At the workshop participants reviewed various measures and tools that can be used to collect the needed information within each context. Animplementation plan for pilot data collection after the workshop will be developed.

A second workshop will take place later this year after data has been collected, analysed and compared. The second workshop will culminate in guidelines for assessing needs of young children under diverse circumstances and within a variety of contexts.

ARNEC has partnered with the ECD and Emergency team from Macquarie University:Professor Jacqueline Hayden, Dr Kathy Cologon, Dr Emma Pearson, Dr Jenny Barr, Ms Lisa Deters and Ms Rosemary Dunn.

In Early Childhood PP..11

CFRC Bulletin Board Recent Publications Tuna, A., & Hayden, J. (Eds.) (2010). Early childhood programs as the doorway to social cohesion: Application of Vygotsky's ideas from an East-West perspective. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Neilsen-Hewett, C., Harrison, L., Taylor, A., Swell er, N. & Bowes, J. (in press). Parents’ views on their use of multiple and changeable care - Using computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) in the Child Care Choices (CCC) study. Proceedings of the Australian Association for Research in Education 2010 International Education Research Conference. Wyver, S., Tranter, P., Naughton, G., Little, H., Sandseter, E.B.H., & Bundy, A. (2010). Ten ways to restrict children’s freedom to play: The problem of surplus safety. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 11(3), 263-277.

Recent Grants Hayden, J., Cologon, K., & Deters L. (2010) Evaluation for UNICEF: Assessing the ECD Emergency Kits. ECD and Social Change the use and impact of ECD kits case study #1: The Haitian earthquake emergency, 2010. McMaugh, A., Grace, R., Bowes, J., Warburton, W., G ibson, F., Carta, J., & Cowling, S. Exploring processes of change in parenting interventions for high-risk parents. 2011 Australian Research Council Linkage Grant with UnitingCare Burnside. Mulligan, J., English, L., Hodge, K., & Papic, M. Transforming children’s mathematical and scientific development: A longitudinal study. 2011 ARC Discovery Grant application.

Recent Presentations in Australia At the Inaugural Children and Childhoods Symposium at IEC, Macquarie University, September 2010: Degotardi, S ., Semann, A., Shepherd, W., & Honig, T. (2010 September). Using practitioner inquiry to promote reflexivity and change in infant-toddler early childhood programs. Hodge, K. When a young child’s development is advanced: Program directions from North America and the UK. Lilley, R. Mind the gap: Maternal perceptions of segregated school ‘choice’ for students with autism in NSW primary schools. Wyver, S., Naughton, G., Little, H., Sandseter, E.B.H., Bundy, A., & Tranter, P. (2010, September). Safe and sedentary: The consequences of minimal-risk play environments. Other presentations: Hodge, K. (2010, August). Goodwill or irritation? The beliefs and experiences of preschool and childcare teachers in NSW regarding parents who view their child as gifted. 11th Asia-Pacific Conference on Giftedness, Sydney. Hodge, K . (2010, October). Environments that inspire our young bright sparks. Early Childhood Australia National Conference, Adelaide. McMahon, C ., Gibson F., Boivin, J., Fisher, J., Wynter, K., Hammarberg, K., & Saunders, D. (2010, October) Does partner relationship context and adjustment during the transition to parenthood differ according to maternal age and mode of conception? Annual Meeting of the Fertility Society of Australia, Adelaide.

International Activities Chan, S.M., & Wyver, S. (2010, July). Development and validation of the Parental Goals for Children’s Individualistic and Relational Emotional Competence Scale. 10th Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Association h Annual Conference. Hangzhou, China.

Degotardi, S. , & Pearson, E. (2010, September). Interpretations of infants and their link to relationship-enhancing interactions in day-care infant programs. 20th European Early Childhood Education Research Association Conference, Birmingham, UK. Gibson, F., McMahon, C ., Boivin, J., Fisher, J., Wynter, K., Hammarberg, K., & Saunders, D. (2010, September). Impact of maternal age and ART conception on infant outcomes and behaviour: Parental age and transition to parenthood Australia (PATPA). Poster presented at the IFFS 20th World Congress on Fertility and Sterility. Munich, Germany. Grace, R., & Bowes J. (2010, September). The early childhood experiences of Australian children in disadvantaged communities. European Early Childhood Education Research Association Conference Birmingham, UK. Little, H., Wyver, S., & Gibson, F. (2010, July). Children’s risk-taking in outdoor play: The influence of play context and adult interaction. 10th Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Association Annual Conference. Hangzhou, China. Wyver, S., Bundy, A., Schiller, W., Tranter, P., Naugton, G., & Ragen, J. (2010, September). Outdoor play and social skills in the early school years: Preliminary findings from the Sydney Playground Project. Poster paper presented at 20th European Early Childhood Educators Research Association Annual Conference, University of Birmingham, UK.

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Participation as Relationships

Dr Sharon Bessell is from the Crawford School of Economics and Government, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University.

Children’s participation has become a much used term over the past decade, but it often remains unclear just what is meant by the concept and how it might be achieved. This paper explores the ways in participation can be made meaningful for children. Drawing on research undertaken with children in out-of-home care and children involved in a community development program, it examines what participation means to children and the issues on which they want to ‘have a say’. It argues that strong relationships with key adults are one important foundation for fostering children's participation - but an aspect of participation that has not been fully recognised. If policies and processes that purport to value children’s views on matters affecting their lives are to be successful, greater attention needs to be given to the relational dimensions of participation.

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Children and Families Research Centre A Macquarie University Research Centre

Institute of Early Childhood Macquarie University NSW 2109 Phone: 02 9850 9882 Fax: 02 9850 9887 Website: http://www.iec.mq.edu.au/research/cfrc/

this issue EDC Workshop PP..11

Researcher Profile PP..22

CFRC Conference PP..33

CFRC Bulletin Board PP..44

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To conduct high quality interdisciplinary research that contributes to knowledge about the learning and development of children and families with a commitment to applying research to policy recommendations and outreach activities in a variety of communities.

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Children and Families

Research Centre CFRC News

Early Childhood Development specialists from the Asia Region came to Macquarie as part of a research project funded by the Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC): Raising awareness, identifying capacity and developing plans for enhanced programs and services regarding the issue of disaster risk reduction for young children and families in the Asia Region.

Dr Kathy Cologon, Professor Jacqueline Hayden and Dr Emma Pearson hosted sixteen early childhood specialists, government policy makers and representatives from UNICEF and other non government organisations from four nations (Vanuatu, PNG, Bangladesh and Philippines) at a workshop in Sydney held 23 – 25 August 2010.

The purpose of the workshop is to review what information is needed in order for each nation to develop a disaster risk reduction plan for Early Childhood Development and ways in which this information can be collected and assessed.

Dr Jenny Barr worked with the team in the development and delivery of the workshop. The research team hosted a reception for the participants as well as members of the Institute of Early Childhood and the Children and Families Research Centre.

Back Row L -R : Ms Lisa Deters, Macquarie University; Ms Lyn Bae, Papua New Guinea; Mr Matiur Rahman, Bangladesh; Dr Chemba Raghavan, UNICEF; Ms Jenny James, Vanuatu; Mr Tariqul Islam Chowdhury, Bangladesh; Dr Jenny Barr, Macquarie University; Ms Nicole Rodger, Plan Australia; Mr Jim Knox Allanson, Vanuatu; Mr Smith Anderson, Vanuatu. Front Row L-R : Dr Kathy Cologon, Macquarie University; Ms Syeda Rezwana Akhter, Bangladesh; Dr Tamanna Taher, Bangladesh; Professor Jacqueline Hayden, Macquarie University; Ms Isabel Salatiel, Papua New Guinea; Ms Beverly Sevilleno-Bicaldo, Philippines; Ms Dominica Mai, Papua New Guinea; Ms Junko Miyahara, ARNEC; Ms Elizabeth Whittaker, Macquarie University; Mr Mohammad Nuruzzaman, Bangladesh.

First Workshop on Needs Assessment for Young Children in Emergencies

Dr Sheila Degotardi is a senior lecturer in Macquarie’s Institute of Early Childhood. Her PhD topic in 2005 was Mothers’ Beliefs, Mothers’ Talk and Their Children’s Theory of Mind.

“I was looking at the interaction between mothers and their infants and the way the mothers’ thinking about their infants might be reflected in their interactions,” she explained.

Dr Degotardi’s interest in infant-toddler development and caregiving is based on the now widespread recognition of the importance of the first three years of a child’s life for their ongoing development, learning and wellbeing

More recently she has been focusing on early childhood practitioners and their interactions with infants. Her paper published in the International Journal of Early Years Education in March this year described a study into high-quality interactions with infants: relations with early childhood practitioners’ interpretations and qualification levels in play and routine contexts.

“The article looked at the factors associated with the quality of adult-infant interaction, a central indicator of quality in daycare centres. With so many children in formal early childhood centres across the developed world, ‘okay’ care is not good enough. With our youngest children, care and education programs need to be excellent if we are to support positive outcomes for these children” she said.

Dr Degotardi’s study involved 24 practitioners working with 9 to 20-month-old infants in 15 long-daycare infant programs. The practitioners were employed in a mix of not-for-profit, privately owned and corporate-sponsored services catering for children from a range of social and cultural backgrounds. Qualifications ranged from no formal early childhood training to diplomas and university degrees in early childhood education.

Videos were made of individual staff interacting with their nominated infant in three contexts – play, dressing and mealtime. They were then asked to describe and interpret short extracts of the footage before the complexity of their interpretations was assessed as:

• low - brief descriptive responses focusing on a limited range of observable infant behaviours or emotional reactions (e.g,, likes and feelings) and providing no explicit explanations for behaviour;

• moderate – inclusion of diverse infant descriptions referring to infants’ cognitive and emotional states and intentions;

• high – detailed and coherent narratives while explicitly acknowledging the infant’s subjective point of view. These narratives gave a detailed sense of the infants’ cognitive and social connectedness with their world by describing links between the infants’ behaviour, their psychological state and the practitioners’ own interaction with the infant.

“The quality of practitioner interaction with the infants was assessed according to the level of sensitivity and

stimulation that they demonstrated in both play and routine context,” said Dr Degotardi. “This was on the basis that sensitivity and stimulation levels have repeatedly been shown to predict a range of developmental outcomes in later childhood.” The study found interpretive complexity was significantly related to practitioners’ qualification level. While there was no great difference between unqualified and diploma-qualified practitioners, those with degrees scored highest. Higher qualifications were also associated with greater levels of sensitivity and stimulation in both play and routine interactions. Importantly, however, those with high levels of interpretive complexity were more sensitive and stimulating than those who showed a less complex understanding of the infant, suggesting that an in-depth awareness of infants’ perspectives and experiences may form a basis upon which more developmentally stimulating interactions can occur. “When interactions in play and routine contexts were compared, play interactions attracted higher levels of sensitivity and stimulation than routine events (eg, changing napkins, clothes)” said Dr Degotardi. “A previous study suggests that practitioners may overlook the infant agency in dressing to focus on their own role in attending to the physical rather than developmental needs of the child. “Early childhood programs are increasingly being challenged to extend learning opportunities beyond play-based experiences. This is particularly the case with infant-toddler programs where routines form a significant and integral part of the day. These are opportunities for relationship formation and early learning.” This month Dr Degotardi begins a new research project looking closely at children’s relationships with each other. It will explore diverse perspectives about the importance of children’s relationships with practitioners and other infants and toddlers within a childcare centre.

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Congratulations to Dr Rebekah Grace , Postdoctoral Research Fellow 2007-2010 at CRFC. Dr Grace has taken up a position as Senior Research Fellow, Program Manager for Early Childhood Research at the Centre for Health Equity Training Research and Evaluation (UNSW, based at Liverpool Hospital). In her new role she will oversee a number of large projects, including the evaluation of a sustained nurse home visiting program for Aboriginal women and their babies and a project focused on transition and the early years of school for a cohort of urban Aboriginal children.

Dr Grace will remain connected to CFRC as an Honorary Associate with her continued involvement in a collaborative research project with UnitingCare Burnside on the integrated service model, as well as the successful ARC Linkage grant to explore the processes of change for at risk families who are participating in a parenting program. She will also remain on the PhD supervision teams of CFRC postgraduate students Kelly Baird and Karen Menzies as an adjunct supervisor.

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Australian Rotary Health Terry Beslich

PhD Scholarship

Below L-R: Mrs Kelly Baird, Mr Phil Lacey, Professor Jennifer Bowes, Dr

Rebekah Grace and Dr Frances Gibson.

On Wednesday 11 August Mrs Kelly Baird was presented with a plaque by Mr Phil Lacey, Australian Rotary Health in recognition of being awarded the Australian Rotary Health Terry Beslich PhD Scholarship.

A morning tea was held to enable Kelly and her supervisors Dr Rebekah Grace, Dr Frances Gibson and members from the Children and Families Research Centre to meet with Phil Lacey and hear about the work of Australian Rotary Health.

SSttuuddeenntt IInntteerrnnsshhiippss Congratulations to Ms Heather Lacey, Ms Ai Vee Tan and Ms Diana Kidman who were selected from a number of applicants to be the first to participate in the CFRC / IEC Research Intern Scheme in the second half of 2010. Ms Ai Vee Tan is working with Dr Maria Amigo. Ms Heather Lacey is working with Dr Sheila Degotardi and Dr Emma Pearson. Ms Diana Kidman is working with Dr Shirley Wyver.

The interns are being provided with an opportunity to participate in paid work that will enrich and complement their educational experience.

Dr Kerry Hodge’s 2009 Nancy Fairfax Churchill Fellowship was conducted in April-June 2010. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet with academics, bureaucrats and practitioners to discuss policies and practices in delivering programs to gifted children aged 3-5 and also teacher education in early giftedness. Dr Hodge was able to observe a range of programs. Some catered for gifted children only. Other programs were inclusive but with explicit policies and practices regarding gifted children or were early childhood programs with elements that appeared promising for use with young gifted children.

Dr Hodge found a range of curriculum approaches and practices apparently successful in providing intellectual challenge and social-emotional support for gifted preschoolers but very little research into their effectiveness. Possible collaborations here and overseas will be explored to address this research gap.

Since returning to Sydney Kerry has shared her conclusions and recommendations with practitioners and researchers at conferences in gifted education and in early childhood. Her fellowship report can be downloaded from the website of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust of Australia: http://www.churchilltrust.com.au/fellows/reports/education/early-childhood/

Dr Hodge (right) is pictured here with Dr Norma Lu Hafenstein, Director of the Ricks Center for Gifted Children and the Institute for the Development of Gifted Education in the Morgridge College of Education, University of Denver, Colorado, USA.

Jennifer Bowes, Director of the Children and Families Research Centre and Marina Papic, Head of the Institute of Early Childhood are delighted to announce that Dr Peter Whiteman has been selected as the new Associate Director of the Children and Families Research Centre. Peter began working in this new role in August and will continue until the end of 2011.

Jennifer Bowes and Wayne Warburton, who is Deputy Director of CFRC, are looking forward to working in partnership with Peter to lead the research centre to strengthen its ties with the IEC and to build new collaborative research teams.

Researcher Profile: In pursuit of high quality interactions with infants and toddlers

CFRC Colloquium 12 August 2010

Maverick Mother - from pariah to social progressive: Solo

motherhood by choice and the changing role of fathers in the

Australian Family.

Dr Janet Merewether is a Sydney-based filmmaker with a distinct creative practice who regularly teaches screen production at Macquarie University. Her presentation, including the screening of extracts from the award-winning Australian documentary Maverick Mother, examined non-normative conceptions of ‘family’, in particular the increasingly common decision educated women make to become ‘single mothers by choice’. Dr Merewether considered the importance of non-residential male role-models, the potential benefits of solo mothering, as well as a brief history of unwed mothers, illegitimacy and more recent legislative reform of rights and financial benefits in the Australian context.

Sithu Wai

Sithu Wai is a full time international PhD candidate in IEC/ CFRC. His research will focus on the experiences of young children following the recent cyclone disaster in Myanmar.

Sithu is a humanitarian worker with a special interest in helping people affected by emergencies. He has worked with various humanitarian organisations like the Red Cross, Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, CESVI and Church World Service. He has also worked with an academic institution namely Institute of Medicine II, Yangon as a researcher and facilitator. Dr Wai is a medical doctor from Myanmar with advanced master degrees in Public Health and Humanitarian Action.

On 11 November the CFRC held its Migrant and Refugees Families Conference. The conference discussed topics as diverse as early integration into kindergarten and school, the value of biculturalism, helping migrant mothers caring for a child with a disability, and refugees suffering trauma. Psychologists, linguists, early childhood and educational specialists from Australian universities, government departments and welfare agencies attended.

Professor Gail Whiteford, Pro Vice Chancellor (Social Inclusion) gave the keynote address, based on her research in rural NSW about issues faced by migrant and refugee families on arrival in Australia. “A common question new arrivals ask is ‘Where is everyone?’ They often find Australian streets deserted compared to their home countries and would like to know what people do after they have driven into their driveways and disappeared,” she says.

Among the presenters were Associate Professor Lynda Yates, an associate member of the CFRC, and Dr Agnes Terraschke from the Linguistics Department at Macquarie University. In their report, Language training and settlement success: are they related?, which was completed on behalf of the NSW Department of Immigration and Citizenship, they tackled the vexed question of which language migrant families use at home. Inadequate English language skills can cause migrant parents to struggle to cope with the issues faced by their teenage children.

“Children will tend to learn English and become socialised into peer groups at school a lot more quickly than their parents. With time, English is likely to become their dominant language,” says Professor Yates. “They may then start to lose their first language with important negative consequences for family life, especially where the parents do not acquire sufficient English to catch up.

“Parents may find they need to use English in the home, even though they do not speak it so well, and this can undermine their authority. There is a danger that they - often the mother - may get ‘left behind’ and therefore less able to tackle the usual family issues that arise with teenagers,” she says.

Other CFRC members who presented were Dr Maria Amigo and Dr Emma Pearson .

For more information on the conference and a schedule of presenters, copies of their PowerPoints and podcasts, please visit the CFRC Website - http://www.iec.mq.edu.au/cfrc/index.htm

Migrant and Refugee Families Conference

Farewell and Congratulations to Dr Rebekah Grace

Dr Peter Whiteman Associate Director of CFRC

Churchill Fellowship Completed