RELIGIOUS RESEARCH IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE IN AUSTRALIA: Empirical and Methodological Gaps

The early childhood sector in Australia continues to grow, with 86% of children aged four, and 21% of children aged five (a total of 342,464 children) enrolled in a non-compulsory preschool programme in 2018. The Catholic school sector along with independent and other religious schools currently educates approximately one in five Australian students. The consistent increase in the number of children accessing early childhood education and care (ECEC) services (estimated 9% growth per year based on a seven-year average) raises significant challenges for both teachers and school leaders, particularly with regard to issues such as the following: (i) how is religious education best taught and by whom in the ECEC setting? (ii) What place does religious education play in Australia’s Early Years Learning Framework? – paying attention to children’s physical, personal, social, emotional and spiritual well-being as well as cognitive aspects of learning. (iii) How is the assessment of the quality of ECEC provision with regard to (ii) undertaken. In this chapter we explore these issues, focusing specifically on the quality of empirical evidence that underpins Australian ECEC educational policy. In addition, we discuss what methods can be employed to improve the empirical base that informs ECEC policy.