22 July 2019

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
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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.

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