Novice teachers' work: constructing 'different' children?

Developing a teacher identity is an ongoing and multifaceted process. In part, the process involves finding a voice amid the clamour of other, often contradictory, voices and complex conditions in which teachers find themselves. Drawing from a larger study of teacher professional identities, this paper explores how two beginning early childhood educators talk about what it means to teach. The paper focuses on how these novice teachers position themselves, and are positioned, by their understandings of the ‘child’. This focus on children is particularly relevant to understanding teacher identities for in educational contexts, teachers and children are inextricably linked – they are part of a relational pair. Using critical discourse analysis as a way of examining interview data, I discuss how a discourse of the ‘normal’ child constructs particular identity positions for children and the adults who work with them

Policy outlook: Coalition set to slow progress in early childcare and learning

This article was originally published on The Conversation https://theconversation.com/policy-outlook-coalition-set-to-slow-progress-in-early-childcare-and-learning-1929

The innovative nation begins in early childhood

Published version of the paper reproduced here with permission from the publisher.The Turnbull Government's 'innovation agenda' can be viewed from many different perspectives. When viewing the innovation agenda from an early childhood perspective we ask the following questions: What role might Early Childhood Education play in developing an innovative nation and what might a 'culture of innovation' look like in Australian Early Childhood settings? These questions point to some of the challenges and possibilities Australian Early Childhood Education as we advance into the 21st century. Let’s consider why the new national policy directives designed to promote a 'culture of innovation' in areas including Science, Technology and Business must include our very youngest citizens

Identity and knowledge work in a university tutorial

In the contemporary university the large classes associated with many core units mean that tutorials are often taken by many part-time sessional who are typically employed on a casual basis, paid an hourly rate and not paid to attend the lectures. Given this situation, unit coordinators are often responsible for another phase in curriculum development, namely constructing written tutorial plans that outline the tutorial processes and explicate some of the central ideas and knowledge from the lectures. These plans are designed to be informative for the tutors as well as providing a guide for the teaching and learning in the tutorials. In this paper, using analytical tools made available in Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) I analyse a written tutorial plan as an example of a university curriculum text. The analysis opens up new ways of seeing these texts and for reviewing and critiquing my university teaching practice

Higher wages vs more training: why the government is going the wrong way on childcare

This article was originally published on The Conversation https://theconversation.com/higher-wages-vs-more-training-why-the-government-is-going-the-wrong-way-on-childcare-2135

Looming cut in preschool entitlements defies all evidence.

This article was originally published on The Conversation https://theconversation.com/looming-cut-in-preschool-entitlements-defies-all-evidence-2506

What a difference a portfolio makes: early learning is not babysitting

This article was originally published on The Conversation https://theconversation.com/what-a-difference-a-portfolio-makes-early-learning-is-not-babysitting-48090

To Teach or Not to Teach in the Early Years: What Does this Mean in Early Childhood Education

Pedagogy in the early years has often been constructed as a choice between child-centered, play-based, or teacher directed learning. Child-centered learning is often characterized as “following the child’s interests.” This chapter examines this under-theorized notion by re-visiting constructivist theory, re-examining the differences between constructivism and critical social constructionism and in the process explores many underpinning beliefs about knowledge in early years pedagogy. Examples of critical social constructionist pedagogy, drawn from some of the “big ideas” in the Social Sciences are provided in an attempt to blur the boundaries between the binaries that have dogged educational reform in the early years for decades

Children learning to read: not quite so simple!

Copyright © 2001 Early Childhood Australia. Published version of the paper reproduced here with permission from the publisher

Where are the early years of school in contemporary early childhood education reforms? An historical perspective

Made available in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13384-014-0161-0Although international definitions of early childhood repeatedly refer to a birth-8 age span, there are complex, institutional divides within this age range. This paper explores the divide between pre-compulsory and compulsory early childhood institutions. In countries such as Finland this divide is not such an issue because children do not begin formal schooling until age seven or eight. However, in Australia these 8 years include both pre-compulsory programs (often birth-5) and compulsory schooling. We argue that in situations where the early years of compulsory school are included in a country’s definitions of early childhood, they often occupy a tenuous place in research, policy and practice. Drawing from the history of early childhood education in South Australia, we explore the place that the early years of school have occupied in early childhood discourse, policy and practice and then consider some contemporary state-based and national reforms. Our hope is that by considering the South Australian past, the paper may provide a space from which to advocate for policies and structures that uphold specialist expertise and leadership in the early years of schooling