Research Around the World


Early Childhood Australia

Our vision: Every young child is thriving and learning.


Early Childhood Australia (ECA) was established in 1938 to advocate as a voice for children. Recently, the organization celebrated their 75th anniversary of commitment to children and families.  That is quite an accomplishment for the organization to demonstrate their dedication to young children over such a span of time.  The ECA is like the United States organization the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) in their vision and resources they offer.  Like the NAEYC, the ECA offers a membership to receive additional resources related to early childhood education.  The organization is not only for professionals but offers parent resources and publications readily available on their website.  

            The ECA publishes several journals of interests for professionals and parents.  They include Research in Practice Series, Everyday Learning Series, Early Child Magazine, and Australasian Journal of Early Childhood.  The website allows the public to sample each published journal for free without a membership.  I decided to look at the journal Research in Practice Series because after all, we are in a research class!  The sample journal highlights The Circle of Security Protocol (Cooper, Hoffman, Powell & Marvin, 2005) “as an evidenced-based early intervention for parents/carers and children.  Its core components now also exist in an education program for parents and caregivers which focus on the relationship that gives children emotional support” (ECA, n.d.).  The information given about the practices of the circle of security was just enough to get me really interested and want to read more as a professional and parent.

            An item of interest that stuck out to me on the website was their future goals for early childhood in Australia.  These goals caught my interest because I think EC professionals should always be thinking about the future, what we want for children now and for future generations.  Like the NAEYC, the ECA has designated priorities to accomplish between now and they year 2020:
  • Speak up for children
  • Build social capital
  • Champion quality in early education
  • Lead & inspire professional learning
  • Position ECA for long-term success
I highly recommend my peers to investigate the ECA website and utilize the resources and publications they offer.  The was information was abundant in topics of interest: public advocacy and policy, early childhood development, research publications, and common areas of interest, like nutrition and social-emotional development.  Additionally, the information provided is current and addresses the issues and trends that are impacting children and families right now.   



Reference
Early Childhood Australia. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

Comments

  1. Susan SchmidtJune 10, 2018 at 1:52 PM

    Hi,
    I also chose the ECA website to explore. This organization is committed to children and their families. It is truly a voice for early childhood in Australia. I found The ECA to be similar to NAEYC, which is great! They are both early childhood advocates. I agree that the ECA is a good source for peers to utilize for reseach. I found many publications to explore.

    Susan

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hope DLGJune 10, 2018 at 9:00 PM

    Crystal,
    I was delighted to read how many of the issues represented in your blog are similar to the issues of the United states. Like you said the ECA is much like NAEYC. And they both mirror the website that I chose about the African countries Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) Sub Saharan Africa. Many of the issues researched I could identify with as an Early childhood educator in America. It makes me feel that I am a part of a community that all work for the good of the children. The SSA also had articles that focused on the early intervention of young children as well as their parents. The only difference between us is our location. Thank you for a wonderful blog.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Educational Journey 2.0!June 14, 2018 at 12:53 PM

    Crystal,
    Just like you, I also chose to write my blog post on the ECA website. I always thought it is an interesting process to learn about the improvements people are making in other countries, especially if it involves ensuring that children are nurtured and cared for. Since I have always referenced the NAEYC website in some of my previous discussions and assignments in other courses, there was no doubt I was interested in learning about what the ECA has to offer. I talked about the State of Early Learning in Australia Report that focused on helping children who were from unfortunate backgrounds. The goal was to see that children are thriving in a community that is improving by the day.
    I really enjoyed your blog post!
    Julianne

    ReplyDelete

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