This vital resource for early years and primary school trainees and practitioners explores a range of social and therapeutic strategies and interventions that will successfully support all children’s sense of belonging. A sense of belonging is vital to children’s physical, emotional, psychological, mental health and wellbeing. This book considers social and therapeutic strategies and interventions that support all children’s sense of belonging and can be adopted by practitioners. It addresses the interrelated factors that impact children’s sense of belonging such as race, gender, expression of sexual orientation, religion and disabilities. It will help develop practitioners’ awareness of current social and educational issues including LGBT+ topics, the changing family unit, relationships, misogyny and toxic masculinity, meditation and mindfulness as well as the importance of children connecting with nature and transformative activism. The chapters adopt a theoretical and practical approach, presenting case studies of good practice, which will create positive and inclusive outcomes, supporting individual growth and community wellbeing. An essential reading for practitioners, including teachers, teaching assistants (continuing professional development), lecturers and social workers, working in early years and primary educational setting, this book would also be suitable as a core and supportive text for students studying on a variety of undergraduate degree courses within the scope of education, pedagogy, mental health and wellbeing, social work and child development.

An Interdisciplinary Approach to Early Childhood Education and Care explores early childhood education and care in Australia from a variety of perspectives, highlighting the complexity of working within the field and the need for a truly interdisciplinary approach. It argues that only a holistic understanding of each perspective will allow a clear future for early childhood education within Australia, and that all government parties should provide better outcomes around policy and provision to ensure the support and development of the sector. Chapters offer insights into how children and families are positioned in educational reform by examining current government policy, as well as individual and collective initiatives. Key paradigms considered include positivist, behavioural, developmental, economic, sociocultural, and postmodern models. Garvis and Manning identify challenges to the field and propose improvements needed to develop an interdisciplinary approach to help close the disadvantage gap on educational outcomes. With recommendations aimed at stakeholders within different disciplines, it is hoped that this book will encourage significant improvements to early childhood education and care within Australia. Providing important insights into the landscape of early childhood education and care, this book will promote new ways of thinking of policy and provision development for the future. As such, it will be of interest to researchers, academics, and postgraduate students in the fields of early years education, education policy and politics, and sociology of education, as well as those studying childcare alongside economics, criminology and sociology.

Early years workers, together with families, lay the foundations for young children's futures. Young Children and Racial Justice provides a comprehensive approach to the issues facing all early years workers in exploring with young children what it means to enjoy living in our multicultural society.It offers a framework for good practice for everyone working in the early years sector. Designed for use in professional development, with case studies, references and accessible articles, this book gives practitioners the tools and knowledge to implement race equality policies and action plans.

Transforming Residential Interventions: Practical Strategies and Future Directions captures the emerging changes, exciting innovations, and creative policies and practices informing ground-breaking residential programs. Building on the successful 2014 publication Residential Interventions for Children, Adolescents, and Families, this follow-up volume provides a contemporary framework to address the needs of young people and their families, alongside practical strategies that can be implemented at the program, community, system, and policy levels. Using the Building Bridges Initiative as a foundation, the book serves as a "how-to manual" for making bold changes to residential interventions. The reader will learn from a range of inspired leaders who, rather than riding the wave of change, jumped in and created the wave by truly listening to and partnering with their youth, families, advocates, and staff. Chapters provide real-time practice examples and specific strategies that are transformational and consider critical areas, such as family and youth voice, choice and roles, partnerships, permanency and equity, diversity, and inclusion. These methods benefit youth with behavioral and/or emotional challenges and their families and will improve an organization’s long-term outcomes and fiscal bottom line. This book is for oversight agencies, managed care companies, providers of service, advocates, and youth/family leaders looking for an exemplar guide to the new frontier of residential intervention. In this era of accountability and measurement, it will become a trusted companion in leading residential interventions to improved practices and outcomes.

This third edition has been substantially updated to include current research, written by a team of respected science education researchers. It complements the Australian Early Years Learning Framework and the Australian Curriculum: Science. Concepts are brought to life through case studies, practical tasks and activity plans.

Resilience and Wellbeing in Young Children, Their Families and Communities unpicks the theme of resilience and wellbeing through diverse contexts, circumstances, populations and life stories in order to explore its complexity globally. Current societal events have brought forward a need for understanding how to best support and create environments with conditions that promote children’s holistic wellbeing. Violence in all its facets, poverty, political conflict and the recent pandemic are among the major realities threatening children, and this demands attention to how resilience can be supported to effectively safeguard children’s lived experiences. This book explores resilience from a range of perspectives, research projects and practical support mechanisms for young children, families, educators and communities. It starts with theoretical conceptualizations and goes on to present specific research projects and applied initiatives and how these can be used in application to praxis for young children and their families. Being of interest to educators and human services striving to advocate for and enhance young children’s wellbeing, this book will serve as both a useful overview of the many approaches to supporting resilience in young children, while providing a sound theoretical perspective that is accessible for all.

This handbook explores the key concepts, debates and research areas in the field of autism and education. Contributions come from a wide range of countries and cultures.

Programming & Planning in Early Childhood Settings explores a range of approaches to curriculum and to documenting children's learning in early childhood settings. This valuable resource for early childhood education students and practitioners provides a broad view of the concepts and issues in early childhood curriculum. Chapters reflect ongoing discussions about what is meant by the terms 'planning' and 'programming' in the context of early childhood, what is authentic curriculum for young children, and effective teaching strategies to extend young children's learning. The strong focus on sociocultural theories of learning promotes awareness of children's diverse experiences, competencies and learning styles, and helps readers recognise the need for collaborative partnerships between educators, children and families in order to develop appropriate programs. Thoroughly revised and updated, this new edition shows how chapters of the text are relevant to the Australian Professional Standards for teachers, and highlights connections to the school-based context. Numerous real-life examples, reflections, articles and case studies assist students to understand a variety of educational theories, philosophies and frameworks. Throughout the book there is a focus on the processes of reflection, evaluation and ongoing improvement.