How to work with older children has been ongoing question in Australian School Age Care (SAC) for over 30 years. Children aged 10-12 years are often spoken of as a problematic Other whose pose a risk to the younger children who attend SAC in higher proportions. This article aims to address the gap in research about what practices might work with…

Promoting teacher professionalisation has become a key policy agenda in Australia and internationally. Professional learning is often invoked as a means to achieve this goal. In this paper, drawing on findings of a series of studies we conducted on the topic in the Early Childhood Education and Care sector, and guided by a range of theoretical…

The efforts of Queensland's parents, government officials, and early childhood professionals to raise the quality of child care by developing a voluntary process for accreditation of early childhood programs are described. The envisioned accreditation process would begin with collaborative self-study by child caregivers of the extent to which…

Describes the development and features of an innovative field experience program, in the form of an internship, for early childhood student teachers, as part of a four-year Bachelor of Education Degree at Australia's University of Newcastle. Discusses participants' perceptions of the internship as a professionalizing experience. (HTH)