Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T11:02:48.071Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Empowered with Wings: Professional Development for Supporting Children's Social and Emotional Wellbeing in South-West Queensland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 October 2016

Jennifer Cartmel ,
Kerry Smith  and
Debbie Miller
Jennifer Cartmel*
Affiliation:
Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Kerry Smith
Affiliation:
Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Debbie Miller
Affiliation:
Pathways to Resilience Trust, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Jennifer Cartmel, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University. E-mail: j.cartmel@griffith.edu.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Wings: Social and emotional wellbeing in the early years is a professional development programme designed to assist educators in early years services to improve outcomes for children. It uses a strengths-based approach and supports educators to understand the impact of their interactions with children and to use communication strategies, such as descriptive feedback, to develop children's capacities. These strategies are used to help children recognise their strengths and build their ability to self-regulate and manage their own social and emotional wellbeing. This paper reports on the outcomes of the Wings programme introduced into early childhood services in rural and remote south-west Queensland, Australia, through the Community Wellbeing Project run by the Pathways to Resilience Trust in partnership with Anglicare Southern Queensland. Preliminary findings indicate the Wings programme successfully enhanced the confidence and knowledge of early years educators engaged in promoting children's social and emotional wellbeing.

Keywords

Professional developmentwellbeingearly childhoodsocial developmentemotional development
Type
Practice-Based Commentaries
Information
Children Australia , Volume 41 , Special Issue 4: A FOCUS ON REGIONAL AND RURAL CONTEXTS , December 2016 , pp. 292 - 296
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andrews, I., Sullivan, G., & Minichiello, V. (2004). The philosophical and theoretical context of qualitative research. In Minichiello, V., Sullivan, G., Greeenwood, K., & Axford, R. (Eds.), Handbook of research methods for nursing and health science (pp. 59–70). Sydney, Australia: Pearson Education.Google Scholar
Australian Government. (2015). Australian early development census. Canberra: Department of Education and Training. Retrieved from https://www.aedc.gov.au/data.Google Scholar
Australian Education and Quality and Care Authority (ACECQA). (2012). National quality framework and national quality standard. Retrieved from http://www.acecqa.gov.au/national-quality-framework.Google Scholar
Cartmel, J. (2015). Wings: Social and emotional wellbeing in the early years 0-5 - Evaluation Report. Brisbane: Griffith University.Google Scholar
Davis, E., Corr, L., Ummer-Christian, R., Gilson, K., Waters, E., Mihalopoulos, C., . . . Sims, M. (2014). Family day care educators' knowledge, confidence and skills in promoting children's social and emotional wellbeing. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 39 (3), 66–75.Google Scholar
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR). (2009). Belonging, being and becoming-The early years learning framework for Australia. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.Google Scholar
Funnell, S. C., & Rogers, P. J. (2011). Purposeful program theory: Effective use of theories of change and logic models. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Wiley.Google Scholar
Gable, S., Rothrauff, T., Thornburg, K., & Mauzy, D. (2007). Cash incentives and turnover in center-based child care staff. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 22 (3), 363–378. doi: 10.1016/j.ecresq.2007.06.002.CrossRef.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Groeneveld, M. Vermeer, H., van Ijzendoorn, M., & Linting, M. (2012). Stress, cortisol and well-being of caregivers and children in home-based child care: A case for differential susceptibility. Child Care Health Development, 38 (2), 251–260. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2214.2010.01194.x.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hall, J., Sylva, K., Melhuish, E., Sammons, P., Siraj-Blatchford, I., & Taggart, B. (2009). The role of preschool quality in promoting resilience in the cognitive development of young childre'. Oxford Review of Education, 35 (3), 331–352.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kendall-Taylor, N., & Lindland, E. (2013). Modernity, morals and more information: Mapping the gaps between expert and public understandings of early child development in Australia. Washington, DC: FrameWorks Institute. Retrieved from http://www.rch.org.au/uploadedFiles/Main/Content/ccch/CCCH_FrameWorks_Mapping-the-Gaps_Report_Feb-2013.pdf.Google Scholar
Miller, D. (2015). Wings: Social and emotional wellbeing in the early years. Brisbane: Pathways to Resilience Trust. Retrieved from https://pathwaystoresilience.org/wings/.Google Scholar
Pawson, R. (2006). Evidence-based policy. A realist perspective. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Statham, J., & Chase, E. (2010). Childhood wellbeing: A brief overview. Loughborough: Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre. Retrieved from http://www.cwrc.ac.uk/documents/CWRC_Briefing_paper.pdf.Google Scholar
Whitebook, M., & Ryan, S. (2011). Degrees in context: Asking the right questions about preparing skilled and effective teachers of young children. New Brunswick, NJ: National Institute for Early Education Research.Google Scholar