Education Commons^™

Gender Equity In Early Childhood Picture Books: A Cross-Cultural Study Of Frequently Read Picture Books In Early Childhood Classrooms In Australia And The United States, Helen Adam, Laurie Harper

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Children’s picture books contribute to children’s development of gender identity and can impact aspirations and expectations of roles in families and society. However, the world represented in children’s books reflects predominantly middle class, heterosexual, male heroes and characters. This paper reports on a cross-cultural study investigating gender representation in frequently read picture books across eight early learning centres in the United States and Australia. Forty-four educators working with 271 children participated. Data were collected from book audits and observations. Unique to this study is the presentation of a new data analysis instrument, Harper’s Framework of Gender Stereotypes Contained in Children’s …

Teachers’ Understanding Of The Major Sources Of Self-Efficacy In Early Childhood, Dimity Franks, Lennie Barblett, Gillian Kirk

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Self-efficacy has been associated with benefits to everyday life such as resilience to stress and adversity, healthy behaviours, improved performance, and academic achievement. Research into self-efficacy development is scarce in early childhood, yet self-efficacy is associated with numerous skills and competencies taught in the early years of school. A mixed-method approach was employed to explore early childhood teachers’ understanding of how self-efficacy developed in children. The study focussed on teachers of children in Kindergarten to Year 2 (K–2) in primary schools in Western Australia and was conducted in two phases. Initially, an online survey, answered by 74 K–2 teachers, was …

Digital Literacy: A Review Of Literature, Lennie Barblett, Raisa Akifeva, Leanne Lavina, Fiona Boylan

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This report describes the main themes of collected literature to examine and explain the information in relation to making best practice recommendations for using digital technologies with children, and their families using Better Beginnings programs. These themes include:

• definitions of literacy,
• digital literacy in the context of childhood and children’s rights,
• dimensions of children’s digital literacy,
• digital technology, children and families,
• digital divide and diversity,
• eSafety, privacy, protection,
• children’s digital literacy learning, and
• librarian staff as digital literacy mentors and advocates.

The early childhood phase of childhood (particularly birth to age five) is one of the most under - researched …

No Time For Silence, Just Repeat After Me: A Three Study Perspective On Teacher And Child Interactions Over Time, Gillian Kirk, Marianne June Knaus, Beverley Adkin

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This paper examines data from three separate studies on teacher-child interactions for evidence of verbal and non-verbal semiotic resources across different times and contexts. Each study utilised qualitative methodologies, employing observations guided by the Classroom Assessment Scoring System manual and teacher semi-structured interviews. Sociocultural perspectives frame the examination of teacher-child mediations of socially and culturally derived semiotic notions and are used to conceptualise findings. Critical Discourse Analysis highlighted how language and silences in interactions contribute to power structures. The study found that while time and context cannot be causal to change, they do correlate with an increasing focus on literacy …

How Public Libraries In Western Australia Support The Language And Literacy Learning Of Children From Birth To Age Three Years, Jennifer Ruth Campbell-Hicks

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Early language and literacy skills develop rapidly during the first three years of children’s lives. Successful development of these skills is based on dynamic interactions and supportive relationships within children’s families and communities. However, nearly a quarter of Australia’s children do not receive the necessary support or proactive interactions, and therefore start their schooling at age four or five with inadequate language and literacy skills. Reducing early difficulties is beneficial since evidence indicates that children who struggle at the start of their education rarely catch up.

Children and their families may be supported with language and literacy learning by engaging …