Challenges in Early Childhood
Engagement of Indian Children and Parents in Early Childhood Settings in Australia
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Vijaya Tatineni, Sivanes Phillipson, Nish Belford
Australian classroom demographics are changing rapidly due to migration. Australia has both federal and state policies to advocate cultural competence issues in early childhood education. Yet, advocacy for cultural competence comes with multiple barriers, mainly as teachers’ efforts, attitudes, beliefs and their cultural misgivings often tint their understanding and implementation of an inclusive approach to multicultural education. Using a multiple case study of 12 teachers and 12 parents, we examined the engagement of teachers and immigrant parents from Indian origin in early childhood settings in Melbourne. The findings show a disparity in cultural understanding among teachers to engage and partner with culturally and linguistically diverse parents. Teachers often face communication problems that affect collaboration in creating more inclusive learning communities with Indian immigrant children and parents. Similarly, the parents expressed difficulties and anxiety in approaching teachers for the integration of their children into the community of learners in the centres. The findings highlight the need for a greater understanding of policy implementation at the practice level and the identification of strategies for better engagement of Indian immigrant children and their parents within early childhood settings.
Underpaid and Undereducated: How to Raise the Profession of Early Childhood
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Rebecca Panagos, Kelly Hantak
Recent data reveals a crisis in early childhood education in the United States. The workforce who is entrusted with our most vulnerable population receive the lowest salaries and are hired with the lowest levels of education. The dilemma? Many early childhood teachers earn salaries below the poverty level and can’t afford to pursue a college education, much less, obtain the critical competencies required to care for infants and toddlers. Across the US, states have responded to a recent initiative based on research from the Early Childhood Education Workforce Development and policy development from professional organizations and federal and state governments to address the challenges of the early childhood workforce. This paper compares different states’ responses, the current status and progress, and explores viable options for Policy to Practice. Common practices related include encouraging professional development, advancing levels of education through tuition reimbursement or scholarship, tax credits, and building career pathways. Unique programs offering incentives for profit and non-profit agencies applying data-driven measures are explored.
Role of Working Memory in Early Childhood Education
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Kate Cockcroft
Working memory is the mental ability to temporarily store and manipulate information. Its functioning is distinct from the vast storage capacity of long-term memory, and is crucial for optimal learning and development. There is considerable research on several theoretical aspects of working memory, with a particular focus on working memory functioning in adulthood. Far less research has explored the application of such theory to understand how children can be prepared for formal education, and to assist and improve their academic performance once formal education has commenced. In this presentation, key aspects regarding working memory are considered and their implications for early childhood development, learning and education are discussed. The focus is on the value of training and developing working memory in multicultural, low resource contexts, with particular reference to South Africa. In particular, working memory measures may be useful measures of learning potential for school beginners from diverse socioeconomic and linguistic backgrounds. This is because working memory assessments appear to be less influenced by background and socioeconomic factors than many other traditionally used measures of ability.
