Call for abstracts 

The call for abstracts is now Open

We invite researchers, educators, students, advocates and policymakers to submit abstracts for presentation at the National Early Childhood Conference (NECC) 2027, a dynamic forum for sharing insights and advancing the field of early childhood education and care (ECEC). Join us in shaping the future of early childhood through research, dialogue, innovation, and collaboration. We welcome submissions that challenge, inspire and extend thinking about how ECEC can place children's experiences, voices, rights and wellbeing at the centre of research, policy, and practice.

 

Conference Theme

 

Centering Children: Considering Children's Experiences in ECEC

 

Children's experiences are at the heart of ECEC. This conference provides an opportunity to explore how children's perspectives, rights, relationships, learning, wellbeing and participation can be meaningfully understood and supported within contemporary ECEC policy and practice.

 

Conference Strands

 

Rights: Children's Rights Perspectives

Children's rights provide both an ethical and legal foundation for ECEC, requiring educators and policymakers to recognise children as active rights-holders whose voices, choices and participation matter.

 

Research: Researching Children's Experiences

Understanding children's experiences is essential to creating responsive and meaningful learning environments, making it essential that research approaches authentically capture and value children's perspectives, understandings and lived realities.

 

Theoretical Perspectives: Reconsidering and Reconceptualising the Image of the Child

How we see children fundamentally shapes how we support learning and development, how we interact, and the decisions we made as advocates. It is necessary to critically examine dominant assumptions about childhood and explore alternative ways of understanding children as competent, capable and agentic.

 

Curriculum and Policy: The Positioning of the Child in Curriculum and Other Policy Documents

Curriculum and policy frameworks deliver powerful messages about children's roles in learning environments and wider society. The positioning of children in such spaces has implications for pedagogy, inclusion and participation. 

 

Pedagogical Practices: Giving Children Time

In an increasingly fast-paced world, protecting children's time for play, exploration, reflection and relationship-building is vital to supporting wellbeing, deep learning, creativity and belonging.

 

Pedagogical Practices: Children's Connection with Nature

Children's relationships with the natural world are increasingly important for their wellbeing, development, environmental awareness and sense of stewardship, making nature-based pedagogy an increasingly important area for contemporary ECEC practice and research.

 

Submission Categories

 

Submissions are invited in the following categories:

  1. Paper Presentation 

  2. Poster Presentation

  3. Workshop

  4. Practice Meet

 

Paper and Poster Presentations

 

Abstracts should be 200-300 words and clearly outline:

  • Purpose
  • Methodology
  • Key findings (or expected findings)
  • Implications for policy, practice, or future research

 

Workshops

 

Workshop abstracts should be 200-300 words and describe:

  • Workshop aims and format
  • Participant engagement activities
  • Intended learning outcomes
  • Any space or resource requirements

Workshops should be 40 minutes in duration and actively engage participants through discussion, reflection, and hands-on learning experiences.

 

Practice Meet

 

The Practice Meet provides educators with an opportunity to share innovative practice through a nano-presentation comprising one PowerPoint slide presented in three minutes.

Presenters may showcase a practical activity, a successful initiative, a pedagogical insight, or a creative approach used within their setting. This informal "show and tell" session is designed to foster professional learning and the sharing of ideas across the ECEC sector.

Practice Meet abstracts should be 50-100 words and briefly describe:

  • The focus of the nano-presentation
  • The key idea, activity, or innovation being shared
  • Its relevance to early childhood education and care 

 

Important Dates:

 

Registration opens on: TBC

Abstract Submission Deadline: 16th December 2026

Notification of Acceptance: 27th January 2027

Conference Date: 16th April 2027

Submit your abstract at: [email protected]