The 2009 Childcare and Education Conference

Keynote Speakers

Professor Ron Lally
Co-Director, Center for Child and Family Studies - WestEd

Professor Lally is the Co-Director of the Center for Child and Family Studies at WestEd an educational research and development laboratory in San Francisco. For the past twenty three years he has directed the work of the Program for Infant/Toddler Care, a collaboration between the California Department of Education and WestEd.

Most recently he and his staff have been responsible for the development of infant-toddler and preschool guidelines and standards for the states of California and Ohio and he has advised government agencies in charge of the development of early learning standards in 6 other states. He most recently co-directed the development of California’s Infant, Toddler Learning and Development Foundations.

Professor Lally has been very active in the development and operation of Early Head Start. He served on the Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Services for Families with Infants and Toddlers that developed Early Head Start.

Abstract
The Vulnerable Yet Competent Infant: How Infants Develop and How that Development is Best Facilitated.

Infants seem to have a built in plan for how they learn. They start to pursue a course of study even while in the womb, and when born, are ready, interested, and actively engaged in learning. For those who are asked to develop programs and plans for infants and toddlers it would be a great mistake to do too much planning without paying close attention to the infant’s built-in curriculum. This presentation will focus on the infancy period (0-3). It will point out the unique aspects of the period and make recommendations for the ways infants and toddlers should be approached and treated. It will propose that with regard to approaches to school readiness, guidance and discipline, selection of curriculum content, and learning milieu, and role definitions of teachers, the treatment of infants should be different than the treatment of preschool and older children.

Professor Frank Oberklaid
Director, Centre for Community Child Health - Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne

Frank Oberklaid is the Foundation Director of the Centre for Community Child Health at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne and a professor of paediatrics at the University of Melbourne.

Under his leadership, the Centre for Community Child Health has become internationally recognised for its research into early childhood health, development and behaviour, and for its cutting edge work in translating and disseminating research findings to inform public policy, service delivery and professional practice.

Professor Oberklaid began his paediatric career at the Royal Children’s Hospital, with further studies in child development and behaviour at Harvard University. He is the author of two books and more than 150 scientific papers, is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, sits on the editorial boards of several international journals, and is the founding editor of a series of national publications directed to professionals who work with young children. He is currently Deputy Chair of the Victorian Children’s Council, which advises the Premier and Minister on children’s policy.

Frank has been the recipient of numerous research grants, awards, invited lectureships and visiting professorships in a number of countries around the world. He has received prizes and awards for his work, including a Medal in the Order of Australia (AOM) in 1998 ‘for his ‘outstanding leadership in community health research and early intervention approaches’ a Centenary Medal from the Australian government, the Sands Medal from the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, and the Chairman’s Medal from the Royal Children’s Hospital.

Frank's current interests include early childhood development and behaviour, prevention and early detection/early intervention, and especially how existing services to young children and families can be refocused and better co-ordinated to improve outcomes.

Abstract
Child Care as a Central Platform in a Linked Community Based Servcie System for Young Children and their Families

In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in the early years. A greater awareness of the importance of the early caretaking environment in impacting on brain development and the life course has led also to increased attention being paid to childcare. The public discourse about out of home care has moved beyond the endless and unproductive debates about ideology (is child care good or bad?) towards the more substantial issues of raising quality while improving access and affordability. There is finally a serious and sustained policy debate that will certainly result in long overdue changes in our attempts at creating stimulating and nurturing early learning environments for all children.

While a concentration on the quality of the relationships between the carer and the young child should always be the central focus of reforms to child care, I would argue that there are two further sets of relationships that are important and warrant our attention. First is the relationship between carers and parents. This can benefit the child and the parents in a myriad of ways, from providing advice and modelling for parents through to raising concerns about a child’s development and behaviour that can facilitate the early detection of emerging problems. Second the relationship between child care centres and other community based services creates the professional partnerships that are necessary for a linked and coordinated service system that supports parents, offers appropriate early intervention, and promotes improved outcomes for children and their families.

This presentation will present some of the work undertaken over the past eight years at the Centre for Community Child Health, outline a new linked service framework that includes child care, and discuss some of the strategies suitable for adoption by child care agencies and providers.

Professor Jane Bertrand
School of Early Childhood, George Brown College Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Jane Bertrand is a Professor at the School of Early Childhood at George Brown in Toronto, Canada. Jane has been active in early childhood pedagogy, advocacy and policy development for the past 35 years. Jane was the research coordinator for Early Years Study (McCain & Mustard, 1999) and Early Years Study 2 (McCain, Mustard & Shanker, 2007) a member of the Toronto First Duty research team, and a researcher in several studies related to the early childhood workforce. Recent publications include two ECE textbooks: The Essentials of Early Childhood Education and Understanding, Managing and Leading Early Childhood Programs in Canada. Jane is an early childhood education with an educational background in child development and early childhood education curriculum (ECE Diploma, St Lawrence College; B.A., Psychology, Queen's University; and M.Ed., Early Childhood Education, O.I.S.E.),

Abstract
Effective Early Childhood Programs: Quality and Integration Travel Together

Quality early childhood programs offer nurturing and stimulating environments to young children and support families’ active participation in children’s early learning and development. But early childhood programs are now scattered across the landscape of communities leaving families with young children to sort through a chaotic maze of child care, preschool, family drop-in, kindergarten, early intervention, playgroups, parent education and home-visiting programs. And many programs provide merely mediocre environments - or worse. Public awareness about the role of early experience in shaping the architecture of young brains and the future capacity of our societies adds a sense of urgency to the quest of what is best for young children. Governments at all levels struggle with decisions about how best to spend limited dollars.

How do we organize our resources to provide the most effective programs for young children and their families? The integration of early childhood programs knits together opportunities for early learning, parent, nutrition, resources and early intervention into a coherent platform that offers full year, full time options. Several studies now suggest that integration of programs can support increased quality and better outcomes for children, families and communities.

The presentation will include an overview the First Duty model of early childhood program delivery, pioneered in Toronto, Canada. First Duty brings together early childhood programs within a defined community and test-drives new public policy to demonstrate what is possible to families, stakeholders and governments. First Duty tracks the process of integration - from co-existence of programs in a community to full integration of governance, access, early learning environment, early childhood staff team and family participation and the impact on children, families, program delivery, community and public policy.

Professor Jennifer Sumsion
Foundation Professor of Early Childhood Education - Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, Australia

Jennifer Sumsion is Foundation Professor of Early Childhood Education at Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW, where she leads the Investigating Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care research group. Jennifer and her colleagues are investigating different aspects of quality in early childhood education and care, with the support of several Australian Research Council grants. She has recently begun a new study that is exploring what life is like for babies and toddlers in family day care and long day care. Jennifer is particularly interested in aspects of professional practice that contribute to high quality education and care. She is currently co-leader of the CSU-based Consortium that is developing the Early Years Learning Framework.

Abstract
High Quality Professional Practice in Early Childhood Education and Care

What do we know about high quality professional practice in early childhood education and care? What don't we know? And what might we be overlooking? These are some of the questions being explored by researchers at Charles Sturt University through a series of Australian Research Council funded studies and related projects. Our interest is in understanding more about what high quality practice in different settings looks like and what supports and constrains high quality practice. This presentation briefly describes some of these studies, outlines some of our research findings and considers implications for policy makers, service managers, and early childhood practitioners. The presentation focuses especially on 'hidden dimensions' that can often be overlooked in well meaning attempts to improve quality.

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