Macquarie University
NSW 2109
Research with impact
Our research focuses on effective early childhood pedagogies, supporting the workforce, and strengthening early childhood provision.
Explore our research themes and projects.
Theme 1
Impactful, individualised early childhood pedagogies will generate new knowledge about how to enhance the learning of all children aged birth to five.
| Research project | Researchers |
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MOTaLK This ARC Discovery grant aims to determine the significance of the language environment in infant-toddler ECEC rooms for children's language development and learning. The longitudinal project is following 190 infants, from around 18 months to four years, and will be instrumental in informing issues of quality interactions and learning environments for very young children. |
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ToddlerTaLK Funded by the NSW Department of Education, this ARC leveraging strategic grant extends the scope of MQ TaLK by capturing the development trajectories of learning-oriented language of 24 toddlers, aged 2.5-3.5 years. Toddlers are observed five times across this period to detect when specific talk functions emerge and the learning contexts that support their use. The project will develop professional resources to support educator to identify and support the development of children’s learning-oriented talk. |
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Observe, Reflect, Improve: a tool to enrich Children’s Learning (ORICL) ORICL is a new tool co-developed with professionals, policy-makers and providers, and trialled in long day care and family day care services to support infant-toddler educators to: Observe, Reflect, and Improve the quality of individual Children’s Learning experiences. ORICL is unique in supporting individualised observation and reflection on children’s experiences. |
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MathScape: Home Mathematics Environment in Singapore: Mapping the Landscape This project investigates the interrelation between parental practices, beliefs, knowledge, and attitudes to gain insights into the role that Singaporean parents play in the development of early mathematical abilities. Our specific research aims are:
Findings may contribute to children's school readiness as well as reduce the need for mathematics support programs at the early stages of formal education. |
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Literacy+Sustainability+: Creative practice and pedagogy in Early Childhood Education This project is designed to cultivate young children’s understanding of planetary wellbeing through creative arts learning experiences, and support early childhood educators in the planning, facilitating, documenting and evaluating of creative arts experiences. The study is about collaborating with EC staff to create creative arts activities using a children’s storybook as a stimulus and basing themes and ideas on the book ‘Dear Earth’ (Isabel Otter). |
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A study on the effectiveness of the School Readiness Program Timor-Leste This project, commissioned by UNICEF Timor-Leste, and completed in 2025, studied the effectiveness of the School Readiness Program in Timor-Leste – a play-based intervention, delivered by UNICEF Timor-Leste working in collaboration with the Timor-Leste Ministry of Education, in the first year of school. |
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Early Number Sense Screener for Australia (ENSSA) A new numeracy screening tool for Foundation and Grade 1 students is being trialled throughout 2025. At the first wave of testing in term 1, the screening tool was used by approximately 500 teachers from 115 schools to screen 6000 students. The screening tool will be validated against standardised achievement tests to ensure it generates valid and reliable data to identify students who may be at risk of difficulties in learning mathematics. We welcome new schools to participate in the project. |
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Enhancing the learning of children from diverse language backgrounds: Building Australian evidence on bilingual education in the early years This project seeks to build evidence on how bilingual curricula might provide additional benefits to bilingual children by:
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Theme 2
| Research project | Researcher/s |
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Mentoring and Coaching Program for Early Childhood Teachers This course enabled experienced early childhood teachers (with at least five years experience) to become capable mentors to new early childhood teachers in early childhood settings. Mentors were taught to examine and understand how to put into practice mentoring as a leadership strategy framed by the theory of Community of Practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991). |
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Supporting Children’s Participation in Early Childhood Education through Professional Learning and Mentoring Commissioned by the NSW Dept of Education, this project designed and evaluated the impact and effectiveness of a non-fee intervention to improve the participation of preschool-aged children and families in early childhood education (ECE). The intervention aimed to increase educators' knowledge about how best to support families through a professional learning program combined with support for practical resources. The intervention was evaluated in 19 centres and schools using a quasi-experimental design and mix of data collection methods. |
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Emotive Reminiscing Project Engaging in quality conversations has important benefits for children’s immediate and later social competence and language skills. Given the important role for educators in scaffolding the socio-emotional development of young children, this project aims to determine if engagement in quality conversations will enhance developmental outcomes for children and tests a professional development program for educators. |
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The Early Childhood Educator Wellbeing Project (ECEWP) The ECEWP consists of multiple projects. It takes a holistic approach to examining the psychological and physiological aspects of EC educators’ wellbeing within the context of their work environments, and the broader socio-cultural-political environment. Through our research we are investigating:
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Exemplary Early Childhood Educators at Work (ECEC@W) This ARC Linkage Project draws upon a unique alliance of university researchers, employers, unions and professional development agencies to investigate and shed light on the complexity of the work of early childhood educators. Informed by the Theory of Practice Architectures, it aims to build an empirical evidence base through a dual focus on the nature of educators’ work and the context within which they work. The project aims to
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Theme 3
Strong, connected early childhood education systems: developing innovative models, processes and tools that promote effective and efficient early childhood service provision.
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2025 Inclusive Practice Framework Macquarie University Early Childhood Education researchers are part of a consortium – with Griffith University and University of Queensland researchers and ACECQA – who are developing the Inclusive Practice Framework for all Australian Early Childhood Services. Commissioned by the Australian Government Department of Education, the initiative aims to help services across Australia strengthen inclusive practices and better support children and families who experience barriers to access and participation. |
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2021 National Quality Framework, Approved Learning Frameworks Update Contracted by ACECQA, this project aims to ensure the ongoing currency and relevance of our two Approved Learning Frameworks (EYLF and MTOP), for children and young people, families and communities, teachers and educators. This includes gathering diverse perspectives to identify potential areas for updating and improving these frameworks. This project has two stages of public consultation, to develop recommendations for updates, and a piloting stage to test these recommended updates with practitioners. |
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Care Economy CRC The Care Economy Cooperative Research Centre (CE-CRC) is a 10-year initiative, funded by the Federal Government and organisational partners which aims to strengthen the many sectors that provide care services to the Australian population. Early childhood education is one of these sectors and researchers from the Macquarie University Early Childhood Education Research Centre are co-designing impactful projects that will inform policy and practice reform. |
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Early Childhood Educators Pay and Conditions Research This research project provided a comprehensive analysis of Australian early childhood educators’ pay and conditions. The project analysed the workforce relations landscape, as well as educators’ and leaders’ perspectives about pay and conditions. Funded by the Federal Government, the recommendations are informing the ECE National Workforce Strategy as well as service, organisation and government initiatives. |
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Harnessing the health communication potential of the early childhood sector The Medical Research Futures Fund project is capitalising on learning derived from the experience of the early childhood education (ECE) sector during the COVID-19 crisis, to develop a Best Practice Model of health communication to be used whenever population-level health information needs to be communicated rapidly, accurately, and effectively to families of young children and their educators. Data has been generated by:
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Teachers in Early Education (TEE) (ARC DP) The Teachers in Early Education (TEE) project is a four-year longitudinal study (2024-2027) funded by the Australian Research Council to address the chronic shortage of early childhood teachers (ECTs) in Australia. The TEE project is committed to supporting children’s right to quality early education through its focus on attracting, preparing, retaining and sustaining ECTs who make a positive difference in the lives of young children. The project will generate new understandings about this specialist teacher workforce by tracking early childhood teachers’ career trajectories and developing a world-first tool to assess early childhood teacher quality. |
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