Research around the world

     I chose to research the Australia website.  What I was most surprised about when I got to the site was how the issues Australia is currently dealing with and talking about in regards to early childhood education is very similar to what the US is discussing too.  I saw a lot of headlines about quality childcare and early childhood education and also how to have affordable care and education for all families.  When I clicked on the What's New icon under July 2012, I read the article entitled "Children Deserve Bipartisian Support for Quality Early Education and Care".  The article was written in response to a proposed change by a government member that would limit support for ECE and care reforms that Australia is currently working towards.  Through the article, I found out that the Australian government has already issued changes that need to take place in ECE and presented timelines for these.  The changes that this government member is proposing could affect the programs and reforms that have already been made to date and the article was trying to point out that that experts in EC should be part of the discussion before anything is changed.  It also mentioned that Australia is working towards a "nationally consistent standard" in their ECE programs.
     Another thing that I found interesting on this website was the Research in Practice Series.  This tab linked me up with a variety of topics in booklet/magazine form, that is available for a fee, that helps educators deal with different issues they may come across.  Each topic is laid out very clearly and educators can order the booklets if they are dealing with the issue listed.  A few of the ones that I found interesting were about:  working to create partnerships with other teachers, a variety of material on diversity, assessments, bullying, young gifted children and aggression in young children.  I think there is so much that occurs in teaching that educators are not necessarily trainined for and have questions about and these are great resources that are available to them.
      One thing that suprised me was when I clicked on the positions statements tab, it said that "Australian Early Childhood Education position statements are being developed".  This surprised me because I really thought they would have position statements complete and ready for individuals to view.  If you look on the NAEYC website, there is a lot of position statements that NAEYC has produced and I just expected that Australia would have similiar statements complete.  It sounds like they may be in a transitional phase right now with early childhood education in their country, so maybe they are either re-evaluting old position statements or creating entirely new ones.


Reference:  http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/