Search

All Australian children and their families have an equal right to access quality early years education. To achieve this, rationalisation of the Australian early childhood (EC) sector in 2007 saw the introduction of mandated governing frameworks, including the National Quality Framework (NQF), designed to regulate and assure quality practices across the sector. Understanding what quality is and how it is demonstrated in EC services is critical to young children's learning and development. However, issues engrained within the sector exacerbate challenges in leading, achieving, and planning for quality improvements. This research analysed Western Australia's NQF service ratings across geographic locations and governance of organisational structures for the most recent publicly available figures. It became clear that Quality Areas One (educational program and practice) and Seven (governance and leadership) held the greatest number of Working Towards ratings, with particular attention drawn to regional EC services. Given the link between programs and leadership, this research makes recommendations for improving EC service leadership and quality through enhanced professional learning and clarification of the early childhood educational leader (ECEL) role. This article proposes an emerging framework of leadership that emphasises the impact of leadership on quality ratings.

In this paper, we explore how an intentionally planned learning environment, rich with material resources and inquiry questioning practices, supported young children's engagement with an integrated science and mathematics learning experience. A practitioner-researcher, named 'Jenny', from an Australian early year learning centre, partnered with the research team to explore how she could effectively provoke her Kindergarten (4-year-old) children's curiosity and engagement with integrated inquiry learning projects. To illustrate how Jenny used inquiry questioning frameworks to guide her children's engagement with a construction task as well as their development of science and mathematics concepts, we report and analyse a selected series of episodes from a 'Sun Protection' learning experience. Importantly, as an outcome of this study, Jenny reported an increase in her personal awareness of science and mathematics learning demands and opportunities in children's everyday activities and construction projects. She also reported that the use of inquiry questioning increased the time her children spent engaged with learning experiences and higher-order thinking.

We present research that explored digital coding in an Australian early years learning centre and how it impacted on a focus group of 3 and 4-year-old children's creativity. The questions that guided the design experimental method were: (1) how do young children develop and demonstrate creativity when learning through play with digital coding technologies? and (2) what does creativity look like in young children's engagement with digital coding technologies? After firstly discussing the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) context of the research, we explore the meaning of creativity in the early years and establish the conceptual framework for analysing children's play and learning with a "BeeBot" coding toy and "iPad app." Importantly, our review and synthesis of significant literature led to the development of an innovative framework, the "'A' to 'E' of children's creativity." This framework includes five proposed characteristic clusters of children's creativity, including agency, being curious, connecting, daring and experimenting. Using critical episodes in an illustrative learning journey analysed through the framework, the children's use of a "BeeBot" and a "BeeBot iPad" application showed that creativity can be largely impacted by digital coding. We conclude by proposing pedagogical principles that could better enable children's creativity when learning, especially when coding with digital technologies.

Children actively participate in socially constructing their digitised childhoods. However, parents often struggle to understand and manage the relationship between children and digital technology, especially with reference to children's agency and creativity with digital devices. This paper reports on the impact on parent–child negotiations of a 10‐week programme of digital technology experiences whereby parents actively co‐played with their children. Interviews revealed a gradual transformation in parent beliefs, from anxiety to appreciation of negotiated agency and creative digital practice. From this finding, three guiding principles for parents are offered based around the concepts of attention, interest and interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The special issue of the Australasian Journal of Early Childhood focuses on the theme of leadership in early childhood education. The articles challenge traditional notions of leadership based on assertiveness and heroism, emphasizing the need for leadership that addresses complex challenges in the contemporary world. The collection of papers explores various aspects of early childhood leadership, including competencies, relational dynamics, agency, followership, recruitment, and retention strategies. The issue also pays tribute to Professor Manjula Waniganayake, whose work has significantly influenced the field of early childhood education leadership. [Extracted from the article]

Forest restoration and tree-planting projects initiated as a response to climate change and biodiversity loss are increasingly important around the globe. Small-scale and community-based tree nurseries have been promoted as a potential route to meeting some local or regional supply-side bottlenecks. A study in the UK used a mixed methods approach to assess the potential contribution of community tree nurseries (CTNs) to tree material supply. Semi-structured interviews (SSIs) were undertaken with 16 CTNs across the UK to generate a sector-wide characterisation of CTNs. A UK-wide online survey assessed the total number of CTNs, production methods and volumes, biosecurity practices and benefits of community involvement. Another 13 CTNs receiving support to establish and extend their operations took part in SSIs assessing their development. The results indicate that there are four broad types of CTN (Organisation- and project-based, Community-based, Enterprise and Network CTNs). A significant number of CTNs in Britain are new and establishing. The sustainability of CTNs relies in large part on grant support rather than income from tree sales. Production is almost exclusively native broadleaves and local provenances. There are policy implications concerning: i. the suitability of species being produced to future climatic and market conditions and ii. the tension around financial viability, grant dependence and CTN sustainability for those CTNs focused on social and environmental benefits rather than income generation. Identifying gaps in the provision of trees by commercial nurseries, e.g., uncommon or recalcitrant species, could be a feasible financial strategy. It is likely that financial support and skills development are likely to be required as social innovation in the community-supported tree nursery sector establishes and develops. Judging the success and impact of some types of CTNs in terms of production and finance measures may be unfair, as other social and environmental benefits may be as important and valuable. It is clear that more evaluative research is needed to quantify and better understand these kinds of outcomes and the added value they accrue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of game development and game studies on university campuses prompts academic libraries to consider how to support teaching and research in this area. This article examines current issues and challenges in the development of game collections at academic libraries. The gaming ecosystem has become more complex and libraries may need to move beyond collections largely based on console video games. This article will advance the discussion by considering emerging issues to support access to the full range of games. The article will use examples from Carleton University Library, Ottawa, which has been developing a game collection since 2008.

The ocean and coasts are largely absent from the 'Green New Deal' proposal. In response to the limited attention paid to the sustainability and equitable governance approaches of the blue economy, a US 'Blue New Deal' has been proposed aiming to protect the health of the ocean and support coastal communities' adaptation to climate change. The Blue New Deal emerged as a central policy proposal from 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren to enhance the role of the blue economy while simultaneously addressing the climate crisis. Through a just transitions analysis, this article evaluates the proposal for a US Blue New Deal — as designed by Senator Elizabeth Warren — that would be applied towards enhancing socioeconomic resiliency, environmental justice, and addressing social inequities. As part of a critical policy analysis evaluating the areas of focus Warren's Blue New Deal presents, environmental justice and sustainability are central to the success of managing, and enhancing the role of, the blue economy. The challenges facing the Blue New Deal reflect a 'one size fits all' federal approach that has implications for addressing multifaceted obstacles in key sectors of the blue economy, its governance, and tackling interconnected crises that exacerbate socioeconomic inequities and vulnerabilities of marginalised coastal communities. This article proposes a blue justice framework for the Blue New Deal that seeks to address the tensions and contradictions that exist in its current form and indicates how a comprehensive policy framework can enhance the sustainability and equitable involvement of the blue economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes a technical services perspective on user experience (UX) research into student searching behaviors. In this observational study, students were free to search as they normally would while conducting research for an upcoming essay or assignment. Researchers took careful note of the search process, including how searches were composed and which metadata fields students looked at in their results lists. The findings of the study, and how local technical services staff responded to them, are discussed in this paper. The project was a useful way to prioritize the work of technical services based on insights from user searching behavior and to help ensure library resources are discoverable in the most effective manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]