Early childhood education settings are becoming more diverse. The recent update of the National Australian Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF 2.0) identified an urgent need for early childhood practices to be culturally and linguistically responsive to this rich diversity.
Recognising the pivotal role of early childhood teachers and educators in translating policy into meaningful practice, this project investigates how culturally and linguistically responsive practices are enacted and progressed in early childhood education settings within South Australia and New South Wales.
This project will benefit the early childhood education sector by bringing teachers, educators, leaders, communities and researchers together to co-create meaningful outcomes. The project aims to support learning communities where children, families and educators can thrive together.
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Background
Australian early childhood education and care setting are becoming increasingly diverse. Many educators are struggling to respond to the superdiversity that exists within their settings, often leading to disengagement and poor learning outcomes. “Superdiversity” has become the term used to describe the increasing complexity of migration-related ethnic diversity, religious, gender, class, ability and social stratification (Li, 2021). There is urgent need for the re-imagining of early childhood pedagogies that support teachers in building upon the rich cultural and linguistic funds of knowledge held by children and their families. Such pedagogies are significant to achieving meaningful learning outcomes that inspire a love of learning and support strong home/centre partnerships.
This project builds from previous research within South Australia and New South Wales led by the research team:
- An Investigation of the Reimagining of Early Childhood Education in South Australia (Sisson, Whitington and Shin, 2018),
- Bringing Culturally Responsive Pedagogies and Reggio Emilia Education Principles into Dialogue (Rigney, Sisson, Hattam and Morrison, 2020).
- Early Action for Success 2012-2014 (Arthur and Woodrow, 2018),
- Enhancing English Learning: Building on Linguistic and Cultural Repertoires in School Settings (D’warte, 2018)
These projects have created a strong foundation from which to build culturally and linguistically responsive early childhood pedagogies across both jurisdictions. This project aligns with the South Australian Early Learning Strategy 2021-2031, which aims to build research partnerships to inform evidence-based culturally responsive practices and strengthen partnerships with families.
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Project objectives & design
Objectives
- Develop a collaborative professional learning community across two States focused on co-designing culturally and linguistically responsive early childhood practice.
- Provide mentoring to support sites in facilitating two whole-year action research cycles focused on engaging with culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogies.
- Support ECE leaders in developing a whole-of-site approach to sustain culturally and linguistically responsive early childhood pedagogies.
- Develop project resources that will be publicly available to inform teacher education and professional learning.
Design
This project utilises a co-design approach to develop a tailored professional learning community for early childhood educators and leaders to engage with Elders and experts in the field to discuss issues of cultural and linguistic inclusion for children and families and to co-construct meaningful and relevant solutions. As part of the co-design approach, educators and leaders engage in critical action research to trail theory-informed culturally and linguistically responsive practices in early childhood pedagogies. Qualitative methods such as interviews and observations are used to explore the experiences of educators, leaders, children, and families.
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Project Outcomes
Conference Presentations
(*denotes practicing teacher-researcher)
- Whitington, V, & Sisson, JH (2023, Aug) Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Pedagogies in Early Childhood Education. European Early Childhood Education Research Association, Portugal.
- Sisson, JH, Vittoria B*, Woodrow, C., & Martino, J.* (2023, Oct). Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Partnerships with Families. Early Childhood Australia National Conference, Adelaide, Australia.
- Sisson, JH, Woodrow, C, & D’warte, J. (2022, November) Methods for Engaging with Funds of Knowledge. Symposium: Early Childhood Pedagogies for Social and Environmental Justice. Australian Association for Research in Education. Transforming the Future of Education: The role of research, Adelaide, South Australia.
- Iovino, M*. & Whitington, V. (July, 2024) Languages as a learning asset in a preschool context. Australian Literacy Educators Association Conference, Adelaide, South Australia.
- Whitington, V., Sisson, J.H. & Woodrow C. (September, 2024) Critical action research as a professional learning tool: a case study across four early years education settings. European Early Childhood Education Research Association, Brighton, UK.
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Resources
References
- D'warte J., Woodrow, C. (2023). Engaging Methods for Exploring 'Funds of Identity' in Early Childhood Contexts. Education Sciences.
- Newman, L., Woodrow, C., Gillespie, A., & Ellott, A. M. (2024). Practitioner research as a pathway to educational leadership. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 1–20.
- Sisson, J. (2023). Bringing children's and Teachers' agency together to create meaningful learning that matters in a diverse preschool. International Journal of Early Childhood: Special issue: Reimagining cultures of peace and democratic citizenship.
- Sisson, J., Hattam, R., Rigney, L.-I., & Morrison, A. (2024). Co-constructed engagement with Australian Aboriginal families in early childhood education. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice.
- Sisson, J. H., Lash, M., Shin, A.-M., & Whitington, V. (2021). Co-constructed leadership in early childhood education. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 1-23.
Article Briefs
Project Partners
Project Team
Work on this project will be a team effort bringing together research expertise from CRESI and WSU. The people listed below will be dedicated members of this entire project, but we may add specific expertise and capacity, should this be required.
Contact
Name: Associate Professor Jamie Sission
Email: Jamie.Sisson@unisa.edu.au
