In this episode we talk about STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts and maths) in early childhood education. How and why would should we incorporate more STEAM into our ECEC practice, thinking of technology as more than screens, recognising the STEAM we already 'do' and intentionally extending children's STEAM learning using language and affordable resources we already have in most ECEC environments.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We have a really interesting chat with Leah Russell, early childhood lecturer, about what risky play is, how to provide for risky play and whether or not toy guns and gun play should be incorporated into the early childhood education setting.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With our guest. primary school teacher Dee O'Toole, we discuss the appropriate age for children to transition from early childhood education to primary school education. Why do children in Ireland start at 5 when most other OECD countries children start at 6 or 7. We wonder why some children don't avail of their second free ECCE preschool year and what impact this can have on them when they transition into primary school and beyond.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We discuss implementing and maintaining quality standards in early childhood education and how Paula's new book "Síolta in Practice" can help educators make sense of the Síolta standards and how they are already implementing many of them in their daily ECEC practice. Paula's insightful and practical book has lots of great suggestions highlighting how all areas of our knowledge, best practice guidelines, legislation and policy feed into the implementation of the quality standards and how each standard is interlinked both with other Síolta standards and areas of ECEC practice. You can buy Paula's book from www.borupress.ie.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ever thought about opening up your own preschool ECEC setting and/or afterschool SAC setting in Ireland? Then this is the episode for you! From finding the right location and building to getting planning permission and Tusla certification - we chat about the important practical steps involved in opening up a new setting and making the transition from educator to owner/business person. Celine has opened up 3 settings of her own and Paula has managed an ECEC setting so between us (but particularly Celine!) we have a lot of knowledge and experience to share on this topic.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we have an engaging and critical discussion as we review the proposed draft for updating the Aistear curriculum framework. We talk about the positives and provide our opinion on the changes including suggestions which we feel we would like to see incorporated into the forthcoming update.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we discuss the recent calls within the media for a publicly funded childcare (ECEC) model in Ireland. We discuss what it might look like and how it might be implemented and compare Ireland with Norway who already have a publicly funded model in place.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we discuss the possibilities and pitfalls for using artificial intelligence (AI) as a tool in early childhood education and care. We think about how AI could potentially save us precious time on planning and documentation, the possibility of using facial recognition for parent or child access to the building or calculating our attendance and fees as well as utilising AI for developing our knowledge to facilitate emergent interests. We also acknowledge the risks and issues that AI could bring and why it is really important for us as educators to be knowledgeable and prepared as a gatekeeper for issues such as GDPR, online safety, developmentally appropriate practice, reliable information and ethical decision making so that we can engage with this area as it becomes embedded in education and wider society in the decades to come.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest, Lewis Fogarty, joins us for a really interesting conversation about what professional confidence is and why it is an important skill for ECE educators to have. Lewis runs two early years settings in the UK so we chat with him about his journey as a man into a female dominated sector and how he fosters professional confidence and leadership among his team. Lewis is a lecturer at Brunel University, a PhD candidate on the topic of leadership and is also on the board of TACTYC - a UK based Association for Professional Development in Early Years.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we discuss the emerging area of mindfulness based practice in ECEC with our guest Leesa Flanagan who is undertaking PhD research on this topic. Leesa tells us all about what mindfulness it, her journey to a mindful approach both in her life at home and in her ECEC practice and how we can use simple strategies to begin to introduce mindfulness in our own lives and with children in our ECEC settings.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.