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"Where's the Proof?" Evidence-based Practice and Practice-based Evidence

8th Biennial National Early Childhood Intervention Australia Conference incorporating the First National Forum for the Inclusion and Professional Support Program.

THE CONFERENCE THEME

How do we decide what intervention strategies to use? How do we know how we should work with families and their children or with services and communities? How do we decide the best use of scarce resources? These are critical questions. Our answers to these and other like questions should be grounded in evidence.

What is evidence?

Evidence comes from two main sources. There is evidence which comes from research where studies have drawn conclusions about what is most effective.  This forms the basis of evidence-based practice. There is evidence that grows out of professionals’ experiences over time and from feedback from families. This is called practice-based evidence. Both are needed. Both deserve our attention. Together they provide the best approaches or interventions.

This conference will explore what we can learn from these different types of evidence and how we can improve outcomes for young children with a range of additional needs and their families.

The focus of the ECIA conference will, as usual, be young children with disabilities and their families. Since the conference will incorporate the first National Forum for The Inclusion and Professional Support Program we are able to offer an additional strand. This strand will recognise the key responsibilities of programme providers in building the capacity of children’s services to promote inclusion for all children. This includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children; children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CALD); and children with ongoing high support needs, including children with a disability, in child care and out-of-school programmes.

All conference participants will be able to attend all programme strands, with the exception of a special Forum for Inclusion Support Agency members during the final session of Day 1.

Main Conference: 20th - 21st October, 2008

Pre-Conference Workshops: 19th October, 2008

INTERNATIONAL KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Dr Kofi Marfo Evidence-based practice, practice-based enquiry, and practice-derived wisdom: Should there be parity?		Dana Brynelsen Early childhood inclusion and the evidence-based practice movement		Dr Virginia Buysse Early childhood inclusion and the evidence-based practice movement		Dr Patricia Wesley Charting new waters: Views from the North

Pre-Conference Workshops

Workshop 1:    KOFI MARFO

The Early Care Adjustment Rating for Educators (E-Care): Helping practitioners deal with transitional adjustment difficulties

This workshop is intended primarily for practitioners in early childhood development, care, and/or intervention settings who are interested in identifying and addressing young children’s transitional adjustment difficulties (e.g. during the transition from parental care at home to centre-based care or from one age-based placement to another in the same care setting). However, it will also be of interest to infant mental health researchers and personnel training specialists with interest in transitional issues for young children and their families. Designed explicitly for front-line practitioners with limited formal training in child development or infant mental health, the Early Care Adjustment Rating by Educators (E-CARE), is a field-inspired tool developed collaboratively by researchers and community-based early care professionals as part of a university-community partnership initiative. The tool grew out of a practical need to minimize the adjustment problems that can arise as infants, toddlers, and preschoolers make the transition from one care setting to another. The E-CARE has two components: (1) a simply written 10-item rating scale and (2) an Action Plan with guidelines on how to go from identification to systematic problem solving. The objectives of the workshop are to provide a hands-on introduction to these two key components of the E-CARE and to share a professional development model with three core elements: knowledge, skills, and orientation/values.

Workshop 2:     DANA BRYNELSEN

Foetal Alcohol Spectrum DisorderEarly Childhood Development Curriculum: A curriculum to introduce FASD to staff working in community settings with young children and their families

This workshop will introduce participants to a new training curriculum that explores some of the complex issues that surround FASD. Designed to be delivered by staff with expert knowledge of FASD the curriculum is based on a community training model that enhances the interactions and education of local practitioners in order to benefit the needs of the community. It provides 15 hours of instruction and includes practical strategies for supporting children with FASD and their families. It includes important sections on ethical issues relating to the social context of FASD, the implications of diagnosis for the child and family and our need for respect and understanding for families living with FASD in a family member.

If desired by participants who attend, there will be opportunities for discussion of FASD training needs in Australia for early childhood intervention staff, and their potential role in educating others (parents and child care providers) at the community level.

Workshop 3:    VIRGINIA BUYSSE & PATRICIA WESLEY

Consultation in early childhood settings

Interventions for young children with disabilities are more effective when the adults involved form collaborative partnerships. Consultation is one method of working with others to identify and address shared concerns. In this session participants will