Practitioner Research in Early Childhood

Linda Newman (EdD; M.Ed Hons; B.Ed (EC); Dip Teach (EC) is the Chair of Early Childhood and Primary Programs in the School of Education at the University of Newcastle, Australia and Chair of the Early Childhood Teacher Education Council (NSW). She is a team member of Futuro Infantil Hoy, an ongoing international research and development program in Chile. Linda’s research aims to theorise and apply ethical approaches that facilitate equity and benefit. Influential conceptual framings include sociocultural theory, new sociologies of childhood; community and family capacity building; valuing of diversity and Funds of Knowledge; play based intentional teaching and sustained shared thinking; and literacy as social practice.Website: http://www.newcastle.edu.au/staff/research-profile/Linda_Newman/Christine Woodrow (PhD; M.Ed; BEd, DipT ECE) is deputy director the Centre for Educational Research at the University of Western Sydney and is project leader of Futuro Infantil Hoy, an ongoing international research and development project in early childhood education being undertaken within a unique strategic alliance involving Fundacion Minera Escondida, the University of Western Sydney and early childhood service providers in Chile. She is a member of the Globalisation research group, where her research is focussed on international policy and practice in early childhood education, educational leadership and the professional preparation of early childhood educators. Website: http://www.uws.edu.au/cer/home

• Recognising, Valuing and Celebrating Practitioner Research - Christine Woodrow and Linda NewmanCollaborative Capacity Building in Early Childhood Communities in Chile - Linda Newman, Christine Woodrow, Silvia Rójo and Mónica GalvezInsider Islamic Spaces of Inquiry: Muslim Educators Producing New Knowledge in Sydney Australia - Oznur Aydemir, Fatima Mourad, Leonie Arthur and Jen SkattebolWhat is Play For in Your Culture? Investigating Remote Australian Aboriginal Perspectives Through Participatory Practitioner Research - Lyn Fasoli and Alison WunungmurraDeveloping Collaboration Using Mind Maps in Practitioner Research in Sweden - Karin RönnermanReconceptualising Services for Young Children through Dialogue in a South African Village - Norma Rudolph and Mary JamesSustaining Curriculum Renewal in Western Sydney: Three Participant Views - Linda Newman, Janet Keegan and Trish Heeley(In)sights from 40 Years of Practitioner Action Research in Education: Perspectives from the US, UK and Australia - Nicole Mockler and Ashley Casey

This comprehensive publication rightly establishes early childhood as a critical phase in the education of young people and makes the case for developing our insights regarding early childhood education (ECE) practices through the eyes of practitioner inquiry in the context of collaborative partnerships. It achieves its goal through a series of insightful case studies that not only illuminate the text as stories from the field, but also contribute to our understanding regarding ECE learning and pedagogy.The work brings out an array of critical questions regarding the nature of evidence and the ways it might inform practice and eschews a narrow, instrumental approach. It draws on traditions that have grown and developed in a range of contexts that provide the reader with variations within different and contrasting educational jurisdictions including Australia, South Africa, Sweden and Chile. It is an important resource for practitioners in the field, as well as their academic partners in the tertiary sector.