INTRODUCTION: Parents of children with dyslexia may be at elevated risk for parenting stress and mental health concerns. Our aim was to explore the emotional experience of growing up with dyslexia in Australia from parents' perspectives. In so doing, we also developed an understanding of parents' own mental health and support needs informed by their lived experience. METHODOLOGY: Seventeen interviews with mothers of children (9-14 years; 16 with a diagnosis of dyslexia) were analysed using Braun and Clarke's reflexive thematic analysis approach. ANALYSIS: Five themes were developed to address our aim: Theme 1: Years in the wilderness: Life before diagnosis; 2: "I struggle at times to see her struggle"; 3. School struggles: Advocating for our children and managing distress; 4. "It's a full-time job" and a "long slog"; 5: Care for the carer: Social support and coping strategies. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis suggests that mothers of children with dyslexia may be at elevated risk for mental health concerns. Specifically, chronic worry and stress, secondary distress, challenges to parenting self-efficacy, and lack of support and understanding (feeling isolated) were highlighted as plausible risk factors. Mothers described coping strategies at the community level (e.g., school connectedness) and at the individual level (e.g., "acceptance") as protective.
Adrienne Wilmot, Hannah Pizzey, Suze Leitão et al.
The consequences of profound disruption to everyday life caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will only emerge over time. Guided by ecological systems (Pitchik et al., 2021) and developmental psychopathology (Masten & Cicchetti, 2010) frameworks, I review evidence that points to parents at home with children as particularly vulnerable to increased psychological difficulties, particularly in contexts of poverty. Resultant compromised parenting may reduce children's opportunities for the kinds of everyday interactions that promote cognitive and socioemotional development and expose them to increases in coercive, avoidant, and other problematic caregiving behaviours. I discuss three evidence-based strategies that parents could adopt to buffer their child's mental health: building positive discipline strategies, talking with the child about the pandemic and its consequences, and conversing about the past. I conclude, however, that approaches to supporting parents and their children at this time must also address multisystem factors that compromise caregivers' ability to provide nurturing care.
In early childhood education, the integration of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) are advocated as contemporary educational goals. However, integration of STEAM is not defined in the early childhood context. We claim to ‘integrate’ and ‘devise integration pedagogies’, but there is still no clear-cut message on what integration means and how to do it. This paper presents an integrative literature review to conceptualize the integration of STEAM practices in early childhood education. The review highlighted key factors and challenges relating to STEAM integration. The paper concludes with the development of the integrating and navigating STEAM (inSTEAM) conceptual framework derived from the concepts, empirical research, and theories explored in the integrative review of the 17 articles.
Theory strengthens the methodological and interpretive stance of a research study and is most fruitful when theoretical understandings are shared within collaborative research teams. This paper describes an approach to engaging productively with a theory, specifically the theory of practice architectures. Such engagement enabled the use of the theory for data gathering and analysis within an Australian mixed-methods research study – Exemplary Early Childhood Educators at Work. Within the study, the theory offered a substantive lens for exploring exemplary educator practices and the organisational arrangements within early childhood education (ECE) sites that made those practices possible. The ‘unpacking’ of the theory of practice architectures led to the development of a suite of resource materials. This paper acts as an invitation to interact with and think on a practice theory and provides insight into the positive transformation of educational practices for the benefit of individuals and society.
A shifting notion in the field of early childhood education (ECE) is what it is to be a ‘professional’. This paper examines third-year early childhood undergraduate pre-service teachers (PSTs) developing understandings of notions of ‘professionalism’ as expressed through identity texts. PSTs develop knowledge of standards, frameworks and policies that impact on their professional work and undertake a review of legislative requirements. As a counterpart, the intent of this teaching unit and its associated research was to move PSTs beyond regulatory requirements to assist them to develop a critical awareness of the notion of ‘professionalism’. To gather evidence of PSTs own dynamic perceptions of what ‘professionalism’ entails, insights were gleaned from the ways they responded to an identity text workshop activity that asked them to represent ‘professionalism’ through visual imagery and text. These insights are discussed in terms of ‘sedimented identities’ and three sites of meaning of an image. The findings suggest that developing conceptions of professionalism in ECE are sedimented over time through engagement with generic principles from the workplace and official government documents that regulate the profession of early childhood education.
CHILDREN LEARN in the context of relationships with important caregivers. The early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector increasingly recognises that supporting strong relationships between families and ECEC services is a powerful way to improve children’s educational, health and wellbeing outcomes. We report findings from a study which, via online surveys and focus groups with parents and educators, sought to understand (a) parents’ experiences of collaborative practice, (b) educators’ confidence in working with families, and (c) educators’ perceptions of training needs. The results suggest families commonly feel welcomed and respected but desire improvements in educator communication. Most educators reported high confidence to share children’s progress but less confidence to greet families by name, raise or respond to parent concerns, or work with families facing significant parenting stressors. These findings indicate a need for practice support and training to improve educators’ skills and confidence in partnering with families.
Catherine Murphy, Jan Margaret Matthews, Olivia Clayton et al.
The incorporation of digital technologies is explicitly addressed in the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. The use of augmented reality (AR) technology, as one form of digital technology, is increasingly embedded in digital applications because it allows individuals to interact with real and virtual objects. A significant body of research has reported the benefits afforded by the use of AR technology in schools and higher education settings. However, little is known about the contribution of AR technology to teaching practice and child learning outcomes in the preschool years. Here, we present a summary of the limited research that has explored the use of AR in preschool curricula and argue for the need for further research to explore the contribution of AR to high-quality pedagogical practice.
Global early childhood education workforce shortages have highlighted the importance of recruitment and retention. The development of effective leadership has not been a retention policy focus even though effective leadership has been identified as an important driver for improving working conditions and supporting educator retention. The aim of this research was to investigate what factors affect retention focussing on retention challenges for leaders in an under researched context. Participants were 34 early childhood educators in the Northern Territory of Australia. A constructivist grounded theory methodology framed the research and the data analysis, and a constant comparative method was used to generate categories. The lack of learning on leadership, coupled with competing priorities, were identified as critical factors that contribute to increased attrition. However, informal mentoring was found to support both the positional and emerging leaders, increasing the probability of their retention regardless of their access to leadership development.
In a multicultural country, such as New Zealand, multicultural education has become the subject of early childhood polices and research. Increased national and international attention towards minority rights has resulted in the development and implementation of multicultural practice for realizing quality early childhood education for children and families of diverse cultural backgrounds. The study addressed in this paper set out to examine the multicultural education of early childhood set- tings in New Zealand from the experiences and perspectives of Chinese immigrant young children, their teachers and parents. It analyses data in the conceptualization of children as active agents, with the emphasis on the influence of their homes and the early childhood centres, giving rise to a tension between the children's needs to fit in the centres and the children's and their parents' right to inclusion and be different.
Abstract In this conceptual paper, we integrate interdisciplinary perspectives from early childhood education and applied linguistics to propose a new framework: Playworld Translanguaging . This framework refers to the intentional blending of pedagogical translanguaging and conceptual playworlds to create a supportive, inclusive pedagogy in early childhood education settings for children from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. We argue that pedagogical translanguaging and conceptual playworlds share complementary features and philosophical foundations that can enhance language and literacy development, conceptual understanding, problem-solving skills, identity formation, personal agency, and overall wellbeing in young children. As both approaches are rights-based, inclusive, and responsive, their combination has the potential to effectively address the needs of linguistically and culturally diverse children. While extensive research has shown the benefits of pedagogical translanguaging and conceptual playworlds independently, there is limited theorising and research on how combining these approaches might further improve outcomes in early childhood education. This paper thus aims to bridge that gap by introducing Playworld Translanguaging as a promising, unified approach.
Grace Oakley, Carly Steele, Christine Robinson et al.
