Seeing delight: recapturing the joy of early childhood education

What if the true measure of early childhood education isn’t a government benchmark, but a feeling?

The essence of childhood may be difficult to quantify, but a group of academics is unlocking the science of delight to focus on what should really be driving the early childhood sector: joy.

Amid the corporate collapses, child abuse scandals and workforces woes, Australian researchers believe that the sense of wonder has never left childcare, it just takes a little effort to find.

So Notre Dame University senior lecturer Olivia Karaolis and her University of Sydney colleague Cathy Little have had a crack, researching the concept of joy in early childhood education since 2023.

The results of their survey of dozens of early childhood educators have informed the team’s latest piece of academic writing, The Aesthetic of Delight: Joy as Transformational Pedagogy in Early Learning.

This is not mere whimsy, the researchers say, but serious research with practical benefits for early childhood workers, operators and even policymakers.

The key to prioritising joy in a childcare centre or kindergarten, Karaolis says, is knowing it when you see it, encouraging it and even documenting it.

“This is not unicorns and rainbows,” she said. “It’s about prioritising relationships and being present with children and recognising the joy that happens when we get that right and have the time.”

One of the key lessons of their work, Karaolis argues, is that when the hard-pressed early childhood workers find joy from their jobs, it helps to address some of the serious problems facing the sector.

“We have a field that is quite demoralised, that works incredibly hard and the focus in the media has been, quite rightly, on the problems within the industry,” the academic told this masthead.

“But I don’t want us to lose sight of what is also good, and the wonderful work that so many educators do and the joy that they gain from one another and from their work with children.”

The key to prioritising joy in a childcare centre or kindergarten, Karaolis says, is knowing it when you see it, encouraging it and even documenting it.

Educators are encouraged to identify moments of joy for the children in their care, take notes and analyse the moment and learn to recapture it, while managers are asked to prioritise the bringing of joy as a workplace goal.

Karaolis is taking her ideas into the field, working in six- or eight-week blocks with daycares, mostly in metro Sydney, to help them “break down barriers to joy,” and teach practical approaches to make the most of the small moments of magic.

She is open to invitations from centres anywhere in Australia, and says the work in the field will help launch the next stage of her project: putting the search for joy at the centre of Australian childcare policy and practice.

“This next stage of the research, will hopefully have some impact on policy, giving educators permission for joy,” Karaolis said.

“We have to re-figure what’s happening in early childhood, and to think about how we have educators who are not totally overwhelmed, that they have more time for joy.”

Ros Baxter, chief executive of national childcare giant Goodstart Early Learning, said the group emphasised the importance of joy at its 660 centres around the country.

“At Goodstart, children are actively involved in shaping their learning environment – including policies – through playful storytelling and imaginative engagement,” Baxter said.

“Educators are encouraged to bring joy into their teaching through playful pedagogy, storytelling, and relational engagement.”

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