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  Introduction: Early childhood education and care in challenging times

  Anna Kilderry and Bridie Raban

  Chapter 1 is an introduction to the book, focusing on how the book came about, and the intention for educators and professionals to have an opportunity to revisit and revitalise practice. As the book has deliberately selected the term evidence-informed, instead of evidence-based, a rationale is provided for this focus.

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  Investigating early childhood practice: Insights from a large Australian study

  Dan Cloney

  Chapter 2 showcases the largest longitudinal ECEC research study to have ever been conducted in Australia, the E4-Kids study. Readers will better understand the value and drawbacks of large-scale research with respect to their work with children. The findings from this study indicate that there is still much to embrace if ECEC in Australia is to support all families and children to their full potential.

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  The early childhood professional

  Megan Gibson and Lyn Gunn

  Chapter 3 discusses professionalism in ECEC, how it is evolving, and the changing nature of professional identities. Practical applications, drawing on evidence-informed insights are included, along with contextually specific expectations, where early childhood educators and teachers potentially work in a range of different settings with diverse curriculum expectations.

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  Building inclusive communities

  Kathy Cologon

  Chapter 4 addresses inclusive education, identifying that inclusive education is a fundamental human right for all children. This chapter explores inclusion and discusses how educators can build inclusive education communities. This chapter will challenge notions of difference and consider the means of creating pedagogical opportunities for being, belonging and becoming for all Australian children.

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  Childhood outdoor environments: Places for play, learning and wellbeing

  Anne-Marie Morrissey, Llewellyn Wishart, and Debra Moore

  Chapter 5 focuses on evidence about the benefits of children’s outdoor learning and it raises questions such as – what do we now know about quality outdoor spaces for young children? What evidence can be shared to encourage children’s outdoor learning? This chapter will develop educators’ confidence in how to map children’s sociodramatic play in an outdoor playspace and how to use biophilic design principles.

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  Healthy lifestyle behaviours in the first five years of life

  Rachel Laws, Penny Love, Katherine Downing, and Jill Hnatiuk

  Chapter 6 outlines the critical importance of the first five years of life and the types of strategies educators can put into place during this sensitive period. It provides current research evidence about healthy lifestyle behaviours including, early childhood nutrition, physical activity and sedentary behaviour, crucial for optimal child development.

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  Keeping children safe

  Nicole Downes

  Chapter 7 presents information and evidence about how we can keep children safe. The chapter focuses on child protection, legislation and policy, including the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations (2019) and the Victorian Child Safe Standards in relation to practice and what it means to be a child safe organisation. By reading this chapter, educators will understand some of the circumstances that can put young children at risk and how to keep children safe.

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  Social and emotional development in early childhood

  Claire Blewitt, Helen Skouteris, Heidi Bergmeier, and Amanda O'Connor

  Chapter 8 discusses evidence about children’s social and emotional development from health and psychology research in relation to early childhood practice. The authors maintain that early childhood is a critical window for children’s social and emotional development and a time where children learn about social cues and use prosocial behaviours to develop positive relationships with peers and adults. Risk and protective factors for children’s social and emotional development are presented along with an argument about the importance of the educator’s role.

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  Facilitating children’s agency in early childhood education and care

  Caroline Scott, Andrea Nolan, and Anna Kilderry

  Chapter 9 acknowledges children as capable agentic citizens in their own right, with the chapter describing what children’s agency looks like and how educators can facilitate it. The chapter discusses research findings that have implications for practice, showing how educators can identify and support children’s agency. An expanded theorization of children’s agency is shared, to provide children with opportunities to enact their agency in ECEC settings.

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  Play and early childhood pedagogies

  Nicole Leggett

  Chapter 10 presents an evidence-informed discussion about children’s play and early childhood pedagogies. It discusses the role educators’ play in providing rich environments, resources and teaching strategies to promote children’s learning and development. The importance of children’s learning in nature is raised along with the importance of unstructured and risky play, fostering children’s imagination and creativity and the types of physical environments can support children’s play.

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  Supporting oral language learning in young children

  Louise Paatsch and Andrea Nolan

  Chapter 11 acknowledges the importance language development for young children and the critical role educators play in supporting children’s communication skills. The components of oral language are explained and some of the ways educators can make a positive difference to enhance children’s communication are discussed. Evidence-informed insights shared in this chapter will equip educators with useful insights into how to deepen their understanding of children’s oral language development, along with ways practice can be strengthened.

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  Early literacy

  Bridie Raban

  Chapter 12 discusses early literacy and considers the significance of the role of the educator in children’s early literacy learning. Educators will understand the importance of a wide range of relevant activities within a play-based program that will support young children’s early literacy development during the years before school. An evidence-informed discussion about children’s early reading and writing experiences, and ideas are shared about the ways educators can encourage and support young children to develop a literacy focus within their programs is provided.

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  Learning about STEM

  Coral Campbell

  Chapter 13 is a STEM focussed chapter. STEM is an acronym that is becoming more commonly used in ECEC, and it stands for science, technology, engineering and maths. In this chapter, research evidence about the importance of STEM in early childhood is shared, how to identify STEM learning in children’s play, along with the types of STEM programs available.

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  Learning about mathematics

  Bob Perry and Sue Dockett

  Chapters 14 follows on from the previous chapter, with a STEM focus. This time focussing on mathematics in ECEC. Through evidence-informed literature, readers will explore how children learn mathematics, the important role of educators, and will learn about the eight powerful mathematical ideas. Knowing more about the eight powerful mathematical ideas and how to incorporate this learning into programs is ‘an important step in supporting young children as powerful mathematicians’, according to the authors.

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  Learning through the arts

  Susan Wright and Jan Deans

  Chapter 15 Children learning through the arts is the focus of this chapter. The chapter presents an evidence-informed discussion about the important role that the arts play in promoting young children’s ability to develop higher order and imaginative thinking. Various art forms where children can express themselves and be meaning-makers are described and a schema for children’s multimodal participation in the arts is presented.

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  Play and learning in the digital age

  Nicola Yelland

  Chapter 16 outlines what it means to be a young child learning in the digital age as well as being an educator in a digital context. The chapter provides an evidence-informed discussion about the importance of digital and multimodal learning for young children, and pedagogical strategies and insights for practice. Readers will explore how new technologies are being used in innovative ways with young children and can learn about the emergence of new learning ecologies.

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  Assessment and documentation for children’s learning and development

  Bronwyn Reynolds

  Chapter 17 Assessment of children’s learning and the role of reflective practice is the focus of the final chapter in this section. Readers will be supported to better understand the role of assessment, and documentation in particular, within the context of their everyday practice. Principles of quality assessment are shared, along with demystifying authentic and holistic assessment and the importance of collaborating with families.

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  Early years transitions

  Sue Dockett and Bob Perry

  Chapter 18 discusses the ways in which children and families make early years transitions, for example, transitions to and within childcare, preschool, school, and school-age care, and how these transitions can be supported by educators are issues explored in this chapter. Early years transitions have been conceptualised in this chapter as an ongoing process, requiring continuity and change occurring within social and cultural contexts. The issue of how children and families can be supported while making transitions, and how critical collaborative relationships are during transitions is made in the light of evidence-informed practice.

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  Building positive relationships with families and communities

  Laura McFarland

  Chapter 19 focuses on research evidence about the importance of families and communities in relation to children’s learning. Questions raised in this chapter ask: What has been learned from major longitudinal studies? For example, studies conducted by the Australian Institute of Family Studies over the last decade, for example, the Growing up in Australia study, and what the implications for early childhood educators and professionals are. Evidence-informed understandings about building positive relationships with families and communities is shared.

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  Leading practice in early childhood education

  Jo Bird and Angel Mok

  Chapter 20 explores the importance of leadership in early years, this chapter considers evidence in terms of leading practice in early childhood education. Educators will be able to identify different types of leadership, such as pedagogical, ethical or distributive leadership, and will be able to identify their own role within the complex organisational structure of contemporary ECEC settings.

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  Rethinking research in early childhood: (Re)Turning the kaleidoscope

  Jeanne Marie Iorio and Will Parnell

  Chapter 21 offers readers with innovative ideas on how to rethink research in ECEC, ways that give rise to new perspectives to contribute to meaning-making. By rethinking research practices in early childhood by (re)turning familiar ideas and approaches, the authors aim to generate new questions, ways of knowing, doing and acting. Questioning familiar topics and unsettling dominant discourses, they put forward the notion thinking with, rather than thinking about phenomena and what this could look like in practice.

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  Learning to surf: Embracing change in the early childhood sector

  Jen Jackson

  Chapter 22 is the final chapter in the book, embracing change in the early childhood sector, and it returns to the ‘big picture’ of ECEC. The author draws on surfing and ocean metaphors, as she argues that similar to the sea, the contexts in which early childhood professionals live and work will not remain still. The policy demands and fragmentation which EC teachers and educators may find overwhelming at times, is acknowledged and discussed. On an uplifting note, it is maintained that ECEC professionals can make a positive difference - they can do more than survive during these times of rapid change, and instead they can thrive.