administrators from all state, Catholic and independent sectors. Their unexpected message was that educators were facing new problems, those of child sexual abuse in…

In Australia, as elsewhere, many factors have contributed to making the struggle for recognition of the professional status of early childhood difficult and ongoing. Arguably this has led to instabilities surrounding professional identity and how members of the field regard themselves and their work. The development and release of the Early Years…

A collaborative research project that explored the impact of professional, individual and relational conditions on the resilience of early career teachers revealed the importance of understanding how they engage in the formation of professional identities. Drawing on the traditions of narrative enquiry and critical ethnography, this article…

In Australia, the growth in the provision of early childhood services for very young children aged birth to three years has placed increased demands on pre-service teachers as new policy stipulates the need for qualified early childhood teachers. While many teacher education programs offer early childhood courses, they have traditionally had a…