​​Encouraging a sense of belonging and connectedness in early childhood education and care​

Strategies

• Design and use routines and rituals to help children feel safe, secure, supported and connected. Everyday rituals (such as those seen at greeting and departure times) that reflect children and families’ needs and preferences support children to be recognised as important individuals in the community.5 Familiar routines help to develop children’s sense of predictability, consistency, agency and confidence, as they can observe and become aware of the routines before becoming an active participant.⁶
• Cultivate time to be emotionally and physically close to young children to help them develop secure attachments and to feel safe in their environment. You can connect with very young children by being attuned to their needs during everyday routines and rituals, including nappy changes, feeding rituals and while sitting them in your lap for stories and songs.⁷  
• Work in partnership with families to understand individual children’s routines and rituals, cultural background, likes and dislikes and particular ways of being. You can use these insights to shape learning experiences and strengthen your connection with children.⁸
• Plan for how children enter and leave and the service, and how families are welcomed. Familiar arrival and departure routines, along with maintaining a culture of reflection, contribute to responsive approaches to transitions.⁹

Reflection questions

• How do you make time for slowing down, building emotional closeness and connection, and responding to children?
• In what ways do you develop relationships with families? What strategies work well and what other ideas might you have for developing relationships with families?

Snapshot of practice

Six-month-old Elani is new to family day care. The educator, Jasmine, initiates a conversation with Elani's father, Andreas, to gain insights into the family's home routine and rituals, as a way of promoting continuity in her care. Andreas shares information about their home routine as well as special books, songs and experiences that Elani enjoys. He shares tips on how to soothe Elani to sleep, and the foods she is currently trying. Together, they come up with a plan to provide extra support for Elani's first few days in the service and agree to communicate openly and adjust strategies as needed. Jasmine incorporates these rituals into Elani's daily routine at the service to support the familiarity of Elani's home routine. To foster attachment and connection with Elani, Jasmine spends time holding Elani, talking with her and repeating familiar actions in her day. Physical proximity and familiar routines assist Elani with developing a sense of belonging and connectedness at the service.

Strategies

• Consider how to connect to and celebrate culture, language and identity when designing play spaces, planning routines and transitions, and communicating with children. Use the space with items supplied by families, such as pictures and personal artefacts, to reflect the diversity of children and families.¹⁰
• Plan carefully to support children to understand their own and others' cultures by using material items, texts or symbols throughout the service that represent their culture.¹¹ Cultural artefacts should be accompanied by information about their heritage and significance as part of learning experiences.
• Support children to transition with peers. Drawing on established friendships as a secure base will relieve transition-related stress and strengthen children's connections with peers and teachers and educators.¹²
• Plan transitions and orientations at a service level to ensure children feel supported and their dispositions, ideas and theories are catered for.¹³ This includes planning for transitions between rooms throughout the year, and at the beginning and end of year.

Reflection questions

• How do you know your environment is culturally safe? What do you look for and who do you seek feedback from?
• How do you engage in meaningful dialogue about embedding First Nations perspectives?
• How do you find out about children and families' cultural and linguistic background? What opportunities do they have to share their background with others in the service?

Snapshot of practice

A small community-based service located in an urban community is creating a reconciliation working group with their families, staff and community members to help foster a culturally sensitive and responsive environment for children and their families. Through these partnerships, a philosophy is being developed to recognise reconciliation and articulate the services' commitment to embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in the curriculum, routines and learning environment. At this service, connection to culture and Country underpins the learning experiences for children. Educators and teachers work in partnership with community members, who share traditional knowledge of bush food and medicine, share culture through dance, music, art and ceremony, and foster children's responsibility and connection to Country as they learn about the land and cultures through local walks.

Strategies

• Involve children in curriculum decision-making. This may include co-designing the curriculum, or parts of it, with children or using a visible and accessible style of documentation where children can contribute to planning and revisit their learning.¹⁴
• Include children in discussions about service policies and procedures, such as where they would like to have their meals, to encourage them to use their voice.¹⁵
• Plan and create indoor and outdoor learning environments that promote children's agency and ownership over the resources that support their play, including the placement and movement of equipment.¹⁶
• Provide opportunities for children to exercise choice in situations where their decisions can be accepted. For example, ask children what they would like to play with on arrival, or offer a choice of experiences based on the child's ideas and theories, to engage them in meaningful and relevant opportunities for learning.¹⁷
• Recognise very young children as capable and active participants in routines. This could include encouraging them to find their cup, providing spoons for self-feeding, and choosing where to sit or which book to read.¹⁸

Reflection questions

• How do you support children's agency throughout the program?
• How do you support children's voice throughout the program?
• In what ways are children able to make decisions about how they use spaces and identify what spaces they prefer to spend time in?
• How do you identify and respond to the dispositions and curiosities of very young children? How do you include your knowledge about children in the program and routines to support learning?

Snapshot of practice

Educators in a 3 to 4-year-old room notice that when transitioning to indoor time, many of the children are hiding at the top of the fort and do not want to come down. Some children have also started to run outside at different points during the day. To address this, the educational leader provides some questions to guide reflection during a team meeting. The reflection helps educators realise they were following a routine established at the beginning of the year, which no longer meets the children's needs. The team decides to re-evaluate the children's needs by asking them about their experiences directly, and in doing so, discover that the children want more time outside to explore, relax and play games. Collaboratively, the educators and children hold discussions on how to adapt their routine to provide more time outside and include more of the children's ideas and experiences in future. The revised routine involves educators regularly checking in with children about how they are spending time outdoors and when they are ready to transition inside. Educators reflect that children are feeling more connected to the program as they are involved in decision-making within the service and their own routines. This can be an ongoing negotiation with children.

Strategies

• Intentionally plan for children to experience play individually, in pairs, in small and larger groups, and across age groups. This will help young children become more aware of what it means to be a member of a community and build connections and relationships with peers.¹⁹
• Plan for socio-dramatic play opportunities through environments that encourage children to set up their own play or be guided by resources.²⁰ Consider including natural resources and loose parts to strengthen learning and support children's active decision-making.²¹
• Embed language- and literacy-rich experiences such as reading books, listening to and telling stories, and setting up dramatic play spaces. This will foster children's understanding of others and provide time for emotional closeness.²²
• Include tumble zones, open floor space and cubbies in your indoor environments to facilitate physical activity, exploration and play.²³ Using resources such as low tables and chairs and soft cushions promotes fine and gross motor physical play, periods of rest and relaxation, and connection with peers and adults.²⁴

Reflection questions

• How do the indoor and outdoor environments of your service support children's connection and belonging? Does a walk-through with a trusted friend or mentor provide you with any other thoughts on your service's physical environment?
• In what ways could you share with families the importance of play and how this supports children's belonging and connectedness?
• How do you know children are developing a connection with their peers? What do you look for as evidence of these connections?

Snapshot of practice

Rumi and Ben are playing outside. Rumi tells Ben he has a new puppy. He asks Ben to pretend to be a puppy so he can take care of him. An educator, Sally, overhears the boys and asks Rumi about his puppy (referring to Ben). She bends down to pat Ben and says, 'Rumi, he is a lovely puppy. His fur is so soft.' To extend the game, she asks Rumi, 'How do you take care of a puppy? What do you need to look after him?' Rumi explains that Ben needs a bed, water and food. Sally asks Rumi what they could use for a bed, water bowl and food. She collects the items so the boys can continue the game. Over the week, Ben and Rumi arrive at the service excited to continue to play the puppy game. They invite Sally to join them. She continues to help them gather additional resources from the centre and home to extend the play. She also assists the boys to connect with others by introducing more children to the game, so they can participate as other puppies, and dog owners and trainers in response to the boys' evolving ideas. Outside the game, Sally notices the children begin seeking each other out during mealtimes, circle times and story times.

Strategies

• Participate in professional learning that contributes to your knowledge and development of practices around children's belonging and connectedness. Learning can be formal or informal and can include reading, on-the-job mentoring or collaborative discussions with colleagues. Relevant topics include listening to children, supporting agency, responsiveness and relationships, and creating active learning environments.²⁵

• Critically reflect on all aspects of pedagogy and practice to ensure children are active participants in their world and are empowered to use their voices.²⁶ Critical reflection through dialogue with colleagues by using reflective journals with prompts, or by debriefing with a trusted mentor or critical friend, are all ways to deeply think about how your practices contribute to children's belonging and connectedness.

Reflection questions

• In what ways do you reflect with children on their experiences within the service? How might children's experiences inform your programs?
• What professional learning might you do to support children's belonging and connectedness?
• How do you engage in critical reflection on your own or with your team? In what ways do you make your thinking visible?

Snapshot of practice

Sunita wants to learn more about supporting children's belonging and connectedness in the 4- to 5-year-old room. She engages in professional reading and creates a shared journal for recording observations and reflections. Sunita encourages her colleagues to respond to her thinking by adding their thoughts to the journal. The educational leader, Hazel, notices the rich comments appearing in the journal, and supports Sunita's participation in an online workshop on children's agency. The workshop encourages Sunita to begin a visual display of spaces the children feel connected to. She poses the question, 'What spaces at preschool do you like to spend time in and why?' to the children. The children are excited by the question and want to take photos and draw the spaces they most enjoy. The service shares these photos and drawings with families through a documentation wall. Sunita feels the professional learning she engaged in deepened her connection with the children and her colleagues, while also enhancing her professional practice.

That's great – the evidence suggests these are good approaches to try. You could focus on embedding, sustaining and monitoring quality practice. For example, you could:

• explicitly consider implementation barriers and enablers
• focus on tailoring your approaches to meet the diverse needs of children
• share your approaches, challenges and successes with other colleagues or leaders – this could include modelling practices for your peers
• monitor and review how these approaches are going (for example, by collecting data and consulting with colleagues and families about what is and what is not working, and what adjustments could be made to improve outcomes).

Children's belonging has been linked with positive outcomes for learning, so it's great that you're looking for strategies to try. You could:

• select which of the approaches you could first focus on to meet these needs
• identify the elements of connectedness that you already do but could improve, and consider how you can develop staff capacity in these areas
• emphasise the importance of a whole-of-service approach to increasing connectedness to all staff
• assist service personnel in engaging with the practices covered in this guide – how can leadership support the integration of these practices into everyday work?
• browse AERO's resources.

Wellbeing covers a range of elements and can involve many different activities. Your approach may not yet have been tested by researchers or may have been tested in studies that did not meet the inclusion criteria for this guide. You could:

• reflect on your approaches and why you are doing them – how do they link to learning?
• continue to monitor how your approach is going – is anything not working? Use data to support your understanding
• try some of the approaches mentioned in this guide
• review the evidence for your approach by using AERO's Research Reflection Guide.

^{1.  DoE (Australian Government Department of Education), 2022}

^{2.  DoE (Australian Government Department of Education), 2022}

^{3.  Marbina et al., 2015}

^{4.  Bagdi and Vacca., 2005}

^{5.  Puroila et al., 2021}

^{6.  Eun McDevitt S. & Recchia S. L., 2022}

^{7.  Hännikäinen M., 2015}

^{8.  Eun McDevitt S. & Recchia S. L., 2022}

^{9.  Eun McDevitt S. & Recchia S. L., 2022}

^{10.  Puroila, 2021}

^{11.  Puroila, 2021; Robinson, 2019; Ólafsdóttir & Einarsdóttir, 2021}

^{12.  Eun McDevitt S. & Recchia S. L., 2022}

^{13.  Eun McDevitt S. & Recchia S. L., 2022}

^{14.  Eun McDevitt S. & Recchia S. L., 2022}

^{15.  Robinson et al., 2019}

^{16.  Martin A et al., 2022; Moore, 2019}

^{17.  Robinson et al., 2019}

^{18.  Robinson et al., 2019}

^{19.  Moore, 2019; Eun McDevitt S. & Recchia S. L., 2022}

^{20.  Herr et al., 2021}

^{21.  Sando. 2019}

^{22.  Hännikäinen, 2015}

^{23.  Sando, 2019}

^{24.  Sando, 2019}

^{25.  Cleland P. et al., 2018}

^{26.  Robinson C. et al., 2019}

AERO evidence reliability key: ◑ = Medium confidence ◕ = High confidence ⬤ = Very high confidence

◑ Cleland P.; Byrne R.; Vidgen H.; Irvine S.; Farrell A. & Gallegos D. (2018) ‘Advancing Australia’s agenda for young children’s health and wellbeing: Empirical insights into educator knowledge, confidence and intentions in promoting children’s Learning, Eating, active play and sleep (LEAPS)’, Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 43(2):55-63.

This paper is a single study evaluating the LEAPS (Learning, Eating, Active Play, Sleep) professional development program. The program was designed to acknowledge and improve educator knowledge of national healthy eating and physical activity guidelines as a critical foundation for health and wellbeing of children and families. Change in educator knowledge and confidence was assessed via pre- and post-program questionnaire, with 2 additional open-ended questions regarding intention to change practice post-program. The study findings indicate that the LEAPS professional development program was successful in improving early childhood educators' knowledge of healthy eating and physical activity.

Australian Government Department of Education (DoE) (2022). Belonging, being and becoming: The early years learning framework for Australia V2.0, DoE, accessed 27 January 2023.

An evidence reliability rating has not been provided for this reference as it was not used in developing evidence-based practices in this guide.

This framework is the second version of Australia’s national Early Years Learning Framework. The aim of Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Framework for Australia is to support early childhood providers, teachers and educators to extend and enrich children’s learning from birth to 5 years and through the transition to school.

◑ Eun McDevitt S. & Recchia S. L. (2022) ‘How toddlers new to child care become members of a classroom community’, Early Child Development & Care, 192(3):481-498.

This paper is a single study that uses a case study approach to capture children's daily experiences in their childcare setting. Three toddlers were observed over one academic year, with videos, teacher surveys and interviews with families and teachers also used to supplement the children’s experiences. This study described the diverse ways a group of toddlers new to childcare navigated the process of becoming members of the classroom community, the differences in their subtle and overt emotional tensions, verbal and non-verbal communication styles, and evolving identity and agency.

◑ Hännikäinen M. (2015) ‘The teacher’s lap – a site of emotional well-being for the younger children in day-care groups’, Early Child Development & Care, 185(5):752-765.

This paper is a single study investigating the situations in which children sit in their teacher’s lap and in what ways emotional wellbeing is expressed. The study used case studies of 2 day care groups in Finland comprising 12 children and 3 teachers, and 8 children and 2 teachers. The study found that for most of the day, at least one child was in a teacher’s lap. The teacher’s lap signified not only consolation and confidence but also delight. Furthermore, for the children, it was a contested site for gaining teacher attention and displaying power.

◕ Herr R. M., Diehl K., Schneider S., Osenbruegge N., Memmer N., Sachse S., Hoffmann S., Wachtler B., Herke M., Pischke C., Novelli A. & Hilger-Kolb J. (2021) ‘Which meso-level characteristics of early childhood education and care centers are associated with health, health behaviour and well-being of young children?’, International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(9):4973.

This scoping review aims to provide an overview of the association between meso-level characteristics of ECEC centres and children's health, health behaviour and wellbeing. A total of 117 papers were included in the review. To be included in the review, studies needed to be focused on health behaviour, health and wellbeing of children aged birth to 6 years, and considered meso-level characteristics of the early childhood centre. Manuscripts published in English or German since 1 January 2020 were considered. Five categories of MLCs were identified in the results: (1) structural characteristics, (2) equipment/furnishings, (3) location, (4) facilities/environment, (5) culture/activities/policies/practices, and (6) staff.

Littlefield L., Cavanagh S., Knapp R., & O’Grady L. (2017). KidsMatter: Building the capacity of Australian primary schools and early childhood services to foster children’s social and emotional skills and promote children’s mental health. Social and emotional learning in Australia and the Asia-Pacific: Perspectives, programs and approaches, 293-311.

An evidence reliability rating has not been provided for this reference as it was not used in developing evidence-based practices in this guide.

This article explores the KidsMatter framework, an Australian promotion, prevention and early intervention mental health initiative implemented in over 3,000 primary schools and 400 early childhood services. The paper provides the rationale behind the framework and recommends the implementation of evidence-based social and emotional learning programs while emphasising the importance of daily interactions with children.

Marbina L., Mashford-Scott A., Church A & Tayler C. (2015) Assessment of wellbeing in early childhood education and care : literature review., Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA), https://data.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/aeipt.216203, accessed 23 November 2021.

An evidence reliability rating has not been provided for this reference as it was not used in developing evidence-based practices in this guide.

This literature review was commissioned by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) for the purpose of identifying contemporary practices in assessing wellbeing in children from birth to 5 years of age. The review critiques the most prominent assessment tools currently used in early childhood education and care (ECEC) and considers their relevance both in light of research evidence about young children’s wellbeing and applicability to the Australian context.

◕ Martin A., Brophy R., Clarke J., Hall C. J. S., Jago R., Kipping R., Reid T., Rigby B., Taylor H., White J. & Simpson S. A. (2022) ‘Environmental and practice factors associated with children’s device-measured physical activity and sedentary time in early childhood education and care centres: a systematic review’, International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity, 19:1-21.

This paper is a systematic review that explored the association between childcare environments and practice, and children's physical activity and sedentary time. Twenty-nine papers were included in the review. To be included, the studies needed to have participants who attended ECEC settings, reported the association between use of outdoor space and physical activity and sedentary activity, and where applicable compared the exposure to use of indoor space. The review found that children who spent more time outdoors were more likely to have moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Outdoor play space, and outdoor portable equipment, were associated with increased physical activity.

◑ Moore D., Morrissey A. & Robertson N. (2019) ‘I feel like I'm getting sad there': early childhood outdoor playspaces as places for children's wellbeing', Early child development and care, 1-19.

This paper is a single study that aimed to capture the stories that young children have told during participatory research about 2 different early childhood outdoor play spaces. Two sessional preschools with a total of 30 children aged 4 to 5 years and 5 educators participated in the study. The stories indicated that a spacious, open-ended environment with significant natural features, selected built equipment and secluded spaces fostered children's experiences of wellbeing through play.

◑ Ólafsdóttir S. M. & Einarsdóttir J. (2021). Peer culture in an Icelandic preschool and the engagement of children with diverse cultural backgrounds. International Journal of Early Childhood, 53, 49-64.

This paper is a single study that aimed to gain a deeper understanding of young children’s participation in a diverse peer culture within an Icelandic preschool, and their sense of belonging in the preschool community. Twelve children aged 5 to 6 years engaged in a walking tour of the preschool where they took photographs of features of interest, which formed the basis of a later conversation. Children discussed their belonging within the peer culture of the preschool, including through relationships they had made, resources to engage with and places to connect through play. This study provides insights into children’s sense of belonging for educators and the role educators can take in supporting this.

◑ Puroila A-M., Juutinen J., Viljamaa E., Sirkko R., Kyrönlampi T. & Takala M. (2021) 'Young Children's Belonging in Finnish Educational Settings: an Intersectional Analysis', International Journal of Early Childhood, 53(1):9–29.

This paper is a single study investigating how children's (ages birth to 8 years) belonging is shaped in Finnish educational settings. Forty-seven children from 3 educational settings participated in the study. The data consist of educational policy documents and ethnographic material generated in educational programs for children aged birth to 8 years. The findings show that the landscape in which children's belonging is shaped and the intersections across and within the levels are characterised by the tensions between similarities and differences, majority and minorities, continuity and change, authority and agency. Language used, practices enacted and positional power emerge as the (re)sources through which children's (un)belonging is actively produced.

◑ Robinson C.; O'Connor D.; Wildy H.; and Neylon G. (2019) ‘Contemporary perspectives of the child in action: an investigation into children's connectedness with, and contribution to, the world around them’, Education 3 - 13;47(3):366-376.

This paper presents the findings from a single-study research project that sought to investigate how educators applied their understanding of learning outcome 2 of the EYLF (children are connected with and contribute to their world). Educators working with children aged 2 to 3 years within childcare centres operating on school sites in metropolitan Western Australia were observed. The vignettes presented draw attention to the role of the educator in empowering children’s agency and choice through developing their capacity to be active contributors.

◑ Sando O. J. (2019) ‘The physical indoor environment in ECEC settings: children’s well-being and physical activity’, European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 27(4):506-519.

This paper is a single study exploring the influence of the physical indoor environment in early childhood education and care settings on children's wellbeing and physical activity. Video observations of the free play of 80 children across 8 ECEC settings were collected in Norway. The study found that children’s wellbeing was positively associated with the use of rooms for physical activity and negatively associated with the use of high tables. Open-floor space and cubbies were also associated with higher levels of physical activity.

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AEDC

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