The first years of life lay the foundations for a child's future development and learning. Many countries have increased their financial support for provision of early childhood education and care (ECEC) over the past years. More recently, the focus of debate has been shifting from expanding access to affordable ECEC to enhancing its quality. A…

The "Adelaide Declaration on National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century" provides a mandate for discussion of the spiritual within secular state schooling, but this discussion has never occurred. This is a serious omission given what could be called an "undercurrent of concern" for the ways in which young people…

This paper discusses the concept of "primal landscapes" as a way of conceptualising the interactions between children and the environments they grow up in. The paper discusses this concept drawing on empirical research conducted in the field of human geography on how people learn about their environments. The research employed a…

This paper reflects on the current state of research in early childhood education and proposes that there is a renewed interest in research evident at present. Multiple perspectives of viewing early childhood are increasing, with research stretching the comfortable boundaries wider than seen before in Australia. This paper discusses how early…

The Research in Practice Series is published four times each year by Early Childhood Australia. The series aims to provide practical, easy to read, up-to-date information and support to a growing national readership of early childhood workers. The books bring together the best information available on wide-ranging topics and are an ideal resource…

The early childhood curriculum is informed by a complicated array of developmental and learning theories. In recent times these theories have been most readily articulated in approaches to curriculum planning emerging from the Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) guidelines and the project work in Reggio Emilia. Drawing on a common…

This book presents for discussion principles and issues that encourage early childhood educators to evaluate their current approaches to programming and planning for young chidren with emphasis on the individual child. The book offers the opportunity to affirm the practice of developmentally appropriate procedures and to suggest directions for…

Noting that play is an essential aspect of learning for young children, this book presents a collection of articles on children's play in Australia. Part 1, "Play, Development, and Learning," contains the following chapters: (1) "The Role of Play in Development and Learning" (Ann Glover); (2) "Stop, Look, and Listen:…

This document responds to issues raised in a Schools Council discussion paper analyzing the first years of schooling in Australia. The document is divided into nine chapters covering the following topics: (1) the national and historical context in which early childhood programs currently operate; (2) conditions that foster teachers' ability to…

This book examines the implications of existing learning theories for early childhood education, with a special emphasis on Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP). Chapter 1, "Challenging Developmentally Appropriate Practice: An Introduction (Marilyn Fleer), presents the debate and summarizes the remaining chapters. Chapter 2, "Does…