Mel Hazard (Charles Darwin University)

Lyn Fasoli (Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education)

ACSA BIENNIAL CURRICULUM CONFERENCE :Uncharted territory? Navigating the new Australian Curriculum

September 25-27, 2013, Darwin, NT

Multiple Curriculum Frameworks in Early

Childhood Teacher Preparation: Charting New

Territory?

What does it mean to say ‘What does it mean to say ‘What does it mean to say ‘What does it mean to say ‘the Australian the Australian the Australian the Australian

Curriculum Curriculum Curriculum Curriculum builds onbuilds onbuilds onbuilds on the EYLF’?the EYLF’?the EYLF’?the EYLF’?

� respecting the nature of learners at particular stages in their learning lives

� recognising that there is a set of foundational dispositions, knowledge and skills that underpin future learning success

� acknowledging the diversity of starting points that learners bring to next-stage learning

� allowing teachers to connect their pedagogical practices in the first years of school to those used in prior-to-school contexts.

(ACARA & ECA, 2013, p. 15)

Early Childhood Care and EducationEarly Childhood Care and EducationEarly Childhood Care and EducationEarly Childhood Care and Education

–––– a brief history lessona brief history lessona brief history lessona brief history lesson

Early Childhood (EC) concerns the care and education of children from birth to 8 years old (UNESCO). Two separate EC ‘sectors’ have evolved

0-5yrs 5-8yrs+

social service educational service

‘carers’ ‘teachers’

‘clients’ ‘children and families’

tasks, safety & predeterminedroutines

pedagogy (Rockel, 2009)

VET qualification required HE qualifications required

low pay, conditions & status higher pay, conditions & status

+ Different curricula, pedagogies and guiding theories

Standards Standards Standards Standards 0000----5yrs 5yrs 5yrs 5yrs vsvsvsvs 5555----8+yrs8+yrs8+yrs8+yrs

National Quality Standards before

school

Asks EC Teacher Graduates to:

National Standards formal school years

Asks EC Teacher Graduates to:

Create responsive and respectful

relationships with children

Provide support and promote children’s

health and safety

Provide stimulating and safe physical

environments

Be qualified and experienced

Create collaborative partnerships with

families and communities

Provide effective leadership and service

management.

Know their students and how they learn

Create and maintain supportive and safe

learning environments

Know the content and how to teach it

Plan for and implement effective teaching and

learning

Assess, provide feedback and report on student

learning

Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/

carers and the community

Engage in professional learning

CCCChange drivers in hange drivers in hange drivers in hange drivers in EC: EC: EC: EC: Brain research Brain research Brain research Brain research ////Social Social Social Social investmentinvestmentinvestmentinvestment

� Scientification of EC

� Critical periods for EC brain stimulation

� EC linked to long term effects on social wellbeing

� EC as a social investment

Education reform Education reform Education reform Education reform

PPPPolicy olicy olicy olicy driversdriversdriversdrivers � Notions of ‘best practice’, ‘excellence’, ‘quality’

� Testing to provide ‘evidence’ (AEDI, NAPLAN)

� Standardisation seen to ensure ‘quality’ (NQF, National Curriculum, EYLF)

Preparing teachers of Indigenous childrenPreparing teachers of Indigenous childrenPreparing teachers of Indigenous childrenPreparing teachers of Indigenous children

Indigenous education gapIndigenous education gapIndigenous education gapIndigenous education gap

� Concerns about high rates of child abuse (Little children are sacred report)

� Indigenous attendance, achievement, retention and graduation rates compare poorly with non-Indigenous

� AEDI findings Over 50% remote & very remote Indigenous children are seen as developmentally vulnerable, especially when their language background is not English (Silburn et al, 2011)

Reforms to address the gapReforms to address the gapReforms to address the gapReforms to address the gap

� NT Emergency Response (NTER)- Stronger Futures

� Investing in the Early Years—A National Early Childhood Development Strategy(COAG, 2009)

� Quality Agenda: NQF, EYLF, National Curriculum (ACARA),

� National Assessment Program (NAPLAN)

Transitioning Transitioning Transitioning Transitioning through uncharted through uncharted through uncharted through uncharted territory territory territory territory

�How do these two different curricula help/hinder professional transitions between prior to and school settings in the NT specifically?

�How can teacher education courses prepare early childhood teacher graduates to chart this gap?

1111. . . . Equip students with critical thinking skillsEquip students with critical thinking skillsEquip students with critical thinking skillsEquip students with critical thinking skills

�Prepare students to be political activists to recognise and contest the nature and power of dominant discourses

�Enable graduates to ‘think differently’ (Foucault, 1988)

2222. Unpack . Unpack . Unpack . Unpack ‘dangerous’ ‘dangerous’ ‘dangerous’ ‘dangerous’ assumptions* assumptions* assumptions* assumptions* such as…such as…such as…such as…

�Child development norms are universal

�Deviation from western norms always indicates risk and deficiency

Why dangerous? � Because assumptions influence what counts as high quality practice.

Graduates need to do, make, and be the ‘quality’ required, rather than assume they know what it is and impose a universal notion of quality

* Arnold, 2004

Query the national Query the national Query the national Query the national norms norms norms norms with the with the with the with the local local local local

‘beliefs about what makes for a healthy physical, intellectual and, especially, psychosocial development are highly variable between different societies and cultural groups and at different points in history’

Woodhead, 2005, p.5

3333. Using the gap . Using the gap . Using the gap . Using the gap

� ‘minding’ not ‘closing’ the gap? (Robinson, 2013)

�The Gap as ‘open space’ – productive of new ideas and new relationships

�The Gap as complex, inter-sectorial space for students not just children & families

�Reconceptualising transition space –(Lehrer, 2011 & Taylor, 2011)

http://www.upworthy.com/teaching-children-in-this-awful-way-is-like-helping-a-person-who-is-on-fire-by-drowning-them

References� Arnold, Caroline (2004). ‘Positioning ECCD in the 21st Century’, Coordinators’ Notebook, no.

28, pages 1-34, Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Development, c/o School of Early Childhood Education, Ryerson University: Toronto

� ACARA & ECA (2013). Foundations for learning: Relationships between the Early Years Learning Framework and the Australian Curriculum - AN ECA–ACARA PAPER Retrieved 10/9/13 from http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/pdf/ECA_ACARA_Foundations_Paper/ECA_ACARA_Foundations_Paper_FINAL.pdf

� Brooker, L. a. W., Martin eds. ((2008). Developing Positive Identities: Diversity and Young Children. Early Childhood in Focus (3). Retrieved from http://oro.open.ac.uk/16988/1/

� Investing in the Early Years—A National Early Childhood Development Strategy (COAG, 2009) Retrieved 2/8/13 http://www.coag.gov.au/sites/default/files/national_ECD_strategy.pdf

� Lehrer. (2012). A Critical Investigation of Policy, Research, and Programs that Aim to Support Children’s Transition to Kindergarten in Quebec. Canadian Children, 37(2), 19-28.

� Taylor, J., A. . (2011). Coming, ready or not: Aboriginal children's transition to school in urban Australia and the policy push. [Article]. International Journal of Early Years Education, 19(2), 145-161. International Journal of Early Years Education, 19(2), 145-161. Woodhead, M. (2005). EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT: A QUESTION OF RIGHTS. International Journal of Early Childhood, 37(3), 79-98.