ECEC educators in Queensland and Victoria in Australia have relatively recently become mandatory reporters of child maltreatment, and they are in a prime position to report their suspicions. Yet limited research has been conducted to understand the prevailing barriers and facilitators for educators that might influence how this child protection policy reform is being enacted. My MPhil study (Ayling, 2019) sought to develop and test a new mandatory reporter self-efficacy scale for early childhood educators, based on Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory (1977). Results indicated that collegial support was a professional practice dimension for which educators reported lower self-efficacy for child maltreatment reporting. The study’s quantitative findings were corroborated by qualitative comments that pointed to a lack of collegial support as one factor appearing to influence educators’ choices to not make a report. My PhD study extends this work and will employ sequential exploratory mixed methods design to investigate the barriers and facilitators to reporting of child abuse and neglect in early childhood education and care (ECEC) services in Australia. It will closely examine the relationships between ECEC educators’ child protection reporting behaviours and mandatory reporting self-efficacy, advancing upon my previous MPhil research (Ayling, 2019) by focusing on the collaborative or collective efficacy dimension to reporting of child abuse and neglect within ECEC services, in addition to reporting self-efficacy and intentions. The insights provided by this research hold potential to inform and significantly improve current child protection education and training of ECEC educators for their mandatory reporting role .

Post Crisis Response (PCR) frameworks in schools are used as a means to respond and guide planning to reduce further harm toward staff and students following critical incidents. It is suggested that for PCR systems to be effective, a trauma-informed, ecological approach that encompasses appraisal styles of teachers, teachers’ emotional competencies and personality traits, organisational culture and leadership approaches needs to be considered. PCR is also a domain in the Therapeutic Crisis Intervention - in Schools (TCI-S) system for working with schools to develop systems of care to respond to challenging behaviour. This presentation will summarise some of the current findings of PCR research in schools.

Act for Kids is a for-purpose organisation delivering evidence-led professional therapy and support services nationally, to children and families who have experienced or are at risk of harm. We strive to help keep kids safe, heal from trauma and lead happy lives.
PELD Program – support families with children birth to 5, to counteract adverse childhood experience that support responsive relationships that can create a sense of safety and trust for the child. Supporting parental understanding of attachment and the development of skills to interact warmly and consistently with their child. Modelling and coaching parents on ways to play and interact with their child. Empowering parents to enrich routines and language interactions. Strengthen parental resilience, problem solving and parenting skills, reducing the child’s exposure to toxic stress. Linking families to community and therapeutic supports. Ensuring children have regular connection in safe environments.
The significance of relationships and vulnerability of families is important for understanding the impacts on child development, attachment/bonding and parental attunement to their child. Unpacking the importance of sensory and emotional regulation, brain development attachment, attunement between parent/carer/educator and child. Whilst acknowledging parents as the child’s first teachers and making connections to the Social Ecological Model where child is the center.

The Abecedarian Approach Australia (3a) underpins the PELD intervention and is complemented by the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF). This an evidence-based approach that focuses the importance of parent and child interactions that are individual, frequent, and intentional, fostering joint attention between parent and child.

Components of the PELD program include home visiting, supported playgroups and allied health intervention. Supports community referral pathways such as linking families into early childhood education care programs, transitions to prep and therapeutic interventions. Focuses on child development and parent and child attachment that is individual, frequent, and intentional.

Circle pedagogy is a collaborative, democratic, and participatory model of teaching and learning. The practice of circles helps to build and maintain healthy classroom communities where educators and students feel safe, respected, and connected. Circles are a flexible pedagogy that can be used to teach curriculum content, to establish classroom expectations and norms, to build relationships, to model and support inclusion, to review and reflect on learning outcomes, and the list goes on. Importantly, circle pedagogy is a wellbeing strategy for schools as the structures used are rhythmic and predictable; when circles occur routinely, they contribute to the regulation of our nervous system.
Trauma-aware schools and educators understand that one of our greatest resources is the ability to regulate our nervous system and emotions. Regulation is a skill that is learned through patterned, repetitive experiences and opportunities to grow and develop in safe, supportive environments, first with trusted others (co-regulation) and then by us (self-regulation). Dan Siegel explains that our capacity to self-regulate aids us in navigating stress and challenge while remaining within our ‘window of tolerance’. When we lack this skill, we are more likely to find ourselves operating outside of our window where our stress response system activates a flight, fight, freeze or fawn state.
Individuals exposed to adversity and traumatic events may experience a narrowing of their window of tolerance; their nervous system becomes hypervigilant and overreactive to stressors. Using circle pedagogy with students is a strategy that can aid in widening our window of tolerance and supporting a student’s nervous system to regulate. Furthermore, it aligns with the principles of neuro-sequential processing. As Dr Bruce Perry explains, our brains are wired to process information from the bottom up – from the brainstem, through the mid-brain and finally reaching the cortex. In other words, our brains need to regulate and relate before we can reason.

In this experiential, hands-on workshop Kristy will guide participants through a flexible circle structure (adaptable for varying developmental levels), demonstrating by doing, the clear alignment between circle pedagogy, neurobiology, regulation, safety, and connection.