Melanie Elderton

Proposed Title

Australian Early Childhood Educational Leaders’ Conceptualisations and Leadership of Sustainability Practices for Environmental, Social, and Economic Justice

Supervisors

Principal Supervisor: Associate Professor Leanne Gibbs
Co-Supervisor: Dr Lysa Dealtry

Research

Australian early childhood education (ECE) is well-positioned to foster holistic pedagogical approaches to sustainability at a time of ongoing climate, social and economic crisis for planet Earth and its inhabitants. The  Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) includes sustainability as a guiding principle, aiming to ensure that ECE educators embed sustainability across all aspects of the curriculum and heighten children’s awareness of sustainable actions and practices for the future of the planet. However, the literature indicates that sustainability, in its complexity, is not readily understood by ECE educators and that professional development has been unsuccessful in promoting a culture of sustainability-informed curriculum and practice in ECE settings. This lack of success   has created challenges for educational leaders (ELs) who are held accountable for curriculum quality and the implementation of the EYLF principles and practices. This proposed study, therefore, investigates how ELs in Australian ECE settings conceptualise sustainability and lead sustainability principles and practices that advance environmental, social, and economic justice. The qualitative study, grounded in an interpretivist paradigm, will use critical feminism alongside the theory of practice architectures to examine the cultural-discursive, material-economic, and social-political conditions of ECE organisations that enable, constrain and shape ELs’ leadership conceptualisations and practices for sustainability in ECE settings.

Why I chose Charles Sturt

Over my years working in early childhood education, I was privileged to have encounters with many researchers and academics. I was always intrigued by their work and they inspired me to pursue my foray into academia. I met my supervisor Leanne when she was doing her doctoral studies and we stayed in touch. It was Leanne’s encouragement that made me believe I could do this, and led me to CSU.

Engagement and Memberships

• Theory of Practice Architectures reading group
• PEP CSU
• NSW Early Years Nature Connections
• Reggio Emilia Australia
• Early Childhood Australia
• Children's Voices

Publications

• Because sustainability is the right thing to do: Educational leaders’ perceptions of sustainability.ECEC Leadership in Early Childhood Symposium 2025
• “Because sustainability is the right thing to do”: A study of educational leaders’ perceptions of sustainability in Australian early childhood education settings. Submitted article Australiasian Journal of Early Childhood
• Children strike for climate action. Every Child 28(2), 8-11