On the 14th of September, the Early Childhood Alumni group celebrated the 20th anniversary of and the annual Jean Ferguson Memorial Lecture – a Professional Development lecture recognising Miss Jean Ferguson OAM. During a distinguished career spanning six decades, Miss Jean Ferguson dedicated herself to the advancement of early childhood research and training.
Early childhood experts Jane Bourne – Chief Executive Officer of C&K; Prof Susan Irvine – QUT, Head of School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education; Dr Sandra Cheeseman – Chief Operating Officer at C&K and Dr Melinda Miller – Director of Early Learning at First Five Early Learning joined together in a collaborative panel discussion to reflect on the last twenty years in Early Childhood education and care.
As part of the lecture, a scholarship was awarded to assist current postgraduate students and practitioners deliver innovative projects that contribute to the education, care, and wellbeing of children up to eight years old.
We are excited to announce centre member Teena Piccini was awarded the Jean Ferguson Memorial Scholarship for 2021. Teena is one of the inaugural members of the Centre for Child and Family Studies and an Early Childhood Education professional with over 15 years of experience in the sector. Teena’s interests include sustainability and social justice education in the early years, and deepening children’s connections to place. Teena’s PhD project Mattering Childhood: Retheorising Early Childhood Education for sustainability through child-rubbish encounters extends on existing materialist and feminist research that explores children’s relations with their material worlds by focusing on children’s relations with rubbish. Teena said she is incredibly grateful to be named the recipient of the Jean Ferguson Memorial Scholarship for 2021. Teena commented that the scholarship will enhance the impact of her study by allowing her to design professional development seminars for Early Childhood Education and Care teachers and educators. Congratulations Teena.