Australian early childhood education and care [ECEC] has faced a series of change and reform since 2009, including the introduction and later revisions of key curriculum and qualify frameworks, increased qualifications, shifting theoretical knowledge and pedagogies, and challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, early childhood…

'We're not useless, we know stuff!', said a four-year-old when asked why adults should ask him what he thinks about his experiences at his early learning centre. This paper describes the literature and methods used to gather children's voices in early childhood and education (ECEC) settings across Stage 1 and 2 of the 3 stage national Learning…

This paper explores how leadership is addressed within Australia's National Children's Education and Care Workforce Strategy (ACECQA, 2021). The Workforce Strategy has been widely welcomed, arriving at a time of unprecedented workforce pressures in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. Yet, on close examination there appears an…

A child's right to high quality education not only relies on a competent and skilled workforce, but one in which educators are well. Supporting a well workforce requires governments, organisations and educators to attend to work environment quality. This attention needs be based on sound, relevant evidence. In this paper we contribute evidence of…

Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC) experienced system-wide changes in legislation, curriculum, and teachers' and centre leaders' qualification requirements between 2013 and 2018. Through these changes, the Finnish ECEC follows the global trends shifting the focus of ECEC from care towards education. The data are leaders' (N = 41)…

This conceptual model paper uses systems theory to explain how key elements in the Australian policy and regulatory context lead to three issues of concern in childcare centre physical environments: siting of centres on busy roads; lack of outdoor space; and, emergency evacuation in high-rise buildings. Drawing on evidence from prior studies and…

Early childhood services in Australia that receive a 'Working Towards' quality rating are expected to engage in continuous quality improvement. This qualitative study investigated this expectation by exploring the experiences of educators in Working Towards services. The study implemented a social constructivist research design and involved…

This study explored the lived experiences of 20 Australian early childhood preservice teachers while on practical experience placement and examined the factors that informed their pedagogical experiences when working across both prior-to-school and school settings. Transcripts from interviews were analysed using grounded theory-informed…

Early childhood teachers have a myriad of possible employment options, with birth to eight years degree qualifications preparing graduates to work in a range of early childhood settings, including prior-to-school. At the same time, early childhood workforce policies in Australia, and elsewhere, are increasingly requiring degree-qualified teachers…

There is well-established evidence that the quality of early childhood education workforce impacts upon children's learning. Attracting qualified teacher graduates to work in early childhood centres is an essential component towards the provision of quality care. Significant investment by the Australian Government has been made to prepare early…