Early Childhood Australia http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/
The ECA is equivalent to the U.S. NAEYC
One issue I was very interested was the National Quality
Reform that took place about a year a go with the Australian federal
government, where they are willing to invest in early childhood. “The benefits to
children of good quality education and care in their early years cannot be
overstated: they are immediate and lifelong.” This has spurred a $300 Million
dollar investment in services and wages, very inspirational.
Some new insights I learned from this website is the focus on
Intentional teachers, in comparison to explicit teaching, which is necessary
for example in teaching kids how to use scissors. There are three parts that go
in-depth on how teachers can use intentional teaching by following the lead of
children, or initially teacher directed.
This is a great example how all forms of teaching follow the early
childhood pedagogical philosophy. Below is the link to the video of the 3 part
series.
It is very interesting that ECA has been in existence since
1938, they were formerly called Formerly the Australian Pre-School Association.
They have been producing professional research and documentation supporting
early childhood for over 50 years. Because of their longevity I understand the
investment the government is willing to put forth because they recognize the
importance with such a long history.
I love reading the media section of the Early Childhood Australian site. It just shows me that they really care about what goes on in their early childhood centers. I wish more of the child care centers in my local area would learn how to research others around the world and learn how important it is to provide a high quality learning environment.
ReplyDeleteWOW! I am impressed by this website and the international organization who obviously pours dedication into research endeavors to help improve early childhood education in Australia. I sincerely believe that the United States can learn a lot about this research effort and the policies that are being passed in Australia that support and promote early childhood education. Sadly, in my state (Pennsylvania), funding for education, including early childhood, is being drastically cut. Research efforts need to increase, like the one you highlighted, to help bring education back into the forefront. Thanks for sharing! It was fascinating to read.
ReplyDeleteErin
Tina-
ReplyDeleteI also chose this website and loved it. I thought it was great that 300 million dollars was used to higher the wages in hopes of atracting and retaining qualified early childhood educators. I do wonder what the typical teacher will make now. Thanks for sharing the information about Intentional teachers. I missed that when I browsed the website. I really liekd the catalogue of resources that were organized into early childhood topics/issues. What a great resource for educators!
Victoria Leming
Tina,
ReplyDeleteI did not choose this website but I do find the information you provided about the website interesting. Thank you for your insight.
Lauren