RESEARCH AROUND THE WORLD

EARLY CHILDHOOD AUSTRALIA

Early Childhood Australia is currently conducting research on flexible practices and patterns across the early childhood sector, funded through the Australian Government’s Child Care Flexible Fund.

The purpose is to meet the needs of the families to include areas in the range of , but not limited to:

·         Non-standard hours

·         Flexible sessions and enrollment

·         Working in combination of other services

·         Flexible location or service delivery

Surveys were conducted in January and February 2014 to that lead to identifying the range of flexible programs and included asking about barriers to flexible practices that may be considered to be more flexible.

There is also a  Research in Practice Series that provides practical, easy-to-read resources for those involved in the early childhood field.  These series offer effective new approaches for those challenging issues which arise in the care and education of young children, (Early Childhood Australia, 2014).The recent 2014 research topics that I found on this site are:

·         Pedagogy: Programs and relationships in practice

This topic helps educators to understand the meaning of pedagogy and the link to their everyday decisions made while working with children and families to build a relationship that this respectful, responsive, and reciprocal

·         Professional partnerships in children’s services: Working together for children

This topic finds ways for educators to effectively work with other professionals to build partnerships that will enhance the services for children.  The goal is to work in new and different ways that will make a difference in the daily work that is being done for the children to learn productively.

There is a support group that has developed a “Reconciliation Action Plan”.  This plan is a platform of values and principles to help the Early Childhood Australian organization to advance reconciliation with the community and provide leadership and support to the early childhood education and care professionals it represents.

I enjoyed the flow of the website.  It was easy to locate information and I like the resources that are available not only to educators but to the entire community. 

 
Reference
Early Childhood Australia, 2014.  www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/