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Edith Cowan University

Teacher Education and Professional Development

Early childhood education

Articles 1 - 9 of 9

Full-Text Articles in Education

'Half Of It's Out The Window': Exploring Tensions, Hierarchies And Positionalities Amidst The Changing Knowledge Base Of Early Childhood Teacher Education Discourses, Lauren Armstrong Jan 2023

'Half Of It's Out The Window': Exploring Tensions, Hierarchies And Positionalities Amidst The Changing Knowledge Base Of Early Childhood Teacher Education Discourses, Lauren Armstrong

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Early childhood education is foregrounded in change. In Australia, this has encompassed the introduction, review and updates of national quality and curriculum frameworks from 2009, and changes to qualification requirements. Within the state of Victoria, further impacts have occurred due to the simultaneous introduction of a parallel curriculum framework. This paper draws on a qualitative study to examine how diverse teacher education discourses available to Victorian long day care educators have shaped their subject positions, discursive practices and reform engagement. Utilising Foucault’s concepts of discourse, knowledge and power, and Foucauldian Discourse Analysis [FDA], findings offer insight into how diverse teacher …


Early Childhood Hass Matters: An Investigation Of Early Childhood Staff And Their Transition To The New Western Australian Humanities And Social Sciences Curriculum In 2017, Jane Loxton Jan 2018

Early Childhood Hass Matters: An Investigation Of Early Childhood Staff And Their Transition To The New Western Australian Humanities And Social Sciences Curriculum In 2017, Jane Loxton

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Changes to education policies and the creation of new curricula in Western Australia (WA), such as the new WA Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS) Curriculum in 2017, may place external pressure on teachers as they transition from existing to new curricula. The aim of this interpretivist study was to investigate the transition to the new WA HASS Curriculum in 2017. The experiences and perspectives of the school leaders and teachers in Pre-primary, Year One and Year Two (PP to Y2) in two Perth metropolitan independent schools was explored. The preparation undertaken by the early childhood teachers and leaders, and the …


Transforming Selves For Inclusive Practice: Experiences Of Early Childhood Preservice Teachers, Joseph S. Agbenyega, Sunanta Klibthong May 2012

Transforming Selves For Inclusive Practice: Experiences Of Early Childhood Preservice Teachers, Joseph S. Agbenyega, Sunanta Klibthong

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In this paper we discussed the impact of ‘spaces of difference’ on teachers’ professional learning to embrace and celebrate diversity, as perceived by early childhood preservice teachers who share their opinions through online group discussions. Spaces of difference is a first year undergraduate course unit designed to support preservice teachers’ professional education to embrace and implement inclusive practice in early childhood education. Informed by Critical theoretical ideas of Bourdieu (Capital, Field, Habitus), we investigated early childhood preservice teachers’ concept of spaces of difference and their personal transformations. Results of this qualitative study suggested that teachers’ understanding of space extended and …


Learning To Lead: A Social Justice Perspective On Understanding Elementary Teacher Leadership In Papua New Guinea, Joanne Brownlee, Laura Scholes, Ann Farrell, Julie Davis, Donna Cook Apr 2012

Learning To Lead: A Social Justice Perspective On Understanding Elementary Teacher Leadership In Papua New Guinea, Joanne Brownlee, Laura Scholes, Ann Farrell, Julie Davis, Donna Cook

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Leadership in elementary education is currently recognized as a political imperative in Papua New Guinea (PNG), as the nation develops strategies towards equitable access to schooling. One recent initiative aimed at building educational leadership was an intensive Australian Leadership Award Fellowship (ALAF) program funded by AusAID, involving a group of 10 teacher trainers from PNG. As part their involvement participants completed self-authored journal entries at the beginning and end of the leadership program. Participants were also involved in focus groups after completion of the initiative. Referring to the experiences of these teacher trainers, this paper draws on Nancy Fraser’s (2005, …


Exploring The Beliefs Of Commencing Early Childhood Education Graduate Students: Providing Insights To Improve Teacher Education Programs, Susanne Garvis, Bev Fluckiger, Danielle Twigg Jan 2011

Exploring The Beliefs Of Commencing Early Childhood Education Graduate Students: Providing Insights To Improve Teacher Education Programs, Susanne Garvis, Bev Fluckiger, Danielle Twigg

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In response to the increased demand for qualified early childhood educators in Queensland, many universities are being challenged to tailor make programs and identify innovative practices that support individuals interested in pursuing such a teaching qualification. Although research indicates that beliefs and perceptions are an important influence on pre-service teacher success in teacher education programs as well as in the workforce, little is known, however, about those of students as they enter early childhood education programs. This study focuses on the beliefs and perceptions that students bring to a Graduate Diploma in Early Childhood Education (GDipECE) being offered at Griffith …


The Sustainment Of Early Childhood Teachers In The Classroom, Pamela A. Kilgallon Jan 2006

The Sustainment Of Early Childhood Teachers In The Classroom, Pamela A. Kilgallon

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The changing nature of teaching has led to an increased focus on the retention and productive engagement of teachers in the classrooms. The ongoing implementation of educational change, accompanied by an ageing trend amongst teachers and rising incidences of teacher attrition, stress and burnout, highlights the importance of teachers being sustained in their profession. Furthermore, recognition of the value of early childhood education has drawn attention to early childhood teachers' abilities to be sustained in their teaching practice, effectively engaging students in the learning process. Acknowledging these issues, this study examined factors that influence early childhood classroom teachers' sustainment in …


Pre-Primary Children's Progress And The School Development Plan, Elizabeth A. Moulin Jan 1997

Pre-Primary Children's Progress And The School Development Plan, Elizabeth A. Moulin

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In recent years several policy changes have occurred in Western Australia regarding the provision of pre-compulsory education, particularly for children turning five. These changes have led to education of such children centred largely in full-time, on-site classes rather than in sessional, independent community centres, resulting in pre-primary education becoming mainstream school business. As such it is incorporated in the administrative, managerial and educational policies of the school including school development planning. The school development plan (SDP), a major tool of accountability within the school, provides a planning framework in selected priority areas in which methods of assessment and evaluation of …


Children's Services In Denmark : A Contextual Analysis And Critique, Teresa A. Harms Jan 1997

Children's Services In Denmark : A Contextual Analysis And Critique, Teresa A. Harms

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The late 1990’s in Australia have seen major stresses in State and Federal systems of early years provision and have highlighted the need to develop an integrated approach to early years policy and provision to meet better the changing needs of Australian families. As an experienced Australian practitioner in the early years, the researcher decided to explore another country’s approach to early childhood provision and to contextualise her Australian experience from a fresh perspective. In Kandel’s (1933, 1955) terms, this is a classic area study rather than one which seeks to merely to compare and contrast.


Wild Beasts And Other Curiosities: West Australian Research, Issues And Innovations In Early Childhood Education, Martyn Wild (Ed.) Jan 1995

Wild Beasts And Other Curiosities: West Australian Research, Issues And Innovations In Early Childhood Education, Martyn Wild (Ed.)

Research outputs pre 2011

Editorial Is it true that young children need to play more, that perceptual-motor programs don't work, or that schools can learn lessons from child care? Do you know how to turn children into 'greenies', help them express the wild beast within, or use computers to develop vital skills? If you're unsure, outraged, confused or curious, then this book is for you! Practitioners and academics in early childhood have written these papers for the Edith Cowan Memorial Conference for Early Childhood in 1996. The chapters are diverse in style and topic, but are linked by the authors' deep interest in the …