Research Around the World

Early Childhood in Australia

 

     Early Childhood Australia (ECA) is an organization that was founded in 1938 at first as the “The Australian Association of Pre-School Child Development’.   The ECA advocates for young children, families, and professionals in the early childhood field.  There is a Code of Ethics posted on the website (http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org) which establishes a framework for ethical responsibilities for early childhood professionals.  The Ethical Code also gives children the power to participate in their own learning and social experiences. The Code of Ethics contains great values which are:

• Respect
• Democracy
• Honesty
• Integrity
• Justice
• Courage
• Inclusivity
• Social and cultural responsiveness
• Education

The Australasian Journal of Early Childhood (AJEC) that is found on this website is Australasia's foremost scholarly journal and the world's longest-running major journal within the early childhood field. There is a Research in Practice Series (RIPS) listed on this site that offers “hands-on” practical information for people who work in the early childhood field and for families.  These articles can be purchased from the website from an online catalogue.  I wanted to view the article “Respecting Diversity: Articulating early childhood practice” but there was a charge for all the articles in this particular series.  There are also various free articles pertaining to best practices and other early childhood research information.

I did not know that the ECA helped to establish numerous early childhood groups internationally.  ECA initiated and early childhood mental health initiative called KidsMatter.  The ECA created the first national early childhood conference back in 1939 and this organizations vision is very similar as our own NAYCE (National Association for the Education of Young children) that was founded in 1926.