OPINION ARTICLES

Quality

Practice

Research

Curiouser and Curiouser: What Alice helps us see about who should teach

This article follows on from my earlier piece, Who should work with young children?, where I explored how the dispositions we value in those who work in early childhood education, shape not only who enters the profession, but how the work itself is imagined. This is where that thinking has brought me.

2025-12-19 07:15:35

by Contributed Content

Workforce

Quality

Research

When did it start to go wrong?

Looking back at the changes in how we deliver early learning since the 1990's, I'm back tracking what sent us down the proverbial toilet. Trying to think objectively about it , it's evident to me that when the focus shifted to parents instead of children everything we did and how we did it changed. The more early learning became competition for warm bodies, the bigger the shift in who really mattered at kindy.

2025-12-18 08:00:46

by Fiona Alston

Quality

Workforce

Practice

Research

Let’s not lose the word 'Children'

Across the early childhood profession, our language is constantly evolving. We reflect deeply on the words we use; how they shape identity, how they frame relationships, and how they influence the way children experience their world. Yet one quiet shift has been occurring in our sector, almost unnoticed: the gradual move away from the word children.

2025-12-18 07:45:13

by Fiona Alston

Practice

Provider

Quality

Workforce

Strengthening Early Childhood Education: Insights and reflections

With over 40 years of experience in early childhood education, I have witnessed firsthand the joys and challenges faced by families and educators across Australia. My journey has taken me through diverse settings, from bustling metropolitan centres to quiet regional communities, and from for-profit organisations to passionate not-for-profits. For eight years, I had the privilege of teaching at TAFE, preparing future educators to make a difference.

2025-12-18 07:30:05

by Fiona Alston

Practice

Quality

Workforce

It’s the people – full stop. Why early learning reforms must start with educators

Real reform in early learning has always hinged on one truth: if you get the people right, everything else follows.

2025-12-05 05:28:48

by Fiona Alston

OPINION ARTICLES

Curiouser and Curiouser: What Alice helps us see about who should teach

When did it start to go wrong?

Let’s not lose the word 'Children'

Strengthening Early Childhood Education: Insights and reflections

It’s the people – full stop. Why early learning reforms must start with educators

Popular

When did it start to go wrong?

Children’s Services Award changes finalised to address gender-based undervaluation

The year in review: 2025's most impactful ECEC news stories and shifts