Reconceptualising and (re)forming early childhood professional identities: Ongoing transnational policy discussions

Problematic policy constructions of the purpose of education implicate professional identities and working conditions of professionals working with the youngest children. This paper builds on our earlier writing, to contest teacher professional identities in Australia, Ireland, Denmark and the United States of America, to illustrate the crucial importance of contextualised policy landscapes in early childhood education and care. It uses prevailing policy constructions, power imbalances and tensions in defining teacher identities, to ask crucial questions, such as what has become of the professional ‘self’. It questions the fundamental ethics of care and encounter, and of worthy wage and other campaigns focused on the well-being of teachers when faced with a world-wide crisis. The cross-national conversations culminate in a contemporary confrontation of teacher identity and imperatives in increasingly uncertain times as evolving in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Early childhood professional culture: Social networks and beliefs among pre-kindergarten educators

As efforts are made in the United States for public school districts to implement pre-kindergarten programs and centers, there is a growing need to attend to the aspects of the local context that may influence the ways that teachers and staff make sense of their work. Yet, the professional cultures in which early childhood teachers and other educators make sense of their practice are multi-faceted and not well understood. This study explores the network structures and beliefs among educators in three pre-kindergarten centers. In particular, the mentorship relationships among lead teachers, assistants, instructional coaches, and administrators were explored along with individuals’ beliefs about themselves and others. Findings indicate that early childhood mentoring networks aligned with formal role hierarchies, and were similar to networks seen in elementary school research. Trust among lead and assistant teachers and autonomy were particularly important in the pre-kindergarten settings where two individuals work together as part of a classroom teaching team, and the school serves a single grade level. Suggestions for future research expanding the work on professional culture in early childhood settings are addressed.

An Early Childhood Professional Development Model for Technology Integration

This chapter shares the experiences of two early childhood educators as they participated in an early childhood professional development model focused on overcoming the barriers that often impact the integration of technology in PreK-K classrooms. The professional development model attended to three external barriers (i.e., lack of time, lack of access, and lack of support) and three internal barriers (i.e., teacher readiness, teacher attitudes, and teacher pedagogical beliefs). The experiences of these two educators indicated the following: 1) when the external barriers to technology are adequately addressed, more space is provided to attend to the internal barriers; 2) the barrier of readiness may be more easily overcome when teacher attitude is not a barrier; 3) overcoming the barriers of readiness and attitude precedes a change in pedagogical beliefs and practices; and 4) teacher attitudes are more likely to change when teacher learn from their respected colleagues. The chapter concludes by offering ideas for ECE leaders to consider as they plan and implement PD models.

An introduction to the CSIRO Oral History Collection

This paper describes a project to record specialised oral histories of key individuals involved with Australia’s principal scientific research organisation, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). The oral histories are intended to complement official governance documents in a larger project to write a history of CSIRO. Oral histories typically include perspectives on family backgrounds and childhood, professional training and career histories. Of particular interest in these interviews is the involvement of interviewees in the management of CSIRO and their reflections on the place of CSIRO in the Australian and international scientific environments. The interviews were conducted mainly by two of the authors (Spurling and Healy), both of whom were well known to the interviewees because they were themselves senior managers in CSIRO and familiar with the topics discussed. These histories are intended to illuminate important personal factors that have influenced decision-making in CSIRO. Also covered are plans to use other collections of interview materials in the CSIRO History Project (CHP), including those conducted by CSIRO historian Boris Schedvin, the Australian Academy of Science and the National Library of Australia. Details are provided of preparations for interviews, recording and transcription and preparation of materials for public access through CSIROpedia.

Corrigendum to: An introduction to the CSIRO Oral History Collection

This paper describes a project to record specialised oral histories of key individuals involved with Australia's principal scientific research organisation, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). The oral histories are intended to complement official governance documents in a larger project to write a history of CSIRO. Oral histories typically include perspectives on family backgrounds and childhood, professional training and career histories. Of particular interest in these interviews is the involvement of interviewees in the management of CSIRO and their reflections on the place of CSIRO in the Australian and international scientific environments. The interviews were conducted mainly by two of the authors (Spurling and Healy), both of whom were well known to the interviewees because they were themselves senior managers in CSIRO and familiar with the topics discussed. These histories are intended to illuminate important personal factors that have influenced decision-making in CSIRO. Also covered are plans to use other collections of interview materials in the CSIRO History Project (CHP), including those conducted by CSIRO historian Boris Schedvin, the Australian Academy of Science and the National Library of Australia. Details are provided of preparations for interviews, recording and transcription and preparation of materials for public access through CSIROpedia.