Celebrating the end of the year, PhD milestones, and awards

This last month we celebrated many achievements, including confirmation milestone, education and research awards, and collaboration with the academic community in Australia and abroad. 

Two of our PhD candidates celebrated their confirmation milestone

There was a buzz in the PhD community as Tanya Stephenson and Xingjie Wang completed their Confirmation Milestone last month. Tanya Stephenson is doing pioneering research about the role of gender in STEM education, creating better conditions for girls’ engagement with STEM in early years. Xingjie Wang is doing important research about STEM engagement in family settings supporting families to facilitate STEM learning and development at home for every child. Congratulations to Tanya and Xingjie!

Awards, awards, awards

Our very own Laureate Professor Marilyn Fleer received the 2019 Monash University Vice-Chancellor's Education and Research Award named the Ashley Goldsworthy Award for Leadership in Collaboration. What's more, Dr Jonathan Li, our very close collaborator from the Department of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering also received a Vice Chancellor's Award for Technological Innovation in Learning and Teaching. Fascinating interfaculty research is taking between Jonathan’s team (including our joint PhD student Ha Dang) and the Conceptual PlayLab.

Marilyn, along with Dr Hilary Monk, Dr Corine Rivalland, Dr Gloria Quinones and Dr Liang Li (who received the Award for Research Impact - Economic & Social) also received the Faculty of Education Dean's Awards 2019.

International collaboration

The Conceptual PlayWorlds are creating an innovative pedagogical space linking researchers and building collaborations within Australia and overseas.

Associate Professor Siv Ødemotland, Department of Arts Education, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences visited Conceptual PlayLab sharing her expertise in drama and theatre for early years. 

We also welcomed Dr Jane Webb-Williams, School of Education, University of South Australia, adding to the conversation about play and playful pedagogies in early years. 

Dr. Janette Kelly-Ware from University of Waikato visited the Conceptual PlayLab sharing updates for early years education in New Zealand and worldwide. 

And Marilyn travelled to Switzerland, hosted by Professor Gabriel Kappeler, Haute École Pédagogique du canton de Vaud (HEP Vaud) at Lausanne!

We wish everyone a wonderful and relaxing time celebrating the end of 2019 with your friends and family!

Our newsletter contains further details.

We would love to hear from you about what this research means to you and if you would like to get involved.

If you are an early childhood educator who would like to have an opportunity to participate in the Conceptual PlayLab research activities in the future, you can register your interest and join our private Facebook group - Conceptual PlayWorlds for Educators. You can also access free resources for educators, including our STEM PlayWorlds for Infants and Toddlers video. 

If you are a parent who would like to have an opportunity to participate in the Conceptual PlayLab research activities in the future, you can register your interest. You can also access free resources for families.

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STEM PlayWorlds for Infants and Toddlers professional video launch, PlayLab and playgroups

So much happened this month, we launched of our STEM PlayWorlds video, met Playgroup Victoria families, presented at the MERC conference, welcomed more visitors. Marilyn presented a keynote speech at the Regional Early Childhood Education and Care in the Pasifika Talanoa Symposium and celebrated the second edition of her book Technologies for Children. 

STEM PlayWorlds for infants and toddlers video launch

What an incredible STEM journey we shared with children, parents, educators, academics and the local community in Windermere Early Learning Center at Peninsula Campus! More than happy and excited for the Conceptual PlayLab's STEM PlayWorlds for Infants and Toddler's professional video launch! Watch the whole video here!.

PlayLab meets playgroups

This month, Conceptual PlayLab Senior Research Fellow Prabhat Rai and PhD student Xingjie Wang visited several playgroups, meeting with parents, playgroup facilitators and managers from Playgroup Victoria and officials from local government. It was a great opportunity to know 'what matters' when parents and community members think of their children's long-term wellbeing and education in Victoria

PlayLab visitors

In early October Dr Lynneth Solis, Senior Research Manager at “Project Zero”, from Harvard Graduate School of Education shared with the PlayLab views on children’s play.

Monash Education Research Community (MERC) conference

Our PhD students had a wonderful time this month at the MERC conference held at Monash University, Clayton Campus. Through a fruitful and productive week, they were hosting, chairing, sharing and presenting pioneering and groundbreaking PhD research work!

Regional Early Childhood Education and Care in the Pasifika Talanoa Symposium

Our very own Marilyn Fleer, Geraldine Burke and Denise Chapman represented Monash Faculty of Education at the Regional Early Childhood Education and Care in the Pasifika Talanoa Symposium. The Symposium was entitled “Ensuring inclusive and quality early childhood education and care in the Pacific through teacher educations reforms” and was held at Nadi, Fiji.

Second edition of Marilyn's book Technologies for Children now available

This book, published by Cambridge University Press, is an indispensable resource for pre-service teachers, practitioners and families.  

Our newsletter contains further details.

We would love to hear from you about what this research means to you and if you would like to get involved.

If you are an early childhood educator who would like to have an opportunity to participate in the Conceptual PlayLab research activities in the future, you can register your interest and join our private Facebook group - Conceptual PlayWorlds for Educators. You can also access free resources for educators. 

If you are a parent who would like to have an opportunity to participate in the Conceptual PlayLab research activities in the future, you can register your interest. You can also access free resources for families.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Other resources

Conceptual PlayWorld website
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Academic synergies for early childhood education and for women to shine in STEM

We had a fantastic month welcoming Australian Government Women in STEM Ambassador Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith and outstanding Australian early childhood education academics to the PlayLab.

PlayLab visitors

We were thrilled to e-welcome Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith to our Conceptual PlayLab over Zoom! One of the first of her kind, Lisa is the well known astrophysicist, author and Australian Government Women in STEM Ambassador. Amazing diverse STEM trajectories coming together to inspire and support young thinkers and lovers of STEM!

We also had an incredible day hosting Professors Claire McLachlan (Dean, School of Education, Federation University Australia), Jayne White (Associate Dean ECE, RMIT University), and Nicola Yelland (Professor of Early Childhood Studies, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne). These outstanding Australian ECE academics and research teams bring together their strengths, making a dynamic and pioneering presence in ECE worldwide!

Strengthening our partnership with Playgroup Victoria

The Conceptual PlayLab team travelled to Melbourne CBD to participate in Playgroups Victoria CEO Forum. Our Programmatic Research is creating new knowledge and innovative resources to support families and diverse institutional settings in reinforcing young children’s engagement, learning and development in STEM.

Supporting early- and mid-career researchers 

Marilyn shared her unique winning pathway towards an ARC Laureate Fellowship Scheme in the Humanities with nearly fifty early and mid career researchers and PhD students during September's Peninsula Campus Research Seminar.

Conceptual PlayWorlds around the globe

Conceptual PlayWorld ideas are endless and are proliferating around the world thanks to social media! Check out our Facebook page to get an insight into how an inspired educator from Samoa created a “School PlayWorld” to support children’s transition from kindergarten to primary school. She posted:

“The children will role play a teacher at every opportunity and I am now the student as they explore the role, responsibilities and through play demonstrate their social construction of the teacher and school. It is very informative and insightful.”

Please share your ideas here too, we'd love to hear from you!

Our newsletter contains further details.

We would love to hear from you about what this research means to you and if you would like to get involved.

If you are an early childhood educator who would like to have an opportunity to participate in the Conceptual PlayLab research activities in the future, you can register your interest and join our private Facebook group - Conceptual PlayWorlds for Educators. You can also access free resources for educators. 

If you are a parent who would like to have an opportunity to participate in the Conceptual PlayLab research activities in the future, you can register your interest. You can also access free resources for families.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Other resources

Conceptual PlayWorld website
TeachSpace
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Open Day, PlayLab visitors and BHERT award

We had a busy month welcoming visitors at our Open Day, hosting a number of international visitors, and Marilyn was awarded the Business/Higher Education Round Table (BHERT) award for Leadership in Collaboration.

Another PhD candidate joined our team

We welcomed our new affiliate PhD candidate Yuwen Ma. Yuwen holds Bachelor and Masters degrees of early childhood education from Nanjing Normal University, China.

Monash University Open Day

Our team had a great time preparing for Open Day and welcoming high school students and their families. Our visitors enjoyed a set of engaging activities for STEM teaching and learning in the early years.

PlayLab visitors

We welcomed international scholars to the PlayLab to discuss and share ideas about early childhood STEM education through play and imagination, and about transitions between preschool to primary school as well as from families to school. Our visitors included: Dr. Sunanta Klibthong and her colleagues from Mahidol University, Thailand; Professor Hsin-Kai Wu and Assistant Professor Ching-Ting Hsin from the National Tsing Hua University and the Graduate Institute of Science Education in Taiwain; and PhD candidate Maja Højslet Schürer, from Institution of Learning, Aalborg University, Denmark.

Further work on our partnership with Playgroup Victoria

We are very pleased to be establishing a sustainable relationship between playgroups and the Conceptual PlayLab! Dr. Joanne Tarasuik, Playgroups Victoria Research Manager, and Deborah Njegac, Playgroups Victoria Manager Practice and Advocacy, were welcomed to our Lab. Together we explored the opportunity to collaborate in inspiring STEM engagement for Victorian families.

Our newsletter contains further details.

We would love to hear from you about what this research means to you and if you would like to get involved.

If you are an early childhood educator who would like to have an opportunity to participate in the Conceptual PlayLab research activities in the future, you can register your interest and join our private Facebook group - Conceptual PlayWorlds for Educators. You can also access free resources for educators. 

If you are a parent who would like to have an opportunity to participate in the Conceptual PlayLab research activities in the future, you can register your interest. You can also access free resources for families.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Other resources

Conceptual PlayWorld website
TeachSpace
Lens
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Conceptual PlayLab PhD students have been working hard on theoretical cultural-historical research methodology, hands-on video data collection, and abstract writing for next year's international conference

Last month saw the Conceptual PlayLab and affiliated PhD students rolling up their sleeves and taking deep dives into cultural-historical research method and methodology, guided by Marilyn. The students have also been receiving in the lab and on the field digital video data collection and organisation, guided by our Research Officer, Sue. 

Another PhD candidate joined our team

This month we welcomed on board our affiliate PhD candidate Yuejiu Wang. Yuejiu comes from China and she has a Bachelor and a Masters degree in early childhood education.

Another challenging and productive PhD day

During the July PhD day, the PhD students worked hard to prepare for the next prestigious ISCAR (International Society for Cultural-historical Activity Research) Congress in Brazil. Everyone is going to compose an abstract for submission to next year's congress, which will be a valuable opportunity to showcase our research and learn from other cultural-historical researchers from around the world.  

PlayLab visitors

We welcomed Sam Page, CEO, and Janet Williams-Smith, Vic Board Director, of Early Childhood Australia (ECA). Amazing discussions brought to the foreground the need to support educators' identity and families, researching jointly and nationally on STEM and PlayWorlds. Upcoming webinars will offer great learning and Professional Development opportunities.

We also welcomed visiting scholar Emma Palmer from the Department of Education and School Psychology at UDEM, Mexico. The Conceptual PlayLab team joined the fruitful discussions highlighting the need of reinforcing world-wide the narrative around the importance of children’s play as leading educational activity.

Our newsletter contains further details.

We would love to hear from you about what this research means to you and if you would like to get involved.

If you are an early childhood educator who would like to have an opportunity to participate in the Conceptual PlayLab research activities in the future, you can register your interest and join our private Facebook group - Conceptual PlayWorlds for Educators. You can also access free resources for educators. 

If you are a parent who would like to have an opportunity to participate in the Conceptual PlayLab research activities in the future, you can register your interest. You can also access free resources for families.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Other resources

Conceptual PlayWorld website
TeachSpace
Lens
Free app download

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Conceptual PlayLab team is now complete and we are piloting a new Conceptual PlayWorld for infants and toddlers

We have been busy welcoming Conceptual PlayLab pillar leaders who have now completed our team, hosting international and local visitors, and presenting our research findings in Norway.

Welcoming our pillar leaders

Our Senior Research Fellows have just arrived. They will join Marilyn Fleer, Sue March and our PhD students Tanya Stephenson, Sarah Carpendale and Xingjie Wang.

Glykeria, will lead the first pillar of our research, investigating how young children form concepts in STEM. Prabhat will lead our second pillar, looking at the ways families support their children to learn about STEM.

Two PhD candidates joined our team

We welcomed our new affiliate PhD candidates Suxiang Yu and Ha Dang. Suxiang holds a Master degree in early childhood education, and is an early childhood education lecturer. Ha holds a Bachelor degree in Engineering and a Bachelor degree in Science, and previously worked as an engineering team manager in the telecommunications industry.

New Conceptual PlayWorld for infants and toddlers with Windermere Early Learning

We've been working on a new Conceptual PlayWorld for infants and toddlers using "There’s a Possum in the House". It’s a rich story and allows educators to explore:

•    Scientific concepts – nocturnal animals, spatial relations and prepositional language

•    Design and technology – how to design a possum trap

•    Social and emotional development – working as a team and empathy with the possum

The good news is we’ve filmed a sample PlayWorld as a professional video project in partnership with Windermere Early Learning and you’ll be able to see how it works in practice. 

PlayLab visitors

We welcomed Professor Elin Eriksen Ødegaard, Dr. Anne Myrstad and PhD student Czarecah Oropilla (Eya) from Western Norway University of Applied Sciences and the Arctic University of Norway.  It was a fantastic start to planning our International Research in Early Childhood Education conference for 2020.

We welcomed Danny Schwarz (CEO) and Sinead Halliday (Communications and Media Coordinator) from Playgroup Victoria to our June PhD day, further strengthening our partnership. CHACDOC Conference in Norway Marilyn was joined by Monash's Liang Li in presenting their Conceptual PlayLab research from China at the Cultural-Historical Approaches to Children's Development and Childhood (CHACDOC) Section Conference in Norway. It was great to connect with delegations from East China Normal University and Switzerland.

Our newsletter contains further details.

We would love to hear from you about what this research means to you and if you would like to get involved.

If you are an early childhood educator who would like to have an opportunity to participate in the Conceptual PlayLab research activities in the future, you can register your interest and join our private Facebook group - Conceptual PlayWorlds for Educators. You can also access free resources for educators. 

If you are a parent who would like to have an opportunity to participate in the Conceptual PlayLab research activities in the future, you can register your interest. You can also access free resources for families.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Other resources

Conceptual PlayWorld website
TeachSpace
Lens
Free app download

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Conceptual PlayLab launches research into play-based STEM education

At the Conceptual PlayLab, we have quickly gotten into gear in the first month following launch.

Making a Splash

Our 1st month in the Conceptual PlayLab has been eventful with plenty of media attention including interviews with News Corp, The Early Education Show, 3AW, ABC Radio National Life Matters, The Sector, CareforKids and Playgroup Victoria.

Our launch event was watched from locations around the world. There is a lot of interests in developing a model of STEM education for infants, toddlers and preschoolers that improves cognitive outcomes and preserving play at the same time. You can view Marilyn's lecture here. 

Inaugural PhD day

PhD day is a Conceptual PlayLab monthly event where members of the PlayLab get together to review the progress of our individual and collective research, discuss readings and theoretical concepts to reinforce our understandings, and share stories, experiences and food. We also welcome visitors to establish new partnerships and collaborations. This month, we held our first PhD day in April, and had the pleasure of hosting Playgroup Victoria, our research partner Dr. Jonathan Li (Monash Faculty of Engineering), and staff from the Faculty of Education.

Partnership with Windermere Early Learning

We're super excited to be working with the team at Windermere Early Learning Centre & Kindergarten in Frankston showcasing a whole centre approach to planning and implementing a Conceptual PlayWorld for infants, toddlers and preschoolers. The same story across the centre will support transitioning of children into the centre. 

Our newsletter contains further details.

We would love to hear from you about what this research means to you and if you would like to get involved.

If you are an early childhood educator who would like to have an opportunity to participate in the Conceptual PlayLab research activities in the future, you can register your interest and join our private Facebook group - Conceptual PlayWorlds for Educators. You can also access free resources for educators. 

If you are a parent who would like to have an opportunity to participate in the Conceptual PlayLab research activities in the future, you can register your interest. You can also access free resources for families.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Other resources

Conceptual PlayWorld website
TeachSpace
Lens
Free app download

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Science and engineering child's play, but vital for Australia's future

Researchers at Monash University have launched Australia’s largest study into play-based education, which will inspire teachers and parents to develop the next generation of thinkers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Monash Laureate Professor Marilyn Fleer has unveiled her Australian-first project called the Conceptual PlayLab at Monash University.

It is a five-year investigation into how play-based education can deliver essential cognitive and learning outcomes for infants, toddlers and preschoolers in STEM.

Attending the launch was Federal Member for Menzies Kevin Andrews. 

"We know that quality early childhood experiences can impact positively on life choices and career pathways," Mr Andrews said. "The work done at the Conceptual PlayLab will greatly improve what we know about how a child learns scientific concepts."

In the news

• Monash story. 
  
  
• ABC Interview with Marilyn Fleer and early childhood educator Belinda O'Dea.

Images from the launch