Notions of consent, including assent and dissent, are paramount ethical considerations in human research, but have different connotations in research involving young children (aged 3 to 8). While discussion surrounding consent in the early childhood literature has progressed from paternalistic views surrounding the need to protect the child, to…

The paper combines an autoethnographic approach with a literature review of general and discipline-specific research linked to the theme of cross-curricular citizenship education ("CE") from the 1990s to the present. It identifies 20 reasons why cross-curricular CE struggles to take flight in secondary schools. These reasons are…

Higher education initiatives to support students from low socioeconomic backgrounds are widespread. However, there is pervasive concern within public discourse that such widening participation efforts have contributed to a 'dumbing down' of higher education. There are classed dimensions to evaluations of (dis)advantaged students' university…

A problem in teacher education is how to make learning about inclusive education meaningful so that it is more than just another idea for pre-service teachers to study and has deep and lasting effects on their practice as educators. One innovative approach developed at Deakin University is the provision of the Teaching for Diversity Workshop,…

Pandemics are associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality, and the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has been the most fatal coronavirus outbreak of the 21st century. To reduce person-to-person transmission, interventions such as social distancing have been recommended; however, it is anticipated that 80% compliance is required to…

Government guidelines are demanding greater educational outcomes and intentional teaching in Australian preschools. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a study of how children incorporate concepts into child-initiated play. A cohort of 18 children (aged 3.0-5.8, mean age of 4.8) were digitally observed over seven weeks…

This paper examines the use of vignettes as a research method in a comparative exploration of the provision for children with special educational needs across eleven countries. The investigation selected in-country researchers, who responded to questions with respect to children described in 14 vignettes. The questions related to school placement…

Research into pedagogical approaches used in early years' nature education, more specifically European and UK forest schools, remains according to Leather, 'undertheorised.' In a similar situation in Australia, the bush kindergarten programmes (referred to as 'bush kinders'), have had limited research attention. Influenced by European and UK…

Purpose: In this paper we report on the outcomes of a scenario planning project in Melbourne's (Australia) inner northern suburbs, which was undertaken in the context of an extended lockdown during Melbourne's second wave of COVID-19 infections. In this project, the researchers sought to identify the ways in which young people and youth service…

Practitioners who work with children and young people such as educators, psychologists, and social workers, are required to understand and respond to various sexual behaviours in children and young people. However, there is a dearth of training programmes dealing with sexual development. To reduce over- and under-reporting of risk, which can have…

Background: The forest school and nature kindergarten approach to early childhood education and care (ECEC) has been established for well over 50 years in the United Kingdom and across parts of Europe including Scandinavia. One example where the nature kindergarten approach has recently taken a foothold is the Australian 'bush kinder'. Bush…

Within the field of Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) teaching, there has been limited engagement with Global Citizenship Education (GCE). The politicisation of CFL education in today's diverse and multilingual Australian classroom remains a significant cause for concern as it endangers spaces of pedagogic possibility. Drawing upon data from an…

Technology can play a pivotal role in mathematics education. Qualitative methods were used to report on how a Year 1-2 teacher incorporated "Conveyance technology" (iPads), to support the teaching and learning of mathematics through student reasoning and problem-solving. The study was conducted in Australia. A single case was chosen,…

This article explores pedagogical renewal through an analysis of vignettes from four international pre-service teachers in an initial teacher education programme at an Australian university where learner-centred practices are prioritised. To understand their pedagogical journeys during their course, data was collected through a series of questions…

The teaching and learning of Chinese remains a fragile undertaking across all stages of Australian schooling. This paper reports on a practitioner inquiry into pedagogic practices and student engagement with disadvantaged primary school students in a Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) classroom in Sydney, Australia. Drawing upon studies of affect…