Papers by Jennifer Cartmel
WINGS: Social and Emotional wellbeing in the early years 0-5 years: Pathways to Resilience Trust Evaluation Report
Friendships are important to children as they start school, particularly for children living in a... more Friendships are important to children as they start school, particularly for children living in an area of socioeconomic disadvantage. Socio-economic disadvantage is commonly linked to poor developmental outcomes and may affect children's readiness to start school. As a result, children in low socio-economic areas are less likely to have a positive school transition. This poor start to school can have a negative impact on children's long term schooling experience and future outcomes. Using data collected in multiple ways from children in the first year of school in an area of socio-economic disadvantage, attention is drawn to children's emphasis on friendships and the valuable support they provided during the transition to school. This article highlights how the provision of adequate support helps children to build the high order social skills and competence necessary to establish and maintain friendships, prior to and during the transition to school. This experience enhances enjoyment and engagement in the school environment, improving children's long-term educational outcomes.
The tween years: A systematic literature review for services for children aged 10-13 years
Heliyon, 2022
Aim To explore the literature about services and interventions provided to tween children as the ... more Aim To explore the literature about services and interventions provided to tween children as the basis for informing future practice and policy. Background The tween years (10–13 years) is a period in human development where children experience rapid physical and mental development; their thinking and actions are influenced by peer pressure, risk taking, concerns about their body image, size, and gender, and may become victims to bullying and increasing levels of mental ill-health. It may also be a time of transition between schooling institutions. Despite the multiplicity of these factors, pre-adolescents appear to be receiving little attention from both service providers and policy makers. Methods Following the PRISMA reporting guidelines, a systematic search of peer-reviewed papers was conducted between June 2020 and April 2021. Studies were selected by screening their abstracts and titles. In total, 44 articles were included for in-depth analysis. Of these, 17 were randomised studies and 10 were non-randomised, and all were subjected to the assessment of risk of bias using the Review Manager Tool and ROBINS-I Tool respectively. Data extraction and synthesis Data was extracted by type of service/intervention/program, country, and type of study/methodology, aim, sample size, age range, and findings. Data synthesis was performed using thematic analysis and content analysis. The results are presented in an outcome summary table highlighting the study's outcomes including the provided programs, their acceptability, and their impacts on factors such as anxiety and depression levels, change of attitude, behavioural control, weight loss, resilience and coping, emotional regulation, self-esteem, and improved well-being. Conclusion The majority of programs described in this review reported positive results, and as a result have the potential to make a valuable contribution to future practice, policy, and research involving the tweens.
Aspects of the Practica in Early Childhood Teacher Education
Journey to the Island of Calm: Evaluation Summary
Producing Inclusive Practice Intentionality Using Circles of Change Revisited
Intergenerational Programs: A Research in Practice Series title
Addressing Women’s Psychosocial Needs Following an Adverse Prenatal Diagnosis: Qualitative Findings Inform SARF Model Development
Australian Social Work
‘We’re not useless, we know stuff!’ Gathering children’s voices to inform policy
Australasian Journal of Early Childhood
‘We’re not useless, we know stuff!’, said a four-year-old when asked why adults should ask him wh... more ‘We’re not useless, we know stuff!’, said a four-year-old when asked why adults should ask him what he thinks about his experiences at his early learning centre. This paper describes the literature and methods used to gather children’s voices in early childhood and education (ECEC) settings across Stage 1 and 2 of the 3 stage national Learning Frameworks Update project. Asking children about their ideas and experiences was undertaken by familiar educators using research tools designed and supported by the research team. The methods of dialogic drawing, talking circles and visual elicitation were described and further explained to enable educators to gather children’s perspectives on their learning experiences in ECEC contexts. We reflect on the efficacy of these methods, approaches and strategies to support meaning-making from a diverse representation of children and how this can influence policy decision-making.
Reflection as a tool for quality: Working with the National Quality Standard
Pedagogy in the nursery: establishing high-quality long day care programs
One of the most significant societal changes over the past few decades has been the growing numbe... more One of the most significant societal changes over the past few decades has been the growing number of women in the paid work force. As a direct result of this sociological phenomenon, childcare centres have been providing long day care for vastly increasing numbers of very young children. The speed of this change has created a societal dilemma regarding the level of training required to prepare practitioners for such important pedagogical work. Traditional approaches to the training and preparation of practitioners for work in this field do not always highlight the significance of the important relationship early childhood education and care practitioners have with very young children, or respond to current conceptualisations of children and families and the contexts in which they live (Dahlberg, Moss & Pence, 2002; Moss, 2003). This paper takes issue with these points by exploring an alternative approach to the preparation of practitioners for work in this field. The use of Learnin...
Professional partnership in children's services: Working together for childrenA Research in Practice Series title
Building Relationships in Outside School Hours Care
Talking Circles: Building Relationships with Children
Talking Circles can be used to build relationships. They are based on thinking about learning as ... more Talking Circles can be used to build relationships. They are based on thinking about learning as a process of self-awareness and community building, and providing opportunities for communicating with children about their ideas and perspectives. The process is underpinned by the notion of generative listening (Scharmer, 2009) - listening to oneself, listening to others, and listening to what emerges from the group or collective. This paper discusses the method and findings from an Australian action research project with children in school-age child care (SAC) services and undergraduate university students specialising in child and family studies. The project was formulated to examine how children could be encouraged to ask questions about how they can make a difference for themselves, each other and their community. The authors devised a conversational process that the students implemented with small groups of children in their field education sites. Through the process of listening ...
Intergenerational Learning in Practice, 2019
Children are an active participants in intergenerational care learning opportunities and programs... more Children are an active participants in intergenerational care learning opportunities and programs, however, children’s agency within these programs is often not clear. The perspectives and contributions children make in intergenerational programs needs to be considered as part of children’s rights to have a say on matters that affect them. Understanding young children’s experiences in intergenerational care programmes and unpacking the level of choice and impact these programs have on their lives is a critical, yet understudied, area in the intergenerational practice literature. This chapter discusses the use of strategies to explore young children’s voices and experiences of services in which they participate. The example of a case study from a pilot intergenerational care program, which took place in in Brisbane, Australia and gathered the voices and experiences of seven of the 3 to 5 year-old children who participated is discussed. The case study used photo elicitation to seek ch...
Professional partnerships in children's services: working together for children
Early childhood education and care services in Australia are moving towards an integrated approac... more Early childhood education and care services in Australia are moving towards an integrated approach to service delivery requiring educators to work in partnership with professionals from sectors such as health, education and community services for the benefit of young children and their families. This means that educators need to work in perhaps new and different ways in their everyday work.Professional partnerships in children’s services: Working together for children looks at ways educators can work effectively with other professionals in building and leading these partnerships in children’s services. It examines some of the issues surrounding working in partnership with others and the implications this has for understanding and enacting leadership. It explores topics such as:•working collaboratively in early childhood education and care settings•thinking about the knowledge base of others•transdisciplinarity—a new strategy to consider•examples of collaborative practice with otherp...
Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 2020
Multiple aspects of intergenerational programs present challenges for evaluators. Broader measure... more Multiple aspects of intergenerational programs present challenges for evaluators. Broader measures and perspectives are needed particularly with respect to informing economic evaluations of intergenerational programs. The study aims to: (1) Identify impact measures suitable for an economic evaluation of a mixed generation program; (2) Design an economic evaluation that compares these program impacts with current services. The suggested evaluation design includes perspectives from children, parents, adult care recipients, caregivers and service providers. Measures for inclusion were based on the literature and selected using a set of criteria and stakeholder interviews. To inform economic evaluations of mixed generation programs we recommend a quasi-experimental design using measures of experience/satisfaction, quality of life/wellbeing, willingness to pay, burden of care and service utilization. The suggested economic evaluation measures and design will guide future programs of mixed generations in the pursuit of cost effective and sustainable service options in this rapidly evolving service environment.
It is accepted that the development of competent literacy skills in very young children is contin... more It is accepted that the development of competent literacy skills in very young children is contingent upon high quality interactions involving language and communication in a variety of contexts. As authors, we argue that taking such a view requires an understanding that children are competent and capable communicators from birth. Such understanding is integral to conceptualising how the skills of language and metacognition that contribute to the development of literacy actually play out 'in the real' . This paper uses data from interviews and videotaped observation of young children and their families in their socio-cultural contexts. Rogoffs (1998Rogoffs ( , 2003) ) planes of analysis are used to unpack this data, as a means of informing epistemological understanding about how socio-cultural contexts constrain or enable children as successful in the formal learning context. It is argued that taken-for-granted understandings of how children learn can actually delimit rather than enhance their capacity to develop sound literacy skills.
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Papers by Jennifer Cartmel