I am an early childhood generalist with experience across a range of disciplines and contexts in the early childhood and foundation phase (birth to nine). My area of specialization is early childhood science education and approaches that cultivate children’s identities and competencies as child-scientists. I am an advocate for the implementation of play-based, inquiry-oriented, and transformational pedagogies in early childhood contexts; and child empowering approaches that promote child-citizen’s rights, voice, agency and active participation in early childhood practice and research. I have participated actively in international and local projects focusing on training student- and practicing teachers to implement child-focused inquiry-pedagogy following the French La main à la pâte (hands-in-the-dough) approach in practice. I have authored a number of educational publications on early childhood curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment; and presented papers nationally and internationally at various education conferences. I have supervised and co-supervised several postgraduate students successfully and have been an external examiner for numerous PhD theses. I am a member of the South African Academy for Arts and Sciences (SAASA). Presently, I am in the Department of Curriculum Studies at the University of Stellenbosch, involved in under- and postgraduate teacher education, postgraduate supervision, and general academic, review and examination duties.

Michaela Ashley-Cooper is a Programme Manager head of research at the Centre for Early Childhood Development, an early childhood development NPO based in Cape Town.  She holds a master’s degree in Research in Psychology from the University of Cape Town with a thesis on the neuropsychological effects of childhood trauma.  Michaela has worked in the ECD sector for over 10 years; managing a range of integrative intervention programmes and research programmes. Her research has included conducting quantitative and qualitative research, researching and writing ECD programme evaluations, writing research reports, journal articles, opinion articles and academic papers on ECD in South Africa, as well as analysing data and writing reports for all the Monitoring and Evaluation elements of the various intervention programmes CECD runs.

This has included conducting and publishing a large-scale ECD research study looking at effective ECD programmes in South Africa, for the Department of Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency. More recently Michaela worked as the lead author on a book chapter entitled, “Early Childhood Development in South Africa: Inequality and Opportunity” for a book on education and inequality in South Africa edited by Nic Spaull and Jonathan Jansen, published by Springer Press.

Giulietta Harrison, who is the current Treasurer of SARAECE has come from a background of many years of teaching in early childhood classrooms across a variety of contexts.  She has been a school Principal, an H.O.D and a lecturer in Foundation Phase.  She is presently the Director for Africa A+ Schools and H.O.D. for B.Ed. F.P. at SANTS, Higher Education Institute.  She has a passion for helping teachers to provide positive spaces for learning which she expresses through her work in Emotional Intelligence.  She did her Masters research looking at how to promote this in a Grade R classroom and her PhD on understanding how children learning, using Grade 1 Literacy as her vehicle for analysis.    She has written a variety of training programmes as 'open-source' documents for the NPO sector including parent and teacher programmes.  As the Director of an NPO, she works closely with and conducts research with educators in the poorest communities in South Africa.  She has published extensively in books and journals together with supervising Masters and PhD students when working at Rhodes University.

Naseema Shaik is the Deputy President of the South African Research Association of Early Childhood Education (SARAECE) and is a Senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. She is the Co-ordinator of the Diploma Grade R. Naseema is also the lead co-ordinator of the Transformative Pedagogy Project funded by the Department of Higher Education and the European Union. Naseema is also a member of the Faculty Research Committee and a member of the Research Ethics committee at the Education faculty at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. Naseema’s research interests are located in the critical paradigm therefore her research is aligned with bringing about transformative change in early childhood pedagogy. Thus her research has been located in children’s participatory rights and participatory pedagogies and has been published in both local and international journals. She has presented her research at both local and international conferences.  Naseema has also published chapters in text and scholarly books. Her PhD explored the Nature of Child Participation in Grade R which was achieved in 2014. Naseema has supervised Masters and PhD students.

Prof Nkidi Phatudi is an Associate Professor and the Chair of the Department (COD) in the Department of Early Childhood Education, College of Education at the University of South Africa. She is responsible for the managing of the department by providing leadership and vision so that it remains relevant in pursuance of ECD research and education. She is also responsible for teaching literacy pedagogy of the early years as first and second languages to undergraduate and postgraduate students. She was a leading researcher of the mother tongue learning group in the EU-DHET funded project involving universities around the country. Consequent to this the learning group produced learning materials which are freely available to those who would like to use them. She is the treasurer of SARAECE, and has a Special Interest Group (SIG) in the association for mother tongue learning group. She contributed chapters in scholarly books and amongst them is; 'Restoring Indigenous Languages and the Right to Learn in a Familiar Language: A Case of Black South African Children" in the book Children's Rights and Education: International Perspectives Edited by Beth Blue Swadener et al, as a result of her involvement in the international project UNA. She has written a number of books in African languages, most of which are storybooks, published articles on journals and in national newspapers and supervised postgraduate students to the completion of their studies. She is an editor of a textbook; Introducing English First Additional Language in the Early Years, published by Pearson.

Her research focus includes transitions and specifically that of children moving from home and preschool into Grade 1. The role of language becomes very important as it is a medium of learning - thus lack of proficiency in a language results in negative outcomes.

I am Glynnis Daries and a lecturer at the University of Free State.

My lecturing modules include Mathematics education, early childhood development, inclusive education and Grade R teaching.

My research interest in on  teachers funds of knowledge and practice and professional development the field of Early Childhood Care and Education

Professor Ina Joubert has more than 35 years’ experience in education. She has acted as school principal, lecturer in distance education and head of an academic department at the University of Pretoria. She has recently been appointed as Executive Academic Director of SANTS Private Higher Education Institution. She has published numerous books, book chapters and scholarly articles. She has supervised many MEd and PhD students and she received C3 rating from the National Research Foundation (NRF). She was awarded a special achievement award for the promotion of Afrikaans in Early Childhood Education by the Academy for Science and Art in 2018. Professor Joubert’s work in Literacy and Citizenship education in Early Childhood, has brought several accolades to herself.

Colwyn Martin has been involved in teaching and research in higher education since 2007. At present, she is a Senior Lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand in the Foundation Phase Studies Division. Her ideologies and practices as a teacher educator are framed within the theory of critically reflective teaching. As such, she makes use of responsive and innovative pedagogies to improve teaching and learning within a complex and changing education landscape. This is her attempt to enable students, teachers and teacher educators develop an awareness of how actions in and on action support teaching and learning. Colwyn’s research is situated at the intersection of three main research areas: early literacy curriculum, early literacy pedagogy and early childhood teacher professionalisation. Her research is based on endeavours that attempt to construct understandings of contextual realties; which inform the content for teacher education programmes and teacher professionalisation. At present, Colwyn is involved in three multi-institutional, national research projects: The Transformative Pedagogy for Early Childhood Care and Education, Early Childhood Workforce Study and a Paired Reading Project. She has supervised a number of PhD and Masters students to completion. Colwyn has published a number of research articles in accredited national and international journals. She has also presented papers at both national and international conferences.

Prof. Keshni Bipath is currently an associate professor in the Department of Early Childhood Education (ECE) at the University of Pretoria. She co-ordinates the Project for Inclusive Early Childhood Care and Education (PIECCE) and the ECE Post-Graduate programmes. She has also been a Foundation Phase educator, Head of Department, Assessment specialist and E-Learning specialist at the Gauteng Department of Education for 17 years before she joined UP in 2006. She is passionate about professionalization of the ECD workforce, policy implementation, transformational pedagogy, literacy development of young children and relationship-building amongst parents and teachers in the Early Childhood Care and Education sector. She has published numerous articles and presented papers at international and national conferences on Early Childhood Care and Education, educational improvement and school effectiveness in South Africa.

Prof Keshni Bipath articles: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0588-9905, https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=NyRENPkAAAAJ&hl=en

Hasina Banu Ebrahim holds a PHD on Constructions of Early Childhood  Education for and by Children. She is an NRF rated Professor in the Department of Early Childhood Education at the University of South Africa. She is also the UNESCO Co-chair in Early Education, Care and Development.  Professor Ebrahim won the 2017 UNISA Women in Research Award and she was the first runner up in the South African Women in Science Award in 2018. Her research coheres around the theme Early Childhood at the Margins with special reference to policy, practice and workforce development. She has numerous publications in national and international journals.  She is the sector editor for the South African Journal of Childhood Education and serves on editorial boards of a number of international journals. She is the Chair of Mentorship in the College of Education at UNISA. She has secured grants and mentored majority women researchers nationally and on the continent. Outputs of her mentees, appear in three co-edited volumes related to the early years. 

I am based in Fochville Gauteng and work at NWU Potchefstroom as the Unit for Open Distance Learning (UODL) Academic Manager: Faculty of Education. I played a main part in developing the Grade R programme, having insight in curriculum development processes and extensive knowledge of theoretical framing of teaching and learning. I was the Programme Leader for the Diploma in Grade R Teaching and the Programme Leader for ECCE, mainly responsible for the design, delivery and presentation of the degree and diploma in ECCE within the teacher education programmes delivered via distance learning. My research interests include Early Childhood Education as well as Educational Management. I am currently busy with her PhD Educational Management (UNISA). Theme: Management training for Foundation Phase Teachers that strive towards Principal positions: Case study in the North West Provinc

Biography of Leetoane Eunice Sibeko

Leetoane Eunice Sibeko was born on 7 September 1959 in Bethlehem.  She completed her Primary Teacher Certificate (PTC) in 1976 at Tshiya Teachers College, and taught at several schools: Thabo Farm School, Neo Primary School, Evungwini High School.  She completed BA (Hons) in 1986 at University of the North (Qwa Qwa branch).  In 2010, she joined University of the Free State: Faculty of Education: Discipline: Preschool and Foundation Phase.  She presents among other modules: Sesotho Literacy.  She completed MA ( African Languages: Sesotho) in 2015. She has presented papers at the SARAECE International Conference in September 2013 at Rhodes University, and at UFS colloquium.

Presently she has enrolled for her PhD, and the main focus is school readiness.  She has been the chairperson of the Free State Provincial Language Committee (FSPLC), representing Sesotho from 2003- 2012.

Tozama Mthembu is a lecturer in the Primary Education Department within the School of Education at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT). She is lecturing Literacy to Foundation Phase students. She is currently busy with her studies towards a D.Ed.  She has co-authored an article on Assessment Literacy of Foundation Phase Teachers: An Exploratory Study (with Prof Kanjee).

Dr Shonisani Agnes Mulovhedzi has been in Higher Education since 2003 started working as a part lecturer and in 2014 appointed permanently as a lecturer in the School of Education under Department of Early Childhood Education at University of Venda. She worked as a pre-school teacher for 7 years and two years in Primary school, teaching Grade R- 3.
Her roles are lecturing; supervising students; assess students during teaching practice; community engagement, secretary of the department and coordinate Univen model pre-school. She has written articles on accredited journals on issue of teaching language, leadership and Life Skills in the Foundation Phase. Her specialization is in Life Skills Learning Programme in the Foundation Phase. Dr Mulovhedzi is a member of The South African Research Association for Early Childhood Education (SARAECE). In 2015 she won the Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching and Learning awards in the category of Lecturer. She has supervised a number of BED Honours and Masters students to completion

Professor Ndileleni Paulinah Mudzielwana is an Associate Professor and the HOD in the Department of Early Childhood Education in the School of Education at the University of Venda. She has been in higher education since 1998. Prior to this, she was a primary school teacher, lecturer at Tshisimani and Makhado College of education. She is now HOD of the Department of Early Childhood Education in the School of Education. She serves as a member of University Senate, member of university Senate Teaching and Learning, member of the editorial board of Journal of Educational Studies (JES) in the school of Education. She has supervised a number of BED Honours, Masters and PhD students to completion.

Her role and responsibilities, amongst others, are to provide academic leadership to the department, promote scholarship amongst staff, and develop an operational plan for the department based on the school and university policies. As the HoD, she holds departmental meetings with members about various issues amongst others, teaching, learning and assessment, article writing, internationalization, teaching practice and community engagement.
Professor Ndileleni P. Mudzielwana is a member of The South African Research Association for Early Childhood Education (SARAECE) and specialises in: Early literacy, teaching reading in the Foundation phase and assessment practices in Higher Education institutions. She has published many articles in accredited journals. She has also co-authored and authored various books. In 2012 Prof Mudzielwana won the Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching and Learning awards in the category of Lecturer and in 2014 in the category of Senior lecturer.

Jabulile Mzimela is an Early Childhood Education specialist. She is a teacher educator at the University Of KwaZulu-Natal, School of Education under the Discipline of Early Childhood Education.  She holds a PhD degree in Teacher Development Studies. Her research interests are on Home Language and First Additional Language teaching. Lately, she has developed a further interest on Early Childhood Care and Education. 

Area of expertise: Early Childhood Education. I specialise in Literacy teaching both Mother Tongue and First Additional Language

Dr DM Hannaway is a senior lecturer and currently the PQM Manager in the College of Education at the University of South Africa. She grounded herself in early childhood from undergraduate studies and is currently a teacher educator and manages programme development and accreditation. Dr Hannaway is an emerging researcher and has published journal articles and book chapters in her research interest which is technology-based teaching and learning and teacher education in the early years. She is also engaged in inter- institutional research and programme development for inclusive early childhood care and education.

Email: hannad@unisa.ac.za

Matshediso is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Early Childhood Education, at the University of South Africa (UNISA). Her current work includes lecturing and supervision of postgraduate students. As an emerging researcher whose interest focuses on Early Childhood Leadership, Management, Curriculum and is passionate about establishing international writing collaborations around ECE leadership; she has published chapters and collaboratively written a chapter with academics from Finland, Germany, Japan, Singapore and United States. She is a coordinator of International Leadership Research Forum in Early Childhood Education (ILRF-EC) at UNISA. She is also involved in inter-institutional research projects (Project for Early Childhood Policy Analysis and Programme Development for Inclusive Early Childhood Care and Education). Her experience as Primary School Teacher, ECE Teacher, Deputy Principal, and Senior Education Specialist for ECE in the Department of Education spans over 30 years in the education sector. She has successfully organised an International Leadership

Research Forum in Early Childhood hosted by UNISA Department of EC with the support of Colleagues and projects contributions from the departmental projects including SARAECE.

Professor Elizabeth (Elbie) Henning is a professor of Educational Linguistics and the founding director of the Centre for Education Practice Research on the Soweto campus of the University of Johannesburg in 2007. She is a SARChI Chair at the University of Johannesburg. She was awarded a Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship by the National Academy of Education in the USA for her research on teacher development in informal settlement communities in the 1990s, with the mentorship of Prof Shirley-Brice-Heath (Stanford). She was selected as an American Educational Research Association (AERA) Fellow in 2010 and is a C1-rated researcher in the National Research Foundation (NRF) system of researcher evaluation in South Africa. Elizabeth leads studies about children’s mathematical cognition and early literacy with a recently added focus on the reading of STEM texts in the middle grades of the primary school. These studies include pre-service teacher education.  With Dr Kathleen Fonseca and two postdoctoral research fellows, she initiated neuroimaging  with  functional near-infrared spectroscopu (fNIRS) in the Cognition Lab at her university. She is the editor of the South African Journal of Childhood Education and the founding editor of Education as Change. She was awarded a South Africa Research Chair by the National Research Foundation and the Department of Science and Technology in 2015. She was a founding member of SARAECE and the research that preceded it. https://mg.co.za/article/2011-05-27-teacher-rescue-plan-takes-off/