Making Sense of Belonging, Being and Becoming The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia: What

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Making Sense of Belonging, Being and Becoming -
The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia
What might it mean for usDr Jennifer
SumsionCharles Sturt University,Bathurst
Campus, Australia
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http//www.deewr.gov.au/EarlyChildhood/Policy_Agen
da/Quality/Pages/EarlyYearsLearningFramework.aspx
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Overview

• What is Belonging, Being and Becoming The Early
  Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF)?
• Political and policy context in which the EYLF
  was developed
• Intent, understandings and approach of the CSU
  led Consortium that won the tender to develop the
  EYLF
• Some difficult decision points and dilemmas
  (Westbury, 2008, p. 59) that warrant ongoing
  consideration as the EYLF is implemented and
  hopefully refined
• Some lessons learned

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The EYLF

• Aims to extend and enrich childrens learning in
  all early childhood settings from birth to five
  years and through the transition to school
• Intended to guide educators pedagogical
  practices (including curriculum decision making)
• Will form part of the National Quality Standards
• May complement, supplement or replace individual
  State and Territory frameworks. The exact
  relationship will be determined by each
  jurisdiction.
• Educators
• early childhood practitioners who work directly
  with children in early childhood settings.

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Some terms

• Educators early childhood practitioners who work
  directly with children in early childhood
  settings (includes diploma and ECE degree
  qualified)
• Early childhood settings long day care,
  occasional care, family day care, Multi-purpose
  Aboriginal Childrens Services, preschools and
  kindergartens, playgroups, creches, early
  intervention settings and similar services.

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Elements of the EYLF
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Pedagogical Principles

• Secure, respectful and reciprocal relationships
• Partnerships
• High expectations and equity
• Respect for diversity
• Ongoing learning and reflective practice

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Practices

• Holistic approaches
• Responsiveness to children
• Learning through play
• Intentional teaching
• Learning environments
• Cultural Competence
• Continuity of learning and transitions
• Assessment for learning

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OUTCOME 1 CHILDREN HAVE A STRONG SENSE OF
IDENTITY

• Children develop their emerging autonomy,
  inter-dependence, resilience and sense of agency
• Children develop knowledgeable and confident self
  identities
• Children learn to interact in relation to others
  with care, empathy and respect
• Children feel safe, secure, and supported

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OUTCOME 2 CHILDREN ARE CONNECTED WITH AND
CONTRIBUTE TO THEIR WORLD

• Children develop a sense of belonging to groups
  and communities and an understanding of the
  reciprocal rights and responsibilities necessary
  for active community participation
• Children respond to diversity with respect
• Children become aware of fairness
• Children become socially responsible and show
  respect for the environment

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OUTCOME 3 CHILDREN HAVE A STRONG SENSE OF
WELLBEING

• Children become strong in their social and
  emotional wellbeing
• Children take increasing responsibility for their
  own health and physical wellbeing

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OUTCOME 4 CHILDREN ARE CONFIDENT AND INVOLVED
LEARNERS

• Children transfer and adapt what they have
  learned from one context to another
• Children resource their own learning through
  connecting with people, place, technologies and
  natural and processed materials
• Children develop dispositions for learning such
  as curiosity, cooperation, confidence,
  creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence,
  imagination and reflexivity
• Children develop a range of skills and processes
  such as problem solving, enquiry,
  experimentation, hypothesising, researching and
  investigating

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OUTCOME 5 CHILDREN ARE EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATORS

• Children interact verbally and non-verbally with
  others for a range of purposes
• Children engage with a range of texts and gain
  meaning from these texts
• Children express ideas and make meaning using
• a range of media
• Children begin to understand how symbols and
  pattern systems work
• Children use information and communication
  technologies to access information, investigate
  ideas and represent their thinking

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The Australian context

• vast continent approx 4,000km east west 3,000
  km north-south
• highly urbanised and culturally diverse
  population (with very remote settlements)
• very high levels of disadvantage and poverty in
  many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
  communities, especially in remote areas
• Federated political system (Federal Govt 6
  state governments 2 territory governments)
  responsibilities for ECEC remain divided between
  education and welfare portfolios in many
  governments
• Rudd Labor Govt elected in late 2007 with
  ambitious reform agenda implemented by the
  Australian Council of Australian Governments
  (COAG)
• Influential right wing national daily that is
  outspoken on educational matters (Rupert
  Murdochs News Limited)

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Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Reform
Agenda
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Early Childhood Reforms

• Closing the gap in differences in outcomes for
  Aboriginal and non Aboriginal children
• Increasing access to ECEC By 2013, every child
  will have access to 15 hours a week, 40 weeks a
  year of affordable quality play based education
  programs in the year before school currently
  72 of 3-6 year old children not in school attend
  ECEC, but only 23 of these for 15 hrs or more
  per week
• Improving quality through a National Quality
  Framework
• Developing the ECEC workforce

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National Quality Framework

• National Quality Standards for Early Childhood
  Education and Care probably a major revamping
  and expansion of current national accreditation
  system for day care centres
• Quality rating system
• Streamlined quality and regulatory arrangements
• National Early Years Learning Framework

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Developing the ECEC workforce

• the removal of TAFE (Community College) fees for
  child care diplomas and advanced diplomas
• additional early childhood education university
  places and
• HECS-HELP debt relief for early childhood
  education teachers working areas of high
  disadvantage.

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EYLF Consortium
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Development of the Early Years Learning
Framework

• The development of the EYLF involved three
  stages
• Stage 1 Literature review
• Stage 2 discussion paper, national symposium and
  consultation
• Stage 3 Development of the Framework, focus
  groups, second national symposium and a second
  consultation round
• Stage 4 Trialling and validation

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Time Frame for Stages 3 and 4

• August 2008 request for tender issued
• Sept 2008 - successful tenderer notified
• Oct 2008 - invited national symposium to give
  feedback on 1st draft
• Nov 2008 national consultation on 1st draft
• Feb 2009 2nd draft released
• Feb April 2009 - 6 week trial involving 28
  services across Australia online consultations,
  focus groups
• May 2009 Consortium submitted its recommended
  draft to COAG
• July 3 2009 EYLF officially launched for
  immediate implementation
• Sept 2009 hard copies to be sent to all early
  childhood services

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Consortium structure
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Why this structure?

• symbolic and pragmatic statement of confidence in
  the capacity of the EC sector to work
  collaboratively and constructively across state /
  territory borders and other divides.
• diversity of perspectives, professional
  backgrounds, expertise and insights of Consortium
  members mirrored the diversity of the EC sector
  generally
• provided a rich range of knowledge and
  experiential bases and an inbuilt mechanism for
  testing and refining ideas and proposed
  directions

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Also enabled

• a rich generational mix of experienced and
  emerging leaders
• work tasks to be distributed, thus rendering the
  extremely tight time frame just manageable
• us to activate networks across Australia at short
  notice for various purposes as the need arose

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Curriculum

• is always political, in part because it shapes
  what is seen as (im)possible (Popkewitz, 2009).
• reflects the political and social terrain in
  which it is developed as the terrain shifts, so
  will emphases in curriculum.
• a reflection of what a society values and what it
  hopes to become (Reid, 2008) and of its vision
  and courage (or lack thereof)
• is about what matters to politicians, policy
  makers, the media, academics, educators,
  communities, families and children and about
  how what matters should be framed (Yates,
  2009). What matters is conveyed through
  multiple and competing discourses and narratives

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Key ideas guiding the Consortium

• Educators are professional, knowledgeable,
  skilful, ethical and intentional.
• Children are capable. They are active
  participants in their families and communities.
• Diversity is something to value and respect, but
  it brings many responsibilities, especially in
  relation to equity and social justice.

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Theories different ways of looking

• Theories are like lenses we can use to help us to
  interpret and gain insight into complex issues
  (e.g, like looking through a magnifying glass /
  telescope)
• They enable us to see the world differently like
  different pairs of glasses (e.g, sunglasses /
  reading glasses).
• We can use different theories to suit different
  situations and to interpret things differently.
• All theories have strengths and limitations, so
  its not such a good idea to rely only one theory

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• Developmental theories describe and help to
  understand changes in childrens learning and
  development over time
• Socio-cultural theories central role of families
  and cultural groups play in childrens learning
  need for respectful relationships and insights
  into social and cultural contexts in which
  children learn and develop
• Socio-behavioural focus on ways that chns
  experiences shape their behaviour
• Critical theories challenge our assumptions
  about curriculum, and consider how decisions may
  affect children differently.
• Poststructuralist theories offer insights into
  issues of power, equity and social justice in
  early childhood settings.

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Most salient narratives

• Hope
• e.g., early childhood sectors hopes that the
  EYLF would
• build on Prime Minister Rudds formal apology to
  the Stolen Generation in February 2008 and
  actively contribute to reconciliation between
  Indigenous and other Australians
• lead to enhanced professional status for early
  childhood practitioners through public
  recognition of the importance and complexity of
  their work.
• engender a transformative vision for ECEC and for
  a more socially just society

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Salvation

• focus on strengthening society by saving or
  rescuing its (potentially) valuable assets
• emphasise the production of future citizens with
  desirable qualities by addressing deficits
  (Popkewitz, 2009) narratives of hope seek to
  address inequities through transforming social
  structures that perpetuate those inequities
• The agreed aspiration is that children are born
  healthy and have access, throughout early
  childhood, to the support, care and education
  that will equip them for life and learning .
  This is critical to achieving long-term
  participation and productivity gains for
  Australia. Schooling and skills development must
  be improved now, and must start early as children
  are the nations future (Productivity Agenda
  Working Group - Early Childhood Development Sub
  Group, 2008, p. 2)
• But in reality, frequently interwoven, e.g.,
  emphasis on closing the gap between the
  educational outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres
  Strait Islander children and those of other
  children.

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Political risk

• Internal
• e.g., arising from multi-jurisdictional nature
  of COAG processes competing priorities,
  parochialism and gamesmanship that have
  traditionally constrained attempts at national
  collaboration in Australia (Moon Sharman, 2003)
  
• External
• e.g., media attention critical of the two
  publicly released drafts of the EYLF. Sensitivity
  to those risks can be traced in what we
  considered a substantial toning down of
  potentially controversial ideas in successive
  publicly released drafts and in the final version

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Plan to teach tots calls for PC playThe
Australian, December 18, 2008

•  POLITICAL correctness in the playground is the
  theme of the nation's first curriculum for
  childcare centres. A draft "early years learning
  framework makes no mention of practical
  targets such as learning colours and numbers or
  building with blocks. Instead, it discusses the
  dangers of child's play -- even referring to
  discrimination based on the "sexuality" of
  babies, toddlers and kindergarten kids. "Play is
  not always innocent and fun," says the document,
  drafted by a panel of academics and state and
  federal education bureaucrats. "Sometimes it can
  be cruel, unfair and unjust -- a space for
  politics and power relations, where children are
  excluded on the basis of gender, age, size, skin
  colour, proficiency with English, class,
  ethnicity, sexuality and more. "It is important
  educators are aware of the possibilities and
  realities of play, and of the romance and
  nostalgia that can be associated with play. "It
  is not sufficient to just 'let children play' and
  trust that learning occurs. The document says
  carers should "work with children to challenge
  power assumptions and create play experiences
  that promote equity, fairness and justice".
•  

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• Wrong direction MAXINE McKew's proposal to turn
  preschoolers into politically correct activists
  (The Advertiser, yesterday) is absolutely
  outrageous. It is also dangerous. These sorts of
  proposals are more in keeping with communist
  China than they are with a democracy. Ms McKew
  and her advisers are to be strongly condemned.
  D.L. THOMAS, Torrens Park.
• Political fanaticism I READ Ms McKew's proposal
  to politically indoctrinate pre-schoolers with
  growing disbelief. Which country are we living
  in, Australia or some totalitarian state? Of
  course, young children need to be taught to be
  thoughtful of others and care for them. They do
  not need to be taught some sort of political
  fanaticism inspired by the radical Left. This
  does more to divide society than bring it
  together. It dwells on differences and encourages
  discontent. Ms McKew may want to see all children
  grow up to be Labor-voting political clones, but
  I would prefer my children to grow up caring for
  others before taking on the issues that we have
  not solved since the beginning of human
  existence. Cl WILSON, Hawthorn
• Innocent minds I AM sure Maxine McKew has fine
  intentions, but to introduce a political
  component into pre-school learning concerns me
  greatly. These beautiful and innocent minds are
  void of racism, ethics and political correctness.
  In an ideal environment, they will learn good
  values by example, from parents, teachers and a
  caring society.
• BRIAN COOMBES. Para Hills.

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Approach

• Aimed to
• be bold and brave (transformational
  possibilities)
• affirm existing good practice, and move the early
  childhood sector forward by conveying ideas,
  posing questions and provoking dialogues that
  practitioners may not have encountered or engaged
  in previously
• open up spaces for conversations about ECEC
  pedagogy, curriculum and the discourses that
  underpin them, and about what knowledge, values
  and ideas matter and what constitutes good
  citizens and good societies (Yates, 2009).

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• build on COAG stipulation that the EYLF retain
  sufficient flexibility to be interpreted in ways
  that are contextually and culturally relevant
• retain sufficient flexibility to allow and
  support different assemblages of ideas and
  theories, including those that may have been
  perceived too politically risky to articulate
  openly
• weave in words that cross borders and divides,
  resonate with diverse audiences, and be taken up
  differently within different discourses
• use words innocuous to political risk detectors,
  while speaking powerfully in code to
  practitioners seeking legitimate ways to push the
  boundaries

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Decision Points and Dilemmas

• Audience
• Given the diverse workforce in ECEC settings, who
  should be the primary intended audience for the
  EYLF?
• How should differences in understanding, nature
  and depth of professional knowledge be
  approached?
• Who should take leadership in making curriculum
  decisions and where does that leave often
  traditionally marginalised groups like family day
  carers?

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Children

• Where is the focus on infants and toddlers?
• How to portray children with disabilities and
  special needs? What is the nature of genuine
  inclusion?
• When is best to identify the particular needs of
  individuals or groups and when is it best to
  include and not single out?
• How can we balance views of children as capable
  and vulnerable, and avoid over- or
  underestimating the support they might need?
• How to counter the dominant human capital policy
  focus on children primarily as learners so that
  they become successful productive workers
  contributors to society?

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Distinctiveness

• What constitutes a distinctively Australian
  framework?
• What does it mean to be an educator in a
  post-apology Australia?
• What are the roles and responsibilities of early
  childhood educators and early learning settings
  in contributing to reconciliation?

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Diversity and equity

• How can the EYLF make a constructive contribution
  that is not superficial or tokenistic?
• Is the phrase all children a politically
  acceptable way of conveying a commitment to
  equity, without entering into the risks of naming
  marginalised groups for whom social structures
  have produced far from equitable opportunities
  and outcomes?
• Does it normalise children by immediately
  portraying children who do not behave or achieve
  in ways that are expected deviant or failures?

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Theoretical underpinnings

• What are the risks and opportunities of
  theoretical eclecticism?
• What can be said about play and what has to
  remain unspoken?

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So, what have we got?

• Australias first national framework a major
  achievement and likely to become historically
  significant
• Provides a shared basis for conversations across
  the country and across sectors
• A hybrid document with many signs of negotiated
  settlements so lacks the seemingly effortless
  coherence of a unified narrative
• Its dissonance makes it an honest document -
  implicitly acknowledging that true consensus is
  not readily achievable
• It also gives it a dynamic quality that leaves
  open spaces for ongoing conversations and new
  articulations could open up spaces and
  possibilities for early childhood pedagogical
  practice seemingly unattainable in current
  political and policy contexts.

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So, what have we learned?

• Curriculum really is political and the media
  incredibly powerful
• There is strength in diversity being able to
  work with diversity commands respect. So does
  practicing what you preach.
• Recognise and work hard to understand cultural
  differences (eg bureaucratic cultures)
• Know what is most important, when to hold out and
  when to compromise find creative ways to
  compromise (e.g., flying under the radar)
• Dont set up binaries (i.e. them / us good
  / bad)
• Find ways to help bureaucrats achieve their
  goals but take every opportunity to educate them

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• References
• Moon, J., Sharman, C. (2003). Introduction
  Australian politics and government. In J. Moon
  C. Sharman (Eds.), Australian politics and
  government The Commonwealth, the states and the
  territories (pp. 1-11). Cambridge Cambridge
  University Press.
• Popkewitz, T. S. (2009). Curriculum study,
  curriculum history, and curriculum theory The
  reason of reason. Journal of Curriculum Studies,
  41(3), 301-309.
• Productivity Agenda Working Group - Early
  Childhood Development Sub Group. (2008). A
  national quality framework for early childhood
  education and care A discussion paper Retrieved
  June 2, 2009 from http//www.deewr.gov.au/EarlyChi
  ldhood/Policy_Agenda/Quality/Pages/home.aspx.
• Reid, A. (2008). It's time A national curriculum
  for the 21st century? Professional Educator
  7(4), 9-11.
• Yates, L. (2009). From curriculum to pedagogy and
  back again Knowledge, the person and the
  changing world. Pedagogy, culture and society,
  17(1), 17-28.