Playwork
Since 2021, VU Play has celebrated playwork in public places; the work of creating and maintaining spaces for children to play. The theory and practice of Playwork recognises that children's play must be 'Freely chosen, personally driven and intrinsically motivated.' The Playwork Principles are the ethical and professional framework that underpins Playwork practice. With over 5000 students every year completing community practicum in playwork, VU Play continues to run pop-up playwork sites all over Australia.
Where Children Like to Play
Belonging to a larger international Mosaic Study, this self-contained project of where young children like to play, is being conducted by researchers across Asia and Europe who will then compare their results. Emerging from the Early Childhood Education special interest group of the Nordic Educational Research Association (NERA) in March 2025, the project aims to understand what spaces young children choose to play in and why. It seeks to hear children's accounts of their playful experiences, and the feelings and physical activities that shape these. So doing, it aims to inform the ways in which play areas for young children in Early Learning contexts are designed, and the affordances that are present in these spaces, so we can create more enriching, rewarding, challenging and imaginative options for children’s play spaces by hearing their voice, allowing their agency and celebrating young children as competent, capable and independent learners.
Trauma-Responsive Practice in Early Childhood Play Settings
Some young children face difficult experiences- such as family breakdown, neglect, or other adverse events. These early life challenges can impact how they play, interact, learn, and feel safe in everyday settings. Early childhood educators play a key role in supporting these children. This research project aims to understand how educators are currently supporting children who may have experienced trauma, what helps or hinders this support, and how confident they feel in facilitating learning for those children. The goal is to work alongside educators to co-develop a practical and supportive trauma-aware play-based learning framework - a guide that can help educators better support children and families through play, in a variety of early childhood settings.
The Welcome Room and First Language, First Assessment
For the past two years, we have been working in collaboration with colleagues from the Media and Arts Programs to create and implement an AI Conversation Agent specific to the Graduate Diploma of Early Childhood Education, to assist with the large intake of students from around the world. In a new country, with an additional language and as a student in an intensive practicum post-graduate course, many students are overwhelmed with the amount of written content and instruction and sometimes just need answers. The agent known as The Welcome Room provides a visually and aurally aesthetic experience thanks to the arts students whilst retrieving specific information from a course-specific knowledge base to respond to the student in real time. If the information is not readily available in the course information then the student is provided with the correct person to contact to assist them further.
The Welcome Room agent was adapted for a new project more recently titled First Language, First Assessment. Again with our international students in mind, the first assignment in the first unit of their Graduate Diploma in Early Childhood Education, allows them to submit in their first language. This allows them the space to relax into their new role as an Australian post-graduate student whilst they adapt to their new living arrangements and lifestyles. In order for the task to be marked by their English-speaking assessor, the students upload their responses into the conversation agent which translates from their language into English. Students can also translate back to their own language again to check for accuracy and reflect on the possible limitations of Generative AI in higher education. Students from the media program were able to pilot this agent for many of the languages (of which there are 97 available) before it was implemented into the early childhood program. These are both ongoing studies gaining funding and transnational presentation opportunities. Learn more about early childhood education at VU
Co-PEC Symposium and Conference
Since 2024, Victoria University's Early Childhood Education (ECE) program has hosted the Co-PEC Conference and Symposium, alternating annually between the two events. Co-PEC brings together researchers, academics, early childhood educators, practitioners, students, and community partners to share research, innovative practices, and emerging ideas that advance early childhood education. The initiative fosters collaboration, knowledge exchange, and stronger connections between research and practice across the sector.
Journal of Early Years Insights (JoEYI)
The Journal of Early Years Insights (JoEYI) is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal hosted by the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Program at Victoria University. It provides a platform for researchers, educators, and practitioners to share research, conceptual papers, and innovative practices focused on inclusive, equitable, and high-quality early learning.
JoEYI aims to advance knowledge and practice in early childhood education by fostering critical engagement with contemporary issues in pedagogy, policy, child development, and professional practice. The journal supports collaboration between academia and the field to enhance outcomes for children, families, and communities.
Learn more about early childhood education at VU
