Working collaboratively with industry partners to enact legislated change in infant-toddler practice

Under Australian National law, early childhood education service providers working with children from birth-to-five years must base their educational program on the recently updated Belonging, Being and Becoming: Early Years Learning Framework for Australia V2.0 (AGDE 2022). Changes in the updated Framework include an explicit emphasis on the importance of quality pedagogy for very young children; inclusion of a planning cycle; and increased emphasis on assessment and critical reflection for learning, development and wellbeing. While those changes are to be applauded, they bring about certain challenges when translating those changes into practice, particularly in infant-toddler settings where educators only require a Certificate-level qualification.

This presentation outlines a multi-level 3-year ARC Linkage Project using the Observe, Reflect, Improve Children’s Learning (ORICL) online tool that aims to build the capacity of infant-toddler educators to observe and reflect upon the context within which individual children are learning and developing, and stimulate enhanced planning and practice. Stakeholder engagement and communication with the 11 Partner Organisations (POs) have been central to our preparation and planning. In year 1 (2023-24), face-to-face whole-of-team meetings have been held at key time-points to present and workshop recruitment and data collection processes. These meetings work in concert with service-based conversations with PO managers, centre directors, FDC coordinators, educational leaders, and educators, which give opportunities for practice-based questions to be fed back for further discussion by the researchers and POs. A model of building genuine research partnerships has strengthened the original design, ensuring uptake and benefits for very young children.