Early Childhood Conference 2024

The Early Childhood Conference theme focuses on the various aspects of a child’s life during the early years. Through the exploration of early childhood development and pedagogy, educators build an understanding of the significance of each child’s story. The conference will empower educators to recognise the pivotal role this plays in optimising learning, development, and lifelong success.

7 March Conference Day 1 8.30am – 4.30 pm

8 March Conference Day 2 8.30am – 4.30 pm

9 March Conference Day 3 8.30am – 12.30 pm

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Cover image Credit: “Oogly Octopus” ahliah Mandijalu Pre-Primary Sacred Heart School, Beagle Bay

A partial relief reimbursement will be provided to a limited number of CEWA kindergarten teachers who attend the conference. To be eligible to receive the funding, principals must complete this for each kindergarten teacher attending. (Limit 3 per school).

Trevor MacKenzie

Trevor MacKenzie’s passion is supporting schools in implementing inquiry-based learning practices. He is a highly regarded speaker known for his heartfelt storytelling, kind demeanour and student-first philosophy.

Dr Laura Jana

Dr Laura Jana is a paediatrician, educator, health communicator and award-winning author. Her most recent books, The Toddler Brain: Nurture the Skills Today That Will Shape Your Child’s Tomorrow and Jumping Into Kindergarten, introduce the fundamentally important concept of QI Skills and convey the powerful role parents, educators and other caring responsive adults play in children’s healthy development during their foundational first 5 years.

Marc Brackett, Ph.D

Marc is the lead developer of RULER, a systemic, evidence-based approach to social and emotional learning that has been adopted by over 4,500 schools. RULER infuses social and emotion learning into the immune system of schools by enhancing how school administrators lead, educators teach, students learn, and families’ parent.

Kath Murdoch

Kath Murdoch is an experienced teacher, author, university lecturer and popular consultant who has worked for many years in schools throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia, America and Europe. She is widely respected for her work in the field of inquirybased learning and integrative curriculum, in which she has taught, researched, and published for well over two decades.

Lisa Burman

Lisa is an educator who sees herself as an ‘every-day researcher’, fascinated with childhood and learning. After a several years teaching and leading primary schools in Australia, she consulted in and around New York for ten years. Lisa is the author of “Are You Listening? Fostering Conversations that Help Young Children Learn” and “A Culture of Agency – FosteringEngagement, Empowerment, Identity, and Belonging in the Early Years”.

Dr Brenda Heyworth

Dr Brenda Heyworth is a child and family Psychiatrist with decades of clinical experience and enormous empathy for the caring adults who work with children. An entertaining speaker, her enthusiasm is infectious as she brings perspective and practical strategies to issues of mental health and wellbeing. With warmth and respect, she translates the research, experience and complexities of life for adults to understand the story of each child’s emotions and behaviour.

Dr Dee O’Connor

Dr Dee O’Connor is a values-based leader and academic with specialist knowledge of child, family and community development, experiential learning, engagement, innovation, and creativity. She is Professor of Child and Community Development and Dean of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Murdoch University WA.

Dr Amelia Ruscoe

Dr Amelia Ruscoe is an experienced educator and leader in early childhood studies in the School of Education at Edith Cowan University. She has worked as an early years educator for 30 years and now uses this practical base to pursue innovative ideas to support, extend and enhance the learning experience of young children, and emerging educators, in the context of 21st century educational priorities. She is a published author and public speaker and currently researches what school affords young children in the first year of compulsory school.

Mikayla King

Mikayla is a Kalkadoon and Dutch woman who was born on Whadjuk Country of the Noongar Nation. Her experience in education spans over a decade in various roles including Aboriginal Islander Education Officer, Classroom Teacher, and Deputy Principal and Academic. Currently, Mikayla is lecturing at Edith Cowan University and the University of South Australia whilst completing her PhD. She has been recognised on a local and national level for her impact in the education realm with various awards including, 2019 Early Childhood Australia Early Career Teacher of the Year and 2023 ECU Young Alumni Commendation.

Dr Christine Robinson

Associate Professor Dr Christine Robinson is the Associate Dean Research for the Faculty of Education, Philosophy and Theology and The University of Notre Dame Australia. Christine specialises in teaching within early childhood across the topics of play, holistic pedagogies, spirituality, religious education as well as family and community partnerships. Christine’s PhD explored educators’ practices for promoting children’s spirituality and she continues to research, speak, and publish in this area.

Dr Karen Murcia

Dr Karen Murcia (PhD) is a Professor in the School of Education at Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia. As a specialist in the field of creativity and STEM in early childhood education, she leads research exploring digital pedagogies for fostering children’s development of creativity and computational thinking. Her expertise in STEM education is further recognised and utilized through her ongoing Board position with Scitech), which is Western Australia’s preeminent science discovery centre.

Samantha Wynne

Sam is an early childhood consultant with a focus on child development and pedagogy. Sam has over 25 years of school-based, classroom and leadership experience and 10 years consulting experience working across school and centre based early education and care settings. Her areas of interest and research are in the cognitive development of young children and the social and cultural construction of knowledge with a focus on pedagogical approaches that are rights based, relational and premised upon play and inquiry as developmentally, neurologically and theoretically aligned to early childhood education and to young children’s learning and development.

Dr Kimberley Beasley

Dr Kimberley Beasley has worked in early childhood education for 25 years, including 8 years as a university lecturer. For the last 10 years, Kimberley has been interested in connecting children to nature and teaching science in ECE through Inquiry. She has presented nationally, as well as in Vienna, USA, New Zealand, and Macau on connecting children to nature through their outdoor spaces. Kimberley completed a PhD studying botanical literacies and has developed a framework for teaching Botany when the teachers have a low level of plant knowledge themselves.

Dr Jane Merewether

Dr Jane Merewether (PhD) is a Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood and Indigenous/Cultural Studies in the School of Education at Murdoch University, Perth, Australia. Her research and teaching explore children’s common world relations with materials, places, and nonhuman others, and is published in Australian and international journals and books. She has also presented her research both nationally and internationally. Dr Merewether is particularly interested in generating liveable, sustainable, and ethical pedagogies in the context of climate and ecological change.

Ron Bradfield Jr

Ron Bradfield Jr is a saltwater man from Bardi Country, north of Broome, but grew up in Geraldton, Western Australia. He now calls Whadjuk Boodjar (Perth) his home. Learn ideas for introducing Aboriginal Art practices and concepts to students, how to understand the relationship between identity, personal storytelling and mark-making and an insight into contemporary Aboriginal Art practice.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Hyatt Regency Perth, 99 Adelaide Terrace, Perth, Australia