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Playwork is a recognised profession in the United Kingdom (UK) and is currently a growing area of interest internationally. However, debates about the nature and purpose of playwork have raged in the playwork field since the profession was invented in the early adventure playgrounds. This study is the first to capture data about what the now international playwork workforce understands to be the purpose of playwork. The International Playwork Census (IPC) was an online survey which asked participants from 19 different countries about their knowledge and experience of playwork. This paper reports on one question from the IPC: what is the purpose of playwork? A thematic analysis was undertaken from 193 responses on what was considered "the purpose of playwork" and three themes emerged: Facilitate and Provide for children's play; Support and Advocate. This paper describes how these three themes reflect both the historical change in understandings of the purpose of playwork and how different understandings of playwork are developed through the experience of practitioners working in range of different contexts.

Playgroups are a unique form of early childhood provision involving parents and their children attending together. Parents' attendance at playgroups provides opportunities for involvement in play. However, little is known about parents' practices of co-play in playgroups and the potential for these practices to enhance children's play experiences in early childhood. Drawing on practice architectures theory, this paper identifies parents' practices of co-play in a community playgroup, and the enablers and constraints on those practices. Data were collected through ethnographic methods, which included participant observation and informal individual interviews. The findings show that parents' practices of co-play consider the child's needs and interests in ways that support development and enhance children's play in the community playgroup. This research contributes new knowledge about the range of co-play practices engaged in by parents with children in community playgroups.

Purpose: This article examines the educational decision-making of hearing parents for their deaf children born during a period (1970-1990s) before the introduction of new-born hearing screening in New South Wales, where the study was conducted, and prior to the now near-universal adoption of cochlear implants in Australia. Design/methodology/approach: We present findings from an oral history study in which parents were invited to recall how they planned for the education of their deaf children. Findings: We propose that these oral histories shed light on how the concept, early intervention--a child development principle that became axiomatic from about the 1960s--significantly shaped the conduct of parents of deaf children, constituting both hope and burden, and intensifying a focus on early decision-making. They also illustrate ways in which parenting was shaped by two key structural shifts, one, being the increasing enrolment of deaf children in mainstream rather than separate classrooms and the other being the transformation of deafness itself by developments in hearing assistance technology. Originality/value: The paper contributes to a sociological/historical literature of "parenting for education" that almost entirely lacks deaf perspectives and a specialist literature of parental decision-making for deaf children that is almost entirely focussed on the post cochlear implant generation. The paper is distinctive in its treatment of the concept of "early intervention" as a historical phenomenon rather than a "common sense" truth, and proposes that parents of deaf children were at the leading edge of late-20th and early-21st century parenting intensification.

Objects in early childhood education (ECEC) experiences have begun to receive a great deal more attention than ever before. Although much of this attention has emerged recently from new materialism, in this paper we turn to Merleau-Ponty's phenomenological concern with the (in)visibility of 'things' to illuminate the presence of objects within infant transitions. Drawing on notions of "écart" and "reversibility," we explore the relational perceptions objects are bestowed with on the lead up to, and first day of, infant transitions. Recognizing the intertwining subjectivities that perceive the object, a series of videos and interviews with teachers and parents across three ECEC sites in Australia and New Zealand provided a rich source of phenomenological insight. Our analysis reveals objects as deeply imbued anchoring links that enable relational possibilities for transitions between home and ECEC service. Visible and yet invisible to adults (parents and/or teachers) who readily engage with objects during earliest transitions, the significance of things facilitates opportunities to forge new relationships, create boundaries and facilitate connections. As such, our paper concludes that objects are far more than mediating tools, or conceptual agents; they provide an explicit route to understanding with potential to play a vital role in supporting effective early transitions when granted visibility within this important phenomenon.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant challenges for Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services and families, impacting family access to services and their communication and engagement with educators. This study aimed to examine parents' perspectives of family engagement with ECEC services during the pandemic. Primary caregivers in Victoria at the time of recruitment (September-November 2020) were invited to participate. Of the 66 participants who completed an online survey, 25 also took part in semi-structured video call or phone interviews; qualitative findings from these interviews are reported in this paper. Four key themes were conceptualised using a reflexive thematic approach: (1) disruptions to ECEC access and attendance impacting on family routines and relationships, and child development; (2) barriers to family engagement; (3) ECEC educators' support of families and children during the pandemic; and (4) increased parental appreciation of the ECEC profession. Findings revealed that disruptions to ECEC access and routines during the pandemic adversely impacted family engagement, and child learning and social-emotional wellbeing for some families. These were aggravated by other stressors, including increased parental responsibilities in the home, financial and health concerns, and changed work conditions. Findings also demonstrated successful methods used by educators to maintain communication and connections with families. Importantly, parents expressed increasing appreciation of the profession and an increased awareness of the value of family involvement in children's learning. Learnings regarding strategies for effective and alternative ways of engaging families are discussed.

There is a consensus that the crises children encounter during the transition period might impact negatively on children's learning and development. However, from cultural-historical perspective, qualitative leap in development can hardly be achieved without crises. This paper, drawing upon cultural-historical theory as the framework and by using 'role adjustment' as the unit of analysis, discusses what the crisis means for children's learning and development. Through a case study of two second generation Chinese Australian children's role adjustment in school transition, this paper finds that the crises provide both potentials and dangers depending on how the crises are managed within the child's social situation of development. It argues against the advocates for making children's transition seamless, as it is important to utilize the developmental potentials of crises instead of eliminating them. It also enriches the cultural-historical studies by exploring not only the developmental aspect but also the dark side of the crises.

There are some studies indicating that parents make a significant contribution to children's conceptual learning through play, whereas very few studies have been done to identify parents' pedagogical positioning in children's imaginative play for supporting their learning and development. This paper is seeking how Indian-Australian immigrant parents involve themselves and support the development of abstract concepts by taking on their children's perspectives in imaginative play. Vygotsky's cultural-historical theory was used to analyse the data to answer the research question. The data have been collected through video, audio and semi-structured interviews from four Indian-Australian immigrant families. Approximately 17 hours of data were collected from four focus children's families. The finding of this study show how to extend the play that the parent and child develop from an individual perspective by moving between inside and outside of the imaginative play. However, the study also reveals that the play participants might miss the opportunity to understand each other's perspectives by only being outside of the play. The paper suggests that future research should concentrate on studying the pedagogical positioning of the adult, which is an important dimension for understanding adults' involvement in children's imaginative play for supporting learning and development.

Over past decades in early childhood education, there has been an emerging critique of developmental discourses. Despite this, the universality of child development theory persists and along with it, expectations of a linear progression via prescribed stages and ages. Developmentalism produces a normal in the classroom that sanctions comparisons, positioning any difference to the normal as problematic. In this paper, using observation and conversation data from a larger poststructural ethnographic study of three inclusive early childhood classrooms in Australia, the effects of developmental discourses on the classroom and on inclusive practice are examined. Providing an alternative view of inclusion, the paper focuses on the operations of the normal, exposing the exclusionary effects of developmental discourses on children, and among children. As children negotiate difference in the classroom, they draw on sanctioned developmental understandings in coming to know themselves and others. Interrupting the power and authority of these discourses and the way they produce certain ways of being and becoming could provide some promise for inclusive practices.

Knowing how children become oriented to imaginary play can help educators in centres better support development. But how this begins in the first years of life is not well understood. How toddlers transform through their imagination concrete objects (such as play accessories, figurines, and books) to become props in play (placeholders and pivots) for conveying meaning, remains low. Drawing upon cultural-historical theory, the study reported in this paper sought to understand the role of props for supporting the development of imagination during toddlerhood. Four toddlers aged 1.9-2.1 years from an early childhood centre in Australia were followed as they used objects as props during imaginary play. The study design was an educational experiment of a Conceptual Play World (CPW): a collective model of practice for developing play and imagination. Digital data of the CPW being implemented in the toddler room were collected through video recordings over two months. Thirteen hours of data were collected and analysed using the Vygotskian concepts of play and imagination. The findings revealed that through differentiated use of props, toddlers made transitions from the embodiment of the experience to sharing an intellectual and abstract space where objects became props in play, suggesting the genesis and development of early forms of imagination. The outcomes of the study advance theory and inform practice about the early development of imagination in toddlerhood.

This paper aims to explore the impacts of a Learn to Play programme in specialist schools for children with multiple developmental issues. Specialist schools are schools dedicated to children with IQs below 70 and who may also have other developmental issues. The Learn to Play programme focusses on facilitating children's enjoyment and ability to self-initiate pretend play. Staff views were sought on the importance of pretend play for children with developmental delay and disability within a special school, and their views on the impacts of the Learn to Play programme and its implementation in specialist schools. Participants included 14 staff members across four schools for children with developmental disabilities and delay located across Victoria, Australia. The 14 staff members included six teachers, one assistant principal, two speech pathologists, one occupational therapist and four integration aide staff members. Data were collected through focus groups and Thematic Analysis was used to analyse the data. Five themes emerged which included: 'schools create successful programs', 'Learn to Play has created shifts in children's development', 'assessing pretend play is really important', 'structuring Learn to Play to allow for the challenge of play with children with developmental delay and disability' and 'communicating with parents about play'.

The advancement of inclusive education policies worldwide has given greater weight to social justice practices in educational settings. However, inclusion in preschools has received less attention from researchers. This article examines a 4-year-old child's participation in a mainstream preschool in Australia from a cultural-historical perspective. In particular, this study used the concept of secondary disability to analyse the data, and in this process identified a contradiction between the teacher's perceptions of the child's abilities and the teacher's reported understanding of the parent's perceptions of the child's abilities, which 'clouded' the child's position within the preschool setting. Eight hours of video data were gathered across eight months. The findings indicate that understanding the child's personality and potential can operate as a 'pedagogical password' for the teacher to enter on to the child's unique developmental trajectory. This paper argues that identifying the unique developmental pathway of the child is essential to reduce secondary disabilities.

Teachers have the ability to influence a child's sense of belonging and peer relationships in the classroom which are important for a child's social development. Currently, little is known about the ways in which they do this. Vygotsky's concept of the social situation of development and Hedegaard's model for learning and development were used to discuss the conditions teachers created that promote peer relationships within the classroom. Digital video observations and interview of one grade 1 classroom teacher from the western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria were analysed using Hedegaard's dialectical-interactive approach. This paper demonstrates how the societal demands on institutions influence the activity settings that students participate in and argues that teachers need to create conditions for peer interactions that satisfy societal needs as well as being meaningful for their students and their social situation of development.

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 (153.3 hours' digital video observations). It was found that rather than formalising preschooling to increase cognitive outcomes, the leading activity of the preschool child to play can be preserved when children experience a PlayWorld where curriculum concepts act in service of the children's play.

Play acts as the source of children's development in the preschool period. Yet, the global pandemic has changed children's play conditions in ways that are not yet fully understood. With movement restrictions, families have struggled to find ways of bringing children together for play. We studied how family day care (FDC) educators across a remote region of Australia used a digital platform to collectively play in a Conceptual PlayWorld. The central question was: How do the dialectical digital and real world conditions of play create developmental opportunities for children? To answer this, we researched how family day care educators, their leaders (n = 7) and the children (n = 38) from their respective FDC homes, simultaneously played at home and remotely using a zoom platform with a storyteller-player. 797.46 min of digital data were generated and analysed using the Vygotskian conception of the dialectical relation between rudimentary/real and ideal/mature forms of play. In drawing on previous cultural-historical theorisations of digital play, this paper discusses the new developmental conditions created in this real world and virtual context of FDC. We introduce new concepts for explaining the developmental processes and outcomes for these children.

The application of engagement strategies to ensure democracy of decisions is increasingly valued and adopted by governments to ensure trust in the process and ownership of the outcome. This paper describes the approach and methods used to engage early childhood education and care (ECEC) and outside school hours care (OSHC) stakeholders in the contemporizing and updating of Australia's national Approved Learning Frameworks (ALFs): Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF) and My Time Our Place: Framework for School Age Care (MTOP). Theoretical underpinnings of a robust stakeholder engagement strategy ensured a range of methods were developed to communicate with and encourage participation by the diversity of stakeholders who are invested in ECEC and OSHC in Australia -- broadly defined as approved providers, teachers, educators, families, children and young people, regulatory authorities and other professionals who provide support and advice. A mixed-method, sequential 3-Stage design was developed to gather the insights, responses, and perspectives of stakeholders who provided, worked in, used, attended, or supported ECEC and/or OSHC settings. Stakeholder feedback included survey ratings and written comments, focus group and panel discussions, educator documentation and video-diaries, and the writings, talking, and drawings of children and young people. Evaluation methods focus on the number, diversity, and depth of stakeholder responses. In conclusion, we reflect on the usefulness, benefits, limitations, and effectiveness of our approach to participatory engagement to inform government policy development and decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Early childhood teachers (ECTs) play a significant role in equipping children with oral language and emergent literacy skills ahead of school entry. They are well positioned to play a vital role in ensuring preschool children receive a high‐quality preschool curriculum to prepare them for later literacy learning. Aims: The purpose of this study was to explore early career ECTs' views and confidence regarding their role in providing preschoolers with oral language and emergent literacy support and to examine their perceptions of their preservice preparation. Methods & Procedures: Nine Australian early career ECTs were recruited via purposive sampling for an in‐depth, semi‐structured interview. Data were analysed using an inductive thematic analysis approach. Outcomes & Results: Participants attached strong significance to their role in facilitating children's oral language growth and emergent literacy skills and reported a range of practices to support children's learning. However, they rarely referred to using established language facilitation strategies or using dialogic book reading prompts. Further, emergent literacy concepts such as phonological awareness and print awareness were not routinely described as features of participants' classroom activities. Participants did not consistently make a clear conceptual distinction between the constructs of oral language and emergent literacy and often used these terms interchangeably. Notably, participants indicated that they did not feel confident in their ability to identify preschool children who were not meeting developmental language milestones and reported that they felt poorly equipped to do so by their preservice training. Conclusions & Implications: ECTs' strong willingness to support preschool children's oral language and emergent literacy skills may be hindered by gaps in their knowledge; these may contribute to important and missed opportunities for identifying and supporting preschoolers' oral language and emergent literacy growth. What this paper adds: What is already known on this subject?: High‐quality learning experiences in preschool are important for maximising preschoolers' oral language and emergent literacy growth. Early childhood teachers can play an important role in facilitating this development and preparing children for later literacy learning. What this paper adds to existing knowledge?: The study findings provide insight into ECTs' perceptions of their role and support in developing children's oral language and emergent literacy skills. The results indicated ECTs did not feel confident with their knowledge of children's language milestones or identifying children with language difficulties. Participants reported that their preservice training left them underprepared in the area of oral language. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?: ECTs demonstrated a strong willingness to support preschoolers' oral language and emergent literacy skills. However, their self‐reported knowledge gaps and low confidence may have implications for the early detection of children who are not reaching language developmental milestones in a timely way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This article examines the educational decision-making of hearing parents for their deaf children born during a period (1970–1990s) before the introduction of new-born hearing screening in New South Wales, where the study was conducted, and prior to the now near-universal adoption of cochlear implants in Australia. Design/methodology/approach: We present findings from an oral history study in which parents were invited to recall how they planned for the education of their deaf children. Findings: We propose that these oral histories shed light on how the concept, early intervention – a child development principle that became axiomatic from about the 1960s – significantly shaped the conduct of parents of deaf children, constituting both hope and burden, and intensifying a focus on early decision-making. They also illustrate ways in which parenting was shaped by two key structural shifts, one, being the increasing enrolment of deaf children in mainstream rather than separate classrooms and the other being the transformation of deafness itself by developments in hearing assistance technology. Originality/value: The paper contributes to a sociological/historical literature of "parenting for education" that almost entirely lacks deaf perspectives and a specialist literature of parental decision-making for deaf children that is almost entirely focussed on the post cochlear implant generation. The paper is distinctive in its treatment of the concept of "early intervention" as a historical phenomenon rather than a "common sense" truth, and proposes that parents of deaf children were at the leading edge of late-20th and early-21st century parenting intensification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to examine the long-term influence of having a child at risk of different developmental delays (communication, mobility, self-care, relating, learning, coping, or behaving) on parental labor force participation as the child grows. Method: A retrospective cohort was conducted using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children survey, Waves 1–8 covering birth to 15 years of age of children. Multivariable logistic regressions were used to explore the odds ratio of mothers being out of the labor force at different children's ages. Cox proportional hazards models were utilized to identify the 'risk' of mothers returning to the workforce after leaving. All models were adjusted for the mother's age, education attainment, and employment status at time of birth, as well as marital status at the current wave. Results: There were 5,107 records of children, and 266 of them were at risk of any developmental delays at age 4–5 years. This sample represents 243, 026 children born in Australia in 2003/04. After adjusting for potential confounders, mothers of children at risk of each type of developmental delay (except mobility and self-care) had greater odds of being out of, and not returning to the labor force from children aged 2–3 to 14–15 years, when compared to mothers of children who are not at risk of developmental delays. Similar differences were found for fathers but were distinctly small and with narrower fluctuations, compared to mothers. Conclusion: Policies and programs funded by the government are greatly needed to support the mothers of children at risk of developmental delays. Significance: What is already known: Maternal labour force participation has been negatively affected by having a child with chronic health conditions, whereas paternal labour force participation is not significantly influenced. What this paper adds: Having a child at risk of developmental delays negatively influenced maternal and paternal labour force participation, where the influence on fathers was distinctly small and with narrower fluctuations during the 14 to 15 years of follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An educator's ability and willingness to be perceptive and responsive to the cues of children in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) settings can affect the quality of the relationships built. Although several instruments that aim to measure quality relationships currently exist, these instruments are often not exclusive to the educator–child dynamic, fail to be context-sensitive, and do not mitigate scope for observer subjectivity. The Emotional Sensibility Observation Scale (ESOS) was developed in collaboration with ECEC stakeholders (teachers, educators, centre directors, and researchers) in Australia to address the aforementioned gaps while acknowledging the unique relationships between educators and children in ECEC settings. It is proposed in the paper that the ESOS may serve as a useful tool for researchers and educators to assess Early Childhood (EC) educators' ability to accurately read and respond to children's cues and to measure the quality of relationships built over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Healthy development in the early years lays the foundations for children's ongoing physical, emotional, and social development. Children develop in multiple contexts, including their local neighbourhood. Neighbourhood-built environment characteristics, such as housing, walkability, traffic exposure, availability of services, facilities, and parks, are associated with a range of health and wellbeing outcomes across the life course, but evidence with early years' outcomes is still emerging. Data linkage techniques were used to assemble a dataset of spatial (objectively-measured) neighbourhood-built environment (BE) measures linked to participant addresses in the 2015 Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) for children living in the 21 most populous urban and regional Australian cities (n = 235,655) to help address this gap. This paper describes the methods used to develop this dataset. This linked dataset (AEDC-BE) is the first of its kind worldwide, enabling opportunities for identifying which features of the built environment are associated with ECD across Australia at scale, allow comparisons between diverse contexts, and the identification of where best to intervene. National data coverage provides statistical power to model real-world complexities, such as differences by city, state/territory, and remoteness. The neighbourhood-built environment can be modified by policy and practice at scale, and has been identified as a way to help reduce inequitable early childhood development outcomes.

This paper reports findings from an ethnographic study of families from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) families in Australia caring for children with disability. The study aimed to contribute insights into the unique experiences, challenges and supports that characterise experiences of families of a child with disability living in a country where the mainstream culture is different from their own. Four families from different cultural backgrounds participated in the study over a period of nine months. During this time, they participated in a series of semi-structured interviews during which they shared their encounters with formal early intervention services and reflected on important informal supports. Findings presented here indicate three key areas associated with accessing informal supports that can pose challenges for families who hold values that are different from those of the dominant culture: lack of social support; cultural adaptations, and socialization problems and coping strategies. The findings indicate that formal services could ameliorate feelings of social isolation by enabling parents to access informal supports such as parenting groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing international interest in place-based approaches to improve early childhood development (ECD) outcomes. The available data and evidence are limited and precludes well informed policy and practice change. Developing the evidence-base for community-level effects on ECD is one way to facilitate more informed and targeted community action. This paper presents overall final findings from the Kids in Communities Study (KiCS), an Australian mixed methods investigation into community-level effects on ECD in five domains of influence-physical, social, governance, service, and sociodemographic. Twenty five local communities (suburbs) across Australia were selected based on 'diagonality type' i.e. whether they performed better (off-diagonal positive), worse (off-diagonal negative), or 'as expected' (on-diagonal) on the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) relative to their socioeconomic profile. The approach was designed to determine replicable and modifiable factors that were separate to socioeconomic status. Between 2015-2017, stakeholder interviews (n = 146), parent and service provider focus groups (n = 51), and existing socio-economic and early childhood education and care administrative data were collected. Qualitative and quantitative data analyses were undertaken to understand differences between 14 paired disadvantaged local communities (i.e. on versus off-diagonal). Further analysis of qualitative data elicited important factors for all 25 local communities. From this, we developed a draft set of 'Foundational Community Factors' (FCFs); these are the factors that lay the foundations of a good community for young children., Competing Interests: No authors have competing interests.

Background Compared to national averages, the Gold Coast, Australia, has a proportionately higher number of children entering their first year of primary school with 'at risk' or 'vulnerable' language skills. This paper investigates the distribution of paediatric speech-language pathology (SLP) services on the Gold Coast, relative to children's language and cognitive skills, and socioeconomic status (SES). Methods SLP service locations were identified through national association data and a manual search and mapped against SES and Australian Early Development Census data, for language and cognitive skills. Results Data for 7595 children was included, with 943 (12.4%) at risk and 780 (12.6%) vulnerable for language and cognitive skills. A total of 75 SLPs were identified (85.3% private, 14.6% public), which is 1 SLP to every 23 children who might have current or impending speech, language and communication needs. Fewer services were available in areas where vulnerable children were located and most were private providers, leading to further potential barriers to service access. Conclusions The number of SLP services located on the Gold Coast is inadequate to meet the needs of children with language and cognitive skill vulnerabilities. Consideration of how services might be distributed is explored and warrants further consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of this paper is to describe the implementation and evaluation of the Growing Strong Brains® (GSB) toolkit in a remote Aboriginal community in Western Australia (WA) over a 2-year period, 2018–2019. Background: Ngala, a community service organisation in WA, developed the GSB toolkit in 2014, a culturally appropriate and interactive resource to build knowledge of early childhood development within Aboriginal communities. This was in response to evidence that a higher percentage of children in Aboriginal communities were developmentally vulnerable compared to the rest of the population. The GSB toolkit promotes awareness and understanding of early brain development pre-birth and in the early years of a child's life. Methods: The project was underpinned by participatory action research (PAR). Reflective PAR review cycles (n = 5) monitored local community engagement, navigated challenges and utilised community strengths. Fifty-nine local service providers attended a 2-day formal training. Data were collected by using various methods throughout the project, including feedback following training, focus groups, surveys, one-on-one interviews using yarning techniques and reflective feedback from the Project Lead. Findings: Establishing local Aboriginal project staff was pivotal to the success of the project. When delivering services for and with Aboriginal people, it is essential that cultural competence, safety and decision-making is carried through from planning to implementation and evaluation, and involves genuine, respectful and authentic relationships. Sufficient time allocation directed towards building relationships with other service providers and local community members needs to be considered and built into future projects. The Growing Strong Brains® project is embedded within the local community, and anticipated implementation outcomes were achieved. The support of the local people and service providers was beyond expectation, enabling the building of local capacity, and the development of a common understanding of the key messages from the GSB toolkit to allow integration throughout all levels of the community. This project has been important to build on the strategies necessary to introduce, implement and evaluate the GSB toolkit in other remote Aboriginal communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Group-based parenting programs can effectively improve parenting and child wellbeing; however, these programs are predominantly attended by mothers. Actively involving both parents has the potential to maximize program outcomes, as it allows the coparenting relationship to be targeted alongside parenting practices. Researchers suggest that one way of achieving this is to integrate coparenting content into existing, evidence-based parenting programs. Tuning in to Kids is an emotion-focused parenting program that provides an effective foundation for adaptation, given the benefits of the program and the nature of the content (i.e., parents learn the skill of emotion coaching that may also benefit the coparenting relationship). This paper outlines the process of adapting Tuning in to Kids through the integration of coparenting content and increased focus on the family system. The process was guided by the Medical Research Council framework for complex intervention development (i.e., identifying the evidence, developing a theoretical model, modeling the intervention process) and resulted in the development of Tuning in to Kids Together (TIK-Together). The program adaptation was designed to target Australian coparents and was informed by Australian evidence. TIK-Together aims to improve the coparenting relationship, in addition to supporting parenting practices and child emotional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities often do not access follow-up eye care services when referred from vision screenings; whether this is due to lack of availability is not known. This paper highlights the need for vision and eye care for vulnerable children with practicing clinical optometrists well placed to provide vision care. Vision impairments develop from a young age and may inhibit learning experiences and impact life outcomes. Vision screening to detect and refer vision abnormalities supports children in their education and prevents minor vision impairments from worsening. This research describes outcomes from a vision screening programme for 4– to 5-year-olds delivered in Queensland, Australia. The programme involved all prep children from participating schools in Queensland. Vision screening was conducted with the Parr 4 m Visual Acuity Test and Welch Allyn Spot Vision Screener. A cross-sectional study design was adopted. Descriptive data analyses explored the frequency of vision screening and referral outcomes. Inferential analyses examined associations between vision screening and referral outcomes with socio-economic indexes for areas (SEIFA) scores. Of 71,003 prep students screened, 4,855 (6.8%) received a referral recommendation. A higher proportion of children who received a referral recommendation was from more disadvantaged locations (?2 = 109.16, p < 0.001). Of the students referred, 3,017 were seen by an eye health professional. Further vision assessment of students by an eye health professional revealed that 43.3% of the referred children were diagnosed with a vision abnormality, 18.9% had no vision abnormality and 37.7% had an 'undetermined' diagnosis. A higher proportion of children confirmed with a vision abnormality were from more disadvantaged locations (?2 = 52.27, p < 0.001). It is important that vision screening programmes target disadvantaged populations and support families of children who require further health assessment to access health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While child development is well‐recognized as a complex process which could hardly be decomposed into separate lines or domains in contemporary psychological theories, the decomposition approach is widely used in empirical studies. Based on the cultural‐historical theory, this study argues for adopting the unit of analysis as a way to bridge this gap, and finds "role adjustment" as a suitable unit to analyse child development during the transition to school. The case of a 5‐year‐old second‐generation Chinese Australian child's transition to school (with a total of 34 h of observation and 5 h of interview) is presented to verify its feasibility and to illustrate how it could be achieved in a research practice. The case study demonstrates that a child's role adjustment is in essence a process of transforming his/her role system, during which his/her major roles, the relation of the major roles, as well as his/her role‐taking patterns change as a whole, and by tracing a child's role adjustment trajectory, how the child is learning and developing, what difficulties he/she encounter, and why these difficulties appear become clear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Positive early development is critical in shaping children's lifelong health and wellbeing. Identifying children at risk of poor development is important in targeting early interventions to children and families most in need of support. We aimed to develop a predictive model that could inform early support for vulnerable children. Methods: We analysed linked administrative records for a birth cohort of 2,380 Northern Territory children (including 1,222 Aboriginal children) who were in their first year of school in 2015 and had a completed record from the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC). The AEDC measures early child development (school readiness) across five domains of development. We fitted prediction models, for AEDC weighted summary scores, using a Partial Least Square Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) considering four groups of factors–pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, known at birth, and child-related factors. We first assessed the models' internal validity and then the out-of-sample predictive power (external validity) using the PLSpredict procedure. Result: We identified separate predictive models, with a good fit, for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children. For Aboriginal children, a significant pre-pregnancy predictor of better outcomes was higher socioeconomic status (direct, β = 0.22 and indirect, β = 0.16). Pregnancy factors (gestational diabetes and maternal smoking (indirect, β = -0.09) and child-related factors (English as a second language and not attending preschool (direct, β = -0.28) predicted poorer outcomes. Further, pregnancy and child-related factors partially mediated the effects of pre-pregnancy factors; and child-related factors fully mediated the effects of pregnancy factors on AEDC weighted scores. For non-Aboriginal children, pre-pregnancy factors (increasing maternal age, socioeconomic status, parity, and occupation of the primary carer) directly predicted better outcomes (β = 0.29). A technical observation was that variance in AEDC weighted scores was not equally captured across all five AEDC domains; for Aboriginal children results were based on only three domains (emotional maturity; social competence, and language and cognitive skills (school-based)) and for non-Aboriginal children, on a single domain (language and cognitive skills (school-based)). Conclusion: The models give insight into the interplay of multiple factors at different stages of a child's development and inform service and policy responses. Recruiting children and their families for early support programs should consider both the direct effects of the predictors and their interactions. The content and application of the AEDC measurement need to be strengthened to ensure all domains of a child's development are captured equally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autistic children experience a high rate of sleep problems, which have been associated with maternal mental health difficulties. However, the directionality of these relationships has received little attention. The extent to which children's sleep problems influence maternal mental health difficulties and vice versa remains unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the bidirectional relationships between the sleep problems of autistic children and maternal mental health difficulties over 12 years. Six biennial waves of longitudinal data from when children were 4 to 5 years old were drawn from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. The sample comprised 397 child–mother dyads. Maternal mental health was assessed with the Kessler-6, while sleep problems were assessed through a series of questions relating to common sleep problems in children. The results demonstrated significant bidirectional effects between maternal mental health and child sleep problems at key developmental transition time points. Specifically, when children transitioned from preschool to primary school and again when the children transitioned from primary school to high school. These findings highlight the need for increased support for both the child and mother at these critical time points to reduce the negative impact of maternal psychological distress on child sleep problems and vice versa. Autistic children experience increased the rates of sleep problems. These sleep problems have been associated with mother's mental health symptoms. However, the direction of these relationships is not well understood. This study investigated the relationships between autistic children's sleep problems and mothers' mental health over a 12-year period using data collected as part of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Data from 397 autistic children and their mothers were included in this study. Mothers completed a questionnaire about their own mental health and common childhood sleep problems at four time points from 4–5 years to 14–15 years. The results showed important relationships between mothers' mental health symptoms and child sleep problems at two time points. Specifically, (1) mothers' mental health symptoms when the child was aged 4 to 5 years predicted child sleep problems at age 6 to 7 years; and (2) child sleep problems at age 12–13 years predicted mothers' mental health symptoms when the child was aged 14 to 15 years. Interestingly, these significant relationships also coincide with key developmental transition time points, when the child is transitioning in and out of primary school. These findings highlight the need for increased support for both the child and mother at these times to optimise outcomes for both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demographic and educational factors are essential, influential factors of early childhood development. This study aimed to investigate spatial patterns in the association between attendance at preschool and children's developmental vulnerabilities in one or more domain(s) in their first year of full-time school at a small area level in Queensland, Australia. This was achieved by applying geographically weighted regression (GWR) followed by K-means clustering of the regression coefficients. Three distinct geographical clusters were found in Queensland using the GWR coefficients. The first cluster covered more than half of the state of Queensland, including the Greater Brisbane region, and displays a strong negative association between developmental vulnerabilities and attendance at preschool. That is, areas with high proportions of preschool attendance tended to have lower proportions of children with at least one developmental vulnerability in the first year of full-time school. Clusters two and three were characterized by stronger negative associations between developmental vulnerabilities, English as the mother language, and geographic remoteness, respectively. This research provides evidence of the need for collaboration between health and education sectors in specific regions of Queensland to update current service provision policies and to ensure holistic and appropriate care is available to support children with developmental vulnerabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status, (PEDS), is a validated screening tool designed for primary health care clinicians to assess child development. Despite widespread use by local government child-nurse services, PEDS has not been tested in Australian general practice. We examined the effect of an intervention that aimed to use PEDS to improve documented assessment of child developmental status during routine general practice consultations. Methods: The study took place in a single general practice in Melbourne, Australia. The intervention included training of all general practice staff regarding PEDS processes and provision of PEDS questionnaires, scoring and interpretation forms. Mixed methods incorporated audits of clinical records of young children (1 to ≤ 5 years) before and after the intervention, and written questionnaires and a focus group (informed by the Theoretical Domains Framework and COM-B model) with receptionists, practice nurses and general practitioners. Results: Documented developmental status more than doubled after the intervention with almost one in three (30.4%) records documenting the PEDS tool. Overall, staff responses to questionnaires indicated that PEDS processes had been successfully implemented, half of the staff felt PEDS had developed their professional skills and clinicians expressed confidence using the tool (71%). Thematic analysis of the focus group transcript revealed divided reactions to PEDS screening with most barriers arising from general practitioners' motivation to use PEDS tools and perceptions of environmental constraints. Conclusions: A team-practice intervention that applied PEDS training and implementation, more than doubled documented rates of child developmental status during routine visits. Solutions to underlying barriers could be incorporated into a revised training module. Future studies need to test the tool in more methodologically robust studies that include analysis of the outcomes of developmental surveillance and long-term sustainability of PEDS use in practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standardized literacy assessments that place emphasis on testing and attainment of results have caused many students, particularly in middle years schooling to be disenfranchised by literacy teaching and learning practices. This study employed an action research methodology to investigate whether an outdoor learning experience in a Year 7/8 English Writers Workshop course (including students aged 13–14 years) at a secondary school in Victoria, Australia enhanced creative writing capacity and engagement. This study was conducted in three stages, with qualitative and quantitative data collected. Wilcoxon signed-rank and Mann-Whitney U tests demonstrated significant improvement in creative writing from pre-intervention to post-intervention (z = −3.73, p < 0.001, r = −0.58). Qualitative thematic analysis identified the learning environment, quiet space, and the instructional approach as key themes. The findings provide insight into more effective teaching practices and outline how outdoor learning could be integrated into English and other curriculum learning areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Approximately 3600 Korean children have been adopted to Australia, as of 2023. Existing studies have tended to approach transnational or intercountry adoption from child development, social welfare, or identity perspectives. Research on Korean adoption to Australia is relatively scarce. The current article approaches the population from a migration perspective, building on Richard Weil's conceptualization of transnational adoption as "quiet migration." Drawing on both Korean-language data from South Korean governments and Australian data, the authors analyse Korean adoption to Australia as a state-sanctioned transnational migratory mechanism that facilitated the orderly movement of children from so-called "deficient" families of predominantly single mothers in South Korea to adoptive families in Australia. Situating adoption practices within the socio-political contexts and larger migration trends of both countries, the authors identify multiple enabling factors for channelling the 'quiet' flow of Korean children for adoption and argue the very 'quietness' of the adoption system is a source of concern despite Australia's relatively stringent regulations. A migration perspective and analysis of these enabling factors contributes to the conceptualization of adoption as a socio-political state-sanctioned phenomenon, rather than a solely private family affair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of the article is to support the early childhood sector's efforts to increase the salience of early childhood as a social issue and change policy and practice to better support young children and their families. Cultural models shape how people think about social issues and support solutions. Changing how issues are framed—how they are presented, positioned and focused—can help shift these models and facilitate culture change. Using mixed methods research, we identified cultural models that members of the Australian public use to think about early childhood and compared these mindsets to concepts that the sector seeks to advance. This revealed a set of gaps in understanding that make it difficult for the sector to advance its agenda. We then designed and tested framing strategies to address these challenges and improve the salience of early childhood as a social issue, increase understanding of key concepts and build support for policies, programs and interventions. Findings point to strategies that advocates, service providers and funders can use to communicate more effectively about the importance of the early years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important to both protect the healthy development and maintain the oral health of the child population. The study examined the effect of early childhood exposures to water fluoridation on measures of school-age executive functioning and emotional and behavioral development in a population-based sample. This longitudinal follow-up study used information from Australia's National Child Oral Health Study 2012–14. Children aged 5 to 10 y at baseline were contacted again after 7 to 8 y, before they had turned 18 y of age. Percent lifetime exposed to fluoridated water (%LEFW) from birth to the age 5 y was estimated from residential history and postcode-level fluoride levels in public tap water. Measures of children's emotional and behavioral development were assessed by the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and executive functioning was measured by the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF). Multivariable regression models were generated to compare the associations between the exposure and the primary outcomes and controlled for covariates. An equivalence test was also conducted to compare the primary outcomes of those who had 100% LEFW against those with 0% LEFW. Sensitivity analysis was also conducted. A total of 2,682 children completed the SDQ and BRIEF, with mean scores of 7.0 (95% confidence interval, 6.6–7.4) and 45.3 (44.7–45.8), respectively. Those with lower %LEFW tended to have poorer scores of the SDQ and BRIEF. Multivariable regression models reported no association between exposure to fluoridated water and the SDQ and BRIEF scores. Low household income, identifying as Indigenous, and having a neurodevelopmental diagnosis were associated with poorer SDQ/BRIEF scores. An equivalence test confirmed that the SDQ/BRIEF scores among those with 100% LEFW were equivalent to that of those who had 0% LEFW. Exposure to fluoridated water during the first 5 y of life was not associated with altered measures of child emotional and behavioral development and executive functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three Australian Government reports released between 2011 and 2017 highlight a child development theory–practice gap in Australian early childhood initial teacher education. This qualitative study explores what informs university lecturers' teaching of child development theory in tertiary programmes. Grounded in Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, four themes are discussed from a Freirean inspired perspective. According to those interviewed, institutional culture and the practice focus of regulatory bodies strongly informs the teaching of child development with systemic practices often experienced as oppressive. The minimisation of early childhood content in combined early childhood/primary degrees also informed practice, but fostered a sense of marginalisation for many. Liberation was also evident as participants indicated that, despite many challenges, professional values, including commitment, tenacity and respect, informed their teaching practice. Implications for Australian universities and regulatory bodies are discussed with findings serving as a case example with international applicability to tertiary education policy and practice review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children are at heightened risk of maltreatment during community wide crises. The Parenting Skill Development and Education (PSDE) Service is a 6‐week telehealth intervention designed and implemented during the COVID‐19 pandemic to support families with young children in Australia at risk of child maltreatment. This study aimed to conduct a formative review of the PSDE service to (a) describe families accessing the PSDE during the pandemic, (b) determine parent and referrers' satisfaction of the service and (c) explore clinicians' experiences of service delivery. A mixed‐method study design incorporating the analysis of routinely collected data, and qualitative interviews with clinicians was conducted. Participants were 11 families displaying child maltreatment risk and 11 clinicians. Parents accessing the service were experiencing considerable risk factors for child maltreatment. The service was deemed acceptable by parents and referrers; however, several challenges in telehealth delivery were documented including parent engagement, technology difficulties and assessing child safety. Our findings highlighted the importance of ensuring adequate support and monitoring of families where there is child maltreatment risk during the COVID‐19 pandemic. In addition, these findings highlight the acceptability of telehealth services to support families at risk of child maltreatment for families, clinicians, and referrers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence approach to speech acquisition theorises the influence of intrinsic capabilities (e.g., maturation), interactional capabilities, and extrinsic contexts (e.g., ambient phonology). Intrinsic and extrinsic influences were examined via a case study of a 3-generation Vietnamese-English family with two brothers (C1 aged 5;6 and C2 aged 3;10), their mother (M), grandfather (GF) and grandmother (GM). Their speech was assessed using the Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (DEAP) and the Vietnamese Speech Assessment (VSA). Standard Australian English/Standard Vietnamese productions were defined as 'correct', even though the adults spoke different Vietnamese dialects. Their percentage of standard consonants correct (PSCC) was: C1 (English:92.27%, Vietnamese:89.05%), C2 (E:86.47%, VN:86.13%), M (E:90.34%, VN:96.35%), GF (E:82.61%, VN:97.81%), GM (VN:99.27%). Percentages were higher when dialectal variants were included. C1 and C2 had more pronunciation matches with English (86.96%) than Vietnamese (79.56%). C1's pronunciation matched: M (E:85.02%, VN:83.94%), GF (E:79.23%, VN:77.37%), GM (VN:73.72%) and C2's pronunciation matched: M (E:79.23%, VN:73.72%), GF (E:73.91%, VN:75.18%), GM (VN:72.26%). There was evidence of ambient phonology influences and cross-linguistic transfer. For example, in Vietnamese 'r' is produced as /ʐ/ or /r/ , but was produced by C1 as [ɹ] (English approximant) and by C2 [w] (age-appropriate/ɹ/substitution). The children demonstrated maturation influences for late-occurring English consonants (e.g., English /θ/ →[f]). This study found evidence for the emergence approach and recommends knowledge of the ambient phonology augments traditional child-focused understandings of children's speech acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: ▪In this narrative review, we summarise the vast and burgeoning research on the potential and established indirect impacts on children of the COVID‐19 pandemic. We used a community child health lens to organise our findings and to consider how Australia might best respond to the needs of children (aged 0–12 years).▪We synthesised the literature on previous pandemics, epidemics and natural disasters, and the current COVID‐19 pandemic. We found clear evidence of adverse impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on children that either repeated or extended the findings from previous pandemics.▪We identified 11 impact areas, under three broad categories: child‐level factors (poorer mental health, poorer child health and development, poorer academic achievement); family‐level factors that affect children (poorer parent mental health, reduced family income and job losses, increased household stress, increased abuse and neglect, poorer maternal and newborn health); and service‐level factors that affect children (school closures, reduced access to health care, increased use of technology for learning, connection and health care).▪There is increasing global concern about the likely disproportionate impact of the current pandemic on children experiencing adversity, widening existing disparities in child health and developmental outcomes.▪We suggest five potential strategy areas that could begin to address these inequities: addressing financial instability through parent financial supplements; expanding the role of schools to address learning gaps and wellbeing; rethinking health care delivery to address reduced access; focusing on prevention and early intervention for mental health; and using digital solutions to address inequitable service delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participation in physical activity (PA) tends to decline between childhood and adolescence, and in Australia the bulk of this decline has been shown to occur in the domain of non-organised PA (e.g. active play, informal sports). A better understanding of the reasons for the decline in non-organised PA may support strategies to counter barriers and strengthen enablers of participation. This study aimed to explore the stories of young adults who withdrew from non-organised PA and overall PA between 11y and 15y. Specifically, we sought to explore social norms related to non-organised PA during adolescence, and barriers and enablers of participation. Participants were young adults (18–22y) who were recruited from undergraduate, vocational and special entrance classes, as well as two churches in the Illawarra region, Australia. Recruitment was stratified by sex and socioeconomic status. Data collection occurred via semi-structured interviews with embedded Life History Calendars (n = 22). Thematic analysis was supported by concept and pattern coding. Findings revealed that social norms were related to an interplay of adult modelling/influence, concerns about being childish, puberty, identity development, adult choices and responsibilities, and changing life circumstances. Barriers to participation centred on fears of being different, bullying, peer judgement and rejection. Enablers of participation included safe people and places, accessible games (e.g. handball/foursquare) and, for girls, having an identity that supported challenging gender norms. Future PA promotion strategies may involve 'reframing' childhood activities to be appropriate for adolescents, and emphasising identity-congruent types of PA (e.g. active video games, drama games). Such strategies may be implemented in a similar style to after-school intramural sports to allow youth to participate despite potential changes in their life circumstances during adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]