All posts by Caroline Cohrssen

Caroline Cohrssen is Professor in Early Childhood Education at the University of New England in Armidale, NSW. As she is particularly interested in children’s learning from birth to five years, her research encompasses the home learning environment as well as early childhood education and care settings. Her research ranges from fine-grained analyses of interactions, to collaborations with quantitative researchers in Australia and overseas. She recently collaborated in the development of the Early Childhood Learning Trajectories that have been published by the Australian Education Research Organisation. These assist educators’ enactment of the early years planning cycle.

Being aware of what children hear and see

Posted on December 21, 2021 by

Since 2017, more than 110 countries have experienced significant protests[i] and Australia is no exception. As COVID-19 vaccination rates continue to rise in Australia, anti-vaccination mandate protests have been growing in response to a perceived infringement of individual rights and freedoms. In Hong Kong in 2019 and 2020, protests were similarly related to perceived infringements, […]

An EYLF wish list: What’s on yours?

Posted on March 12, 2021 by

Rolled out more than ten years ago and a key element of the National Quality Framework, the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) has had an enormous positive impact on early childhood education in Australia. The review process, which is now underway, provides a valuable opportunity for the framework to be refined in line with recent […]

Name a job where you can act like a child?

Posted on August 8, 2018 by

This question was asked recently during a weekend primetime TV family quiz show. Among the top three answers? Clown, childcare worker and kindergarten teacher. It made DR CAROLINE COHRSSEN reflect on play in early childhood learning and a ‘game’ approach to preschool mathematics by the Northern Territory Government. Find out more about her work and […]

Assessing children’s understanding during play-based maths activities

Posted on June 6, 2018 by

When we ask children to explain their thinking to us we gain an insight into what they already know, says CAROLINE COHRSSEN. She encourages us to reach beyond what we’re comfortable doing in our work with young children in her blog (originally posted in 2015). Cohrssen translates Early Years Learning Framework concepts on mathematical language and symbols into practical steps and conversation starters that foster young children’s deep thinking.  Engaging […]

I did it! Young children’s academic self-concept in the year before school

Posted on January 30, 2017 by

Children’s self-awareness develops gradually. Starting with physical self-awareness in infancy, children become increasingly able to gather and understand information about themselves. When children are three and four years old, they often focus on observable characteristics like eye colour, but they also evaluate their own abilities in comparison with other children’s abilities: they know who is […]

To Top