ECA Learning Hub

Music has long been regarded as an important part of early childhood education. In this module, explore music as an integral and vibrant part of a child’s family, community and culture, and how it can be utilised as a powerful tool for learning and development. Written by Dr Amanda Niland, this module is a vibrant look at the foundations of music, ‘musicking’ and musical skills — for both educators and children.

For young children, music can be a way of:

• connecting with others
• expressing themselves, and
• exploring and making meaning through their senses.

In this course you will:

• understand the central role of music in children’s lives
• explore how music contributes to children’s sense of belonging and developing identity
• examine the ways in which music can support and enrich children’s learning and development in communication and language, social skills, motor skills, creative and flexible thinking
• view music as both a mode of communication and an expressive art form and children as capable musicians, and
• discover strategies and resources you can use to increase your confidence and ability to share in music-making with young children.

This package contains the modules Introduction to the Talking Tubs Moving forward with Talking Tubs for those who wish to focus on the Talking Tubs.

A Talking Tub is an object which a practitioner fills with a wide variety of objects which all fit a particular theme. Objects can then be taken out one by one encouraging children to touch, feel, and explore a theme. Observation, documentation, assessment and planning are most effective when they are matched to the needs of the child. In order to achieve this we need to understand children’s thinking, through considering all the ways in which they communicate.

In these modules, you will have learnt how to:

• ensure quality and intentionality of the contents when making up a Talking Tub
• balance questioning and discussion with children
• use Talking Tubs with non-verbal children
• use the process of self-expression and know-how visible for children, staff and visitors
• use Talking Tubs with those who English is an additional language.

The Talking Tub is a vital part of the Talking and Thinking Floorbooks Approach. The tub will allow you to provoke child-led conversations which in turn will create Possible Lines of Development.

This course has been developed to help educators build and strengthen partnerships with families on an ongoing basis, taking into account different circumstances and settings. It includes video interviews with educators from three service types, including long day care, family day care and outside school hours care.

Whichever part of the early childhood education and care sector you work in, this course will provide you with helpful information and ideas on how to build relationships and partnerships with families in your setting.

In this course, you will unpack:

• what is desirable in relationships between educators and families
• some of the challenges and rewards that come with taking the time to build solid partnerships with families
• the uniqueness of each educator–family relationship
• why the child’s wellbeing needs to be the focus of the relationship
• how different service types approach partnerships with families.

Vision and philosophy represent the core values that inform all practice areas of a business. They are essential components for the operation of early childhood settings and are integral to the achievement of an ‘Exceeding National Quality Standard’ rating. Nevertheless, they are not always understood by educators and managers. This three-part series will expand on the meaning of vision and philosophy and explain how they can be used effectively within early and middle childhood settings.

In this course, you will:

• explore the concepts of vision and philosophy and their relationship to the National Quality Framework
• introduce theories related to the concepts
• provide case studies and resources
• apply their understanding through an interactive exercise and encourage them to develop a sample vision and philosophy for their setting.

Play-based learning is a cornerstone of early childhood education. In recent years, the concept of intentional teaching has also gained momentum. This on-demand webinar discusses a new approach to balancing open-ended play with intentional teaching, using the Pedagogical Play-framework. According to the framework, three main types of play—open-ended, modelled and purposefully framed—can be used in multiple combinations to support young children’s learning.

This on-demand webinar will:

• help you understand the Pedagogical Play-framework and the relationship between open-ended, modelled and purposefully framed play
• introduce you to the theoretical ideas in the work of Vygotsky that underpin the Pedagogical Play-framework.

What does privacy look like in children’s services, and how do educators ensure they’re not in breach of the Privacy Act 1988? Using case studies from the sector, this course examines different aspects of the Privacy Act 1988, including the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme. It explains what qualifies as sensitive information and who regulates and protects privacy. The course also identifies useful support strategies to maintain and protect privacy across different service types.

In this course, you will:

• understand what privacy is
• think deeply about maintaining privacy in their setting
• recognise who regulates and protects our privacy
• implement strategies to protect privacy in their setting
• understand the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme under the Privacy Act 1988 connect with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

In this on-demand webinar, Susan Irvine, Karen Thorpe and Jane Bourne explore leadership approaches and strategies for professional practice in long day care centres. While discussing a Queensland study on the early childhood education and care workforce, they ask centre leaders to reflect on the question, ‘What does professional practice mean to you?’ and specifically examine how directors can demonstrate and support professional practice in long day care settings.

This on-demand webinar will help you:

• identify what the term professional practice means to you
• understand how, as a centre leader or as part of the leadership team, you can enable professional practice
• recognise how enabling leadership within your teams can make a difference to service practice across all aspects of education and care work.