Planning CVC2026

Today our CVC team held the first planning meeting for our next conference: CVC2026.

We have held ECV2020, ECV2022, and ECV2024 in the past. Now, with the launch of the Children's Voices Centre we have transitioned beyond working only with early childhood, to all of childhood - so our name has had to transition too. We are moving from the Early Childhood Voices conferences (ECV2024) to the Children's Voices Conference (CVC2026). Here are our decisions from today:

• Name: Children's Voices Conference (CVC2026)
• Dates: 1, 2, 3 September 2026
• Venue: hybrid (online and Bathurst campus of Charles Sturt University)
• Cost: Free
• Conference chairs: A/Prof Kathy Cologon, D/Prof Sharynne McLeod, A/Prof Tamara Cumming
• Conference secretary: Dr Carolyn Gregoric
• Conference organiser: Lorraine Bennett
• Scientific review committee chair: Dr Helen L. Blake

Sharynne, Tamara, Camilla, Carolyn, Lorraine, Kathy, Helen planning CVC2026

Editing a new book

Our editorial team met again today to discuss the publishers' response to our submission. We have a good plan.

Children Draw Playing - Meeting 1

Eighteen colleagues from across CSU have expressed interest to join our new research project to analyse the drawings created by children in our ECV2024 Children Draw Playing Global Online Galleries. https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/children-draw-playing/

We had a very productive interdisciplinary meeting today lead by Dr Carolyn Gregoric with perspectives shared from education, occupational therapy, education, speech pathology, physiotherapy and nursing. This is going to be a fun and informative project.

 

ECV2024 certificates

The ECV2024 certificates are going out to presenters at the moment. Here is the accompanying email:

Dear Sharynne,

Thank you for presenting at the Early Childhood Voices Conference (ECV2024). This virtual and asynchronous event brought together 1,338 researchers and professionals from 54 countries.

Over four days, ECV2024 showcased the work of the four keynote presentations, 147 oral presentations, and 200+ children’s drawings across three streams - early childhood voices: international interdisciplinary research, multilingual children's speech development and children draw playing global online gallery. Participants also engaged in six yarning circle discussions and a workshop on understanding different communications methods presented by Shirley Wong, who has lived experience of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices.

The conference website can be viewed here https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/

Previous conferences are also available online
· ECV2020 https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2020/
· ECV2022 https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2022/

Thank you for your contribution to ECV2024
See you in 2026.

Dr Kelly Tribolet and Dr Belinda Downey
Early Childhood Voices 2024 Professional Recognition Committee
Charles Sturt University Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Research Group
 
Distinguished Professor Sharynne McLeod and Dr Belinda Downey
Charles Sturt University Early Childhood Voices 2024 Conference Chairs
 
Dr Carolyn Gregoric
Charles Sturt University Early Childhood Voices 2024 Conference Secretary

Thank you to the Assumption Catholic Primary School Band for contributions to ECV2024

Here is an email I sent today to the Assumption Catholic Primary School Band

Dear students and teachers

We are writing to officially thank you for your outstanding contribution to the Early Childhood Voices 2024 (ECV2024) Conference Launch on Monday 25th November 2024 at Charles Sturt University.

We were thrilled to have such high-quality music and were impressed with your maturity and professionalism as band members. We were also very grateful that you were our ECV2024 press gallery. Your insights have been enjoyed by people across the world

• Here is the ECV2024 conference website: https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/
• Here is the YouTube link to the Assumption Catholic Primary School Band’s press gallery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoBtflnofQ8
• Here is the YouTube link to the ECV2024 Conference launch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsjxDyMUbWY&t=3s

Over the week of the conference 1338 people registered from 54 countries:
Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong (SAR China), Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Jordan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Malaysia, Malta, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, USA, Zambia.

Many more people continue to access the free online content: 4 keynote presentations, 147 oral presentations, and 200+ children’s drawings.

In fact, you may enjoy viewing the Children Draw Playing Global Online Gallery: https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/children-draw-playing/

It would be wonderful if you, or some other students from Assumption Catholic Primary School may be interested in collaborating with us during 2025. This week, we launched the Children’s Voices Centre https://www.csu.edu.au/research/childrens-voices-centre/home.
Here is the media release: https://news.csu.edu.au/latest-news/new-research-centre-champions-childrens-communication-rights
The Children’s Voices Centre has signed an agreement with the World Health Organization undertake research to listen to children’s perspectives about health.

Thank you again and best wishes for Christmas and the holidays.

Sharynne

Distinguished Professor Sharynne McLeod
Charles Sturt University

Celebrating graduations of my research students

Congratulations to my research students who have graduated during 2024. 

• Dr Marie Ireland
• Dr Kate Margetson
• Dr Belinda Downey
• Sarah Bartlett

Due to CSU changing the graduation ceremony dates - they clashed with my previously organised international travel - so I was unable to attend their graduations ceremonies. So, over the past few weeks, I was able to borrow academic gowns and celebrate in person.

Congratulations!

Dr. Marie Ireland (celebrating at ASHA 2024)

 

Sarah Bartlett - Graduate Certificate in Research

Celebrating at The Treehouse during ECV2024

Dr Kate Margetson

Dr Belinda Downey

Early Childhood Voices Conference 2024 (ECV2024) SUMMARY

The Early Childhood Voices Conference 2024 (ECV2024) was held from 25-28 November 2024. Organised by the Charles Sturt University Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Research Group (ECIR), this virtual and asynchronous event brought together 1,338 researchers and professionals from 54 countries:

Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong (SAR China), Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Jordan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Malaysia, Malta, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, USA, Zambia

LAUNCH: On Monday 25th November, the conference was officially launched by Professor Renée Leon, Vice-Chancellor and President, at a live-streamed event on the Bathurst campus. Professor Tony Dreise presented a keynote address entitled Giving voice to ‘villages’, listening to ‘Country’: It’s time to unlock the power of ‘place’. The audience enjoyed the music played by the Assumption Catholic Primary School Band. Students from the band also formed a press gallery to report on the launch (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoBtflnofQ8). Afterwards, guests on campus visited the Treehouse for popcorn and refreshments.

WEBSITE: The conference website can be viewed here https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/ 

KEYNOTES: Over four days, ECV2024 showcased the work of the four keynote presentations, 

STREAMS: 147 oral presentations, and 200+ children’s drawings across three streams:

• Early childhood voices: international interdisciplinary research: https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/by-topics/
  
• Multilingual children's speech development: https://multilingual-childrens-speech-development.csu.domains/by-language/
  
• Children draw playing global online gallery: https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/children-draw-playing/
  

SYNCHRONOUS PARTICIPATION: Participants also engaged in six yarning circle discussions and a workshop on understanding different communications methods presented by Shirley Wong, who has lived experience of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices.

Here is the summary Dr Carolyn Gregoric wrote for the School of Education newsletter:

Early Childhood Voices Conference 2024

The Early Childhood Voices Conference 2024 (ECV2024), held from November 25 to 28, has just concluded, leaving a lasting impact on all participants. Organised by the Charles Sturt University Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Research Group (ECIR), this virtual and asynchronous event brought together 1,338 researchers and professionals from 54 countries.

On Monday 25th November, the conference was officially launched by Professor Renée Leon, Vice-Chancellor and President, at a livestreamed event on the Bathurst campus. Professor Tony Dreise presented a keynote address entitled Giving voice to ‘villages’, listening to ‘Country’: It’s time to unlock the power of ‘place’. The audience enjoyed the music played by the Assumption Catholic Primary School Band. Students from the band also formed a press gallery to report on the launch. Afterwards, guests on campus visited the Treehouse for popcorn and refreshments.

Over four days, ECV2024 showcased the work of the four keynote presentations, 147 oral presentations, and 200+ children’s drawings across three streams - early childhood voices: international interdisciplinary research, multilingual children's speech development and children draw playing global online gallery. 

Participants also engaged in six yarning circle discussions and a workshop on understanding different communications methods presented by Shirley Wong, who has lived experience of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices.

The conference website can be viewed here https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/

 

Final email to Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Research Sturt Scheme members

Here is the email that I just sent to the members of the Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Research Sturt Scheme this evening

Early Childhood Voices 2024 (ECV2024)
Thank you for all you have done to ensure that the Early Childhood Voices 2024 conference was a success this week
https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/
At 6pm on Thursday 1333 people from 54 countries had registered to attend our amazing 4 keynotes, 147 oral presentations and children's voices presentations across three streams, yarning circles, and a workshop

• STREAM 1: Early childhood voices: International interdisciplinary research - https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/by-topics/
• STREAM 2: Multilingual children's speech development - https://multilingual-childrens-speech-development.csu.domains/
• STREAM 3: Children draw playing global online galleries - https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/children-draw-playing/

As you know, you can continue to access the conference any time as the website will remain online.
Conference proceedings: https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/ECV2024-BOOK-FINAL.pdf

Make sure you look at the Children’s Press Gallery video summarizing their reporting of the launch (found underneath the Acknowledgment of Country video - https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/)

A HUGE thank you to Dr Carolyn Gregoric, our conference secretary and Dr Belinda Downey, our conference co-chair,  and to all of you for your roles (large and small) to ensure ECV2024 was a success. As our keynote speaker said – it takes a village to raise a village.

Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Research Sturt Scheme
We have come to the end of the Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Research Sturt Scheme (ECIR). We have achieved so much together. Our final report is attached. Please feel proud of all you have achieved together.

Exciting news: Children’s Voices Centre (CVC)

Yesterday, Vice Chancellor Professor Renée Leon approved the establishment of the Children’s Voices Centre for three years (2025-2027). HOORAY!!! We have just (soft) launched the Children’s Voices Centre website so you can find out more  https://www.csu.edu.au/research/childrens-voices-centre. We will provide more details in February 2025.

We are excited about what the future holds for our team and look forward to future collaborations to make a difference in children’s lives across the world. Thank you and best wishes for the holiday season.

Approval for the establishment of the Children's Voices Centre and collaboration with WHO

I have just received formal approval for the establishment of the Children's Voices Centre at Charles Sturt University (2025-2027). What an amazing moment in my life - and opportunity to make a difference in the lives of children across the world!

https://www.csu.edu.au/research/childrens-voices-centre/home

We also signed off on the Terms of Reference to collaborate with the World Health Organization on a 2-year project.

ECV2024 - registrations

At 6pm on Thursday 28th November ECV2024 had 1333 registrations from 54 countries/regions: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong (SAR China), Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Jordan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Malaysia, Malta, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, USA, Zambia

• Australia    856
• Hong Kong (SAR China)    64
• United Kingdom    54
• United Kingdom (England)    1
• United Kingdom (Scotland)    1
• United Kingdom (Wales)    1
• USA    50
• United States Minor Outlying Islands    4
• South Africa    49
• Ghana    45
• Canada    28
• Nigeria    17
• Ireland    15
• Singapore    12
• Iran    9
• Bangladesh    8
• Brazil    8
• Nepal    8
• China    6
• Fiji    6
• Pakistan    6
• Philippines    6
• Portugal    6
• Israel    5
• Netherlands    5
• New Zealand    5
• Kosovo    4
• Malaysia    4
• India    4
• Spain    3
• Denmark    3
• Indonesia    3
• Germany    3
• Namibia    3
• Burundi    2
• Ethiopia    2
• Hungary    2
• Iceland    2
• Kuwait    2
• Poland    2
• Uganda    2
• Afghanistan    1
• Benin    1
• Bulgaria    1
• Colombia    1
• Finland    1
• France    1
• Greece    1
• Jordan    1
• Malta    1
• Morocco    1
• Norway    1
• Qatar    1
• Saudi Arabia    1
• Slovenia    1
• Sweden    1
• United Arab Emirates    1
• Zambia    1

Map created by Simon McDonald, Spatial Analysis Network, Charles Sturt University
Sources: Esri, TomTom, Garmin, FAO, NOAA, USGS, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community, Esri, USGS

ECV2024 presentations by our team

Here are the presentations from our team at ECV2024 this week

1. Children draw talking: Interdisciplinary insights into drawings from 200 children from 24 countries - Sharynne McLeod, Carolyn Gregoric, Jessamy Davies, Lysa Dealtry, Laura Delli-Pizzi, Belinda Downey, Sheena Elwick, Suzanne C. Hopf, Nicola Ivory, Holly McAlister, Elizabeth Murray, Azizur Rahman, Shukla Sikder, Van H. Tran, Cherie Zischke
2. Building The Treehouse: A physical and virtual children’s research environment co-designed with children, colleagues, community - Sharynne McLeod
3. Indigenous children’s speech, language and communication: Identifying and co-creating resources and services - Sharynne McLeod, Emily-Jane Woodhead, Sarah Bartlett, Ebony Hay, Carolyn Gregoric
4. Using an implementation science framework to co-design and test the Speech Assessment of Children’s Home Language(s) (SACHL) - Kate Margetson and. Sharynne McLeod
5. Voices and visions: Engaging children with childhood apraxia of speech in intervention research- Marie Ireland, Anna Cronin, Jane McCormack, Sharynne McLeod, Cen Wang, Caroline Tiong
6. Adaptation of the Early Childhood Voices Drawing Protocol for collecting children’s experiences of play - Carolyn Gregoric, Shukla Sikder, Suzanne C. Hopf, and Sharynne McLeod
7. “Absolutely cuddled out” – Building personal resources to build retention - Belinda Downey, Will Letts, Leanne Gibbs, and Sharynne McLeod
8. Caregiver implemented intervention for early communication development: A review of evidence for Hanen® programs - Sarah Bartlett and Sharynne McLeod
9. Children on Australian university campuses: A rapid review of internal policies, guidelines, and procedures - Carolyn Gregoric, Sharynne McLeod, Suzanne C. Hopf, and Claudio Dionigi
10. Multilingual children’s speech development - Sharynne McLeod and Helen L. Blake
11. Children’s speech development: English (Australian) - Sharynne McLeod and Helen L. Blake
12. Children’s speech development: English (Fiji) - Holly McAlister, Suzanne C. Hopf, Paul A. Geraghty, Sharynne McLeod
13. Children’s speech development: English + Vietnamese - Kate Margetson, Sharynne McLeod, Van H. Tran, Sarah Verdon, Ben Phạm 
14. Children's speech development: Cantonese - Carol Kit Sum To, Pamela Cheung, Sharynne McLeod
    
15. Children’s speech development: Vietnamese - Ben Phạm, Kate Margetson, Sharynne McLeod, Van H. Tran, Sarah Verdon - https://multilingual-childrens-speech-development.csu.domains/ecv2024-570/

ECV2024 launch

Today the Early Childhood Voices 2024 Conference (ECV2024) was launched.

https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/

What a joyful and celebratory occasion. Thank you to EVERYONE who played a role to make it happen. Our keynote speaker, Prof Tony Dreise discussed how it not only takes a village to raise a child - we also have to raise the village. Our ECV2024 launch was living proof of the village raising the village.

Thank you to the students from Assumption Catholic Primary School who provided the music - and also were the press gallery documenting the occasion.

Thank you to Vice Chancellor Renee Leon for launching the event and Professor Tony Dreise for providing the keynote address.

Thank you to Dr Belinda Downey, conference co-chair and Dr Carolyn Gregoric, conference secretary.

ECV2024 launch

ECV2024 launch

Assumption Catholic School Band

Vice Chancellor Renée Leon - Launching ECV2024

 

Prof Tony Dreise - Keynote speaker

Press Gallery - Assumption Primary School

Dr Belinda Downey - Conference co-chair

Dr Carolyn Gregoric - Conference Secretary

Dr Tamara Cumming - Keynote Speaker

Deputy Vice Chancellor-Research Mark Evans with Sharynne

Kevin Ng in the TV studio - livestreaming the event

Prof Sharynne McLeod describing the global reach of the Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Research Group

ECV2024 social media

 Here are the social media links for ECV2024

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/240093224084969
 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kate-margetson-43a584212_early-childhood-voices-online-conference-activity-7266691767008137216-iot0?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
 
X: https://x.com/CSU_ECRG/status/1860913287988494795
 
https://x.com/CSU_ECRG/status/1860915328664191072

ECV2024: Events and opportunities

ECV2024 starts tomorrow.
We are so pleased to welcome you - 1290 people from 55 countries.
 
How to join
To view presentations and the online children’s drawing gallery, from 9am Monday 25th November (AEDT*)

Click here: https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/

CVENT version: https://cvent.csu.edu.au/hub/events/0d591439-4c54-4f18-8620-1f37f00582f4

To join live sessions click the button below. You will need to modify your registration to include access to the live launch and the six yarning circles.

Register for live events: https://cvent.csu.edu.au/event/0d591439-4c54-4f18-8620-1f37f00582f4/register

 
To participate in ECV2024
View conference presentations by clicking on the following link https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/

ECV2024 showcases 4 keynotes, 147 oral presentations and children's voices across three streams.
•    STREAM 1: Early childhood voices: International interdisciplinary research
•    STREAM 2: Multilingual children's speech development
•    STREAM 3: Children draw playing global online galleries

Watch the conference launch
Online (livestream), in person, or on demand

Livestream from 10.30am Monday 25th November (AEDT*). This will include a live keynote address by Professor Tony Dreise - Giving voice to ‘villages’, listening to ‘Country’: It’s time to unlock the power of ‘place’
AEDT* (Sydney time zone = 11 hours AHEAD of London = 18 hours AHEAD of Los Angeles – your time zone may be the day earlier than indicated)

View keynote presentations

• Dr Elizabeth Shuey - Developing and retaining a workforce for high-quality early childhood education and care
• Professor Jenny L. Gibson - Neurodiversity-affirming approaches to play: Perspectives from research with autistic children and adults
• Professor Tony Dreise - Giving voice to ‘villages’, listening to ‘Country’: It’s time to unlock the power of ‘place’ (available after launch event)
• Dr Tamara Cumming - Embracing systems thinking to open conditions of possibility for the early childhood education workforce

Immerse yourself in children’s perspectives
Children from around the world have shared their perspectives on play through our Children Draw Playing Global Online  Galleries. What are they saying to you about play? View the gallery here

Ask a child to draw. Submissions to the drawing gallery are open to 30 November. Further details https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/go/ECV24-ChildrenDrawCreate

Join a yarning circle
Register now on Cvent to join the live yarning circle discussions with other conference participants:

• Communications and multilingual speech yarning circle - Monday 25th November, 7pm (AEDT*)
• Family’s voices yarning circle - Tuesday 26th November, 9am (AEDT*)
• Interdisciplinary approaches to children’s rights and sustainable development outcomes yarning circle - Tuesday 26th November, 5pm (AEDT*)
• Professionals’ voices yarning circle - Wednesday 27th November, 9am (AEDT*)
• Children’s voices - Listening to children in research yarning circle - Wednesday 27th November, 5pm (AEDT*)
• Children's play, drawing and learning yarning circle - Thursday 28th November, 9am (AEDT*)

Note: These sessions will not be recorded.
AEDT* (Sydney time zone = 11 hours AHEAD of London = 18 hours AHEAD of Los Angeles – your time zone may be the day earlier than indicated)
 

Attend the workshop
Register via Cvent to join.

Understanding different communication methods – Wednesday 27th November, 12pm (AEDT*)
AEDT* (Sydney time zone = 11 hours AHEAD of London = 18 hours AHEAD of Los Angeles – your time zone may be the day earlier than indicated)
 

Ideas for how to select which presentations to view:

• Listen to at least some of the keynote speakers, they are highly respected researchers and speakers – you will benefit from listening to any (and all) of them.
• Choose a presentation according to a topic, keyword or SDG (Sustainable Development Goal).
• Registered participants can join to live sessions (Yarning Discussions) between 25–28 November.
• Think about an issue you want to learn more about. Is there a presentation that might inform your understanding of or approach to that issue?
• Think about how presentations could help inform your practice, your approach to documentation, supporting children’s communication, or your service policies.
• Look for names you recognise and you want to hear more about what they are working on now.
• Look for research from a particular area or a particular country.
• Think about what you could learn by watching a presentation from outside your immediate area – whether you come education, nursing, speech pathology, physiotherapy, psychology, libraries, or another area – you will find the others’ perspectives fascinating and useful to your practice.
• Choose something you know nothing about but that seems interesting – you never know what you might learn and what new possibilities it opens!

Reflect
Ideas to prompt group discussion and personal reflection on the presentations:

• What new ideas did the presentation raise for you – about practice, theory or other approaches?
• How might you alter your practice based on what you have learned?
• What’s your one ‘gold nugget’ from this presentation? What difference could this make to you?
• What surprised you?
• What didn’t you understand? How could you find out more?
• What did you learn about that could inform interprofessional work – especially between educators and other professionals?
• What would you like to know more about? How could you follow up on that? Have a look at the websites of the presenters and any links that they provided.
• What ideas or approaches could be applied to your work as a team?
• What short-term goal/s could you develop arising from your learning from the presentation and conference as a whole?
• Watch bilingual presentations in both languages. Did you gain other perspectives from watching both?

Share
Share you experiences and learnings from ECV2024 with peers, colleagues, students and others in your network in person, online or connect on social media.
 

Certificates of participation will be available after the conference.
 

See you there.
It is going to be a great week.
 

ECV2024 Conference team

ECV2024 statistics update

ECV2024 statistics

• Registrations = 1290
• Countries/Regions = 55

Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong (SAR China), Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Jordan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Malaysia, Malta, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, USA, VietNam, Zambia

• CVENT: https://www.csu.edu.au/ecv2024
• ECV2024 website: https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/
• Multilingual Children's Speech YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRXcSAl_dA7arRMrE0qdxLuzGChY1LgY2

ECV2024 synchronous events - Launch, Yarning Circles and Workshop

The Early Childhood Voices 2024 Conference is designed to be an asynchronous conference so that anyone can attend regardless of the timezone they live in, and whether they have time during the day, or in the evening.

There are three events that  for conference participants to connect symchronously.

Launch

Conference launch including keynote speaker, Professor Tony Dreise
25/11/24, 10:30 am - 25/11/24, 12:00 pm

Six yarning circles

1. Communication and multilingual speech yarning circle - 25/11/24, 7:00 pm - 25/11/24, 8:00 pm
2. Families’ voices yarning circle - 26/11/24, 9:00 am - 26/11/24, 10:00 am
3. Interdisciplinary approaches to children’s rights and sustainable development outcomes yarning circle - 26/11/24, 5:00 pm - 26/11/24, 6:00 pm
4. Professionals’ voices yarning circle - 27/11/24, 9:00 am - 27/11/24, 10:00 am
5. Children’s voices - Listening to children in research yarning circle - 27/11/24, 5:00 pm - 27/11/24, 6:00 pm
6. Children's play, drawing and learning yarning circle - 28/11/24, 9:00 am - 28/11/24, 10:00 am 

Workshop

Understanding different communication methods - 27/11/24, 12:00 pm - 27/11/24, 1:00 pm

Thanks to Lysa Dealtry and the Yarning Circles Committee for organising this opportunity.

Multilingual children's speech development - Stream 2 of the Early Childhood Voices 2024 Conference (ECV2024)

The videos supporting the Oxford Handbook of Speech Development in Languages of the World will be launched at the Early Childhood Voices 2024 Conference (ECV2024) on Monday.

Here is the conference website: https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/

ECV2024 conference registration: (free registration to attend the online conference)  https://cvent.csu.edu.au/event/0d591439-4c54-4f18-8620-1f37f00582f4/summary

The videos supporting our Oxford Handbook of Speech Development in Languages of the World are found in Stream 2

STREAM 2: Multilingual children's speech development
Presentations ECV2024-500 to ECV2024-575

• https://multilingual-childrens-speech-development.csu.domains/
• https://www.csu.edu.au/research/multilingual-speech/speech-acquisition/multilingual-childrens-speech-development

You can discover how children learn to speak more than 48 home languages by watching 75 presentations provided by international experts in each language. The experts explain where the language is spoken, the components of the language (vowels, consonants, tones), and the assessments and interventions available to support children learning to speak that language. Once you have listened to the presentations in English, you can listen to the same information presented in the language being spoken about. For example, you can hear how children learn to speak Kurdish in an English presentation and then listen again in Kurdish, or you can listen to a presentation about Jamaican Creole in English and in Jamaican Creole. Currently 27 of the 48 languages that have videos in both the language and English.

We hope you enjoy meeting the chapter authors and learning about multilingual children's speech development across the world.

Here is the presentation that outlines the focus of this stream of ECV2024:

ECV2024-500
Multilingual children’s speech development

Sharynne McLEOD, Charles Sturt University, Australia (smcleod@csu.edu.au)
Helen L. BLAKE, Charles Sturt University, Australia (heblake@csu.edu.au)

There is a long history of research about children’s speech development. While some languages have well established and easily accessible data, assessments, and methods regarding children’s speech development, research in other languages starts with the creation of culturally and linguistically appropriate assessment tools and methods. The research presented in Early Childhood Voices 2024 (ECV2024) Stream 2: Multilingual children's speech development and The Oxford Handbook of Speech Development in Languages of the World (McLeod, 2025) presents a paradigm shift in the world’s knowledge of children’s speech development. It provides a transformative solution for how disciplines can reduce disparities and overcome traditional English- and Western-centric biases. We present research from 172 international authors writing about 49 languages and 26 dialects across six languages (including knowledge not previously translated into English and from traditionally marginalized groups). We provide evidence of the importance of everyone’s right to communicate without distinction of language, the benefits of multilingualism and international collaborations to build diverse interdisciplinary knowledge. The curated data within the presentations and chapters enable identification of common and unique elements of children’s speech development across languages and dialects, assessments, interventions, and terminology. The presentations use a rights-based, transformative social justice approach to support communication specialists to make a difference in children’s lives across the world.

Key words: speech, multilingual, communication, language, children’s development, interdisciplinary, international communities, assessment, intervention

Book chapter
•    McLeod, S. (2025). Children’s speech development around the world: A transformative paradigm shift. In S. McLeod (Ed.). The Oxford handbook of speech development in languages of the world. Oxford University Press.

Presentation
•    McLeod, S. & Blake, H. L. (2024). Multilingual children’s speech development. Charles Sturt University, Australia. https://www.csu.edu.au/research/multilingual-speech/languages

This presentation relates to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:
•    SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
•    SDG 4: Quality Education
•    SDG 10: Reduced Inequality
•    SDG 17: Partnerships to Achieve the Goals

Preparing for ECV2024 next week

Welcome to Dr Carolyn Gregoric who has flown to Bathurst for ECV2024. It is wonderful to have you on campus. Thank you for your tireless efforts for ECV2024 and ECIR.

This afternoon we are all feeling quite exhausted preparing for ECV2024 next week due to some complexities in the background.

We really appreciated the joyful surprise unicorn outside of The Treehouse this evening. We had requested flowers - but Karl Shead went over and above and provided flowers,  bees, a lady beetle and a unicorn! It was also great to see that the popcorn machine had arrive and and to hear from Brendon and Kevin that the TV studio is ready.

THANK YOU

The TV studio is ready for the children's band at the ECV2024 launch on Monday

Sharynne with the unicorn outside of The Treehouse

Karl Shead, Carolyn Gregoric, Emily-Jane Woodhead

Early Childhood Voices 2024 (ECV2024) - Three streams

Early Childhood Voices 2024 Conference (ECV2024)

https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/

Register here – it’s free and asynchronous - https://cvent.csu.edu.au/event/0d591439-4c54-4f18-8620-1f37f00582f4/summary

ECV2024 showcases the work of four outstanding keynote presentations, oral presentations, and children's drawings across three streams.

STREAM 1: Early childhood voices: International interdisciplinary research
Presentations ECV2024-401 to ECV2024-472
https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/

You can learn about international interdisciplinary research by watching over 70 peer-reviewed presentations from across the world.
 

STREAM 2: Multilingual children's speech development
Presentations ECV2024-500 to ECV2024-575

https://multilingual-childrens-speech-development.csu.domains/

https://www.csu.edu.au/research/multilingual-speech/speech-acquisition/multilingual-childrens-speech-development

You can discover how children learn to speak more than 45 home languages by watching over 70 presentations provided by international experts in each language. The experts explain where the language is spoken, the components of the language (vowels, consonants, tones), and the assessments and interventions available to support children learning to speak that language. Once you have listened to the presentations in English, you can listen to the same information presented in the language being spoken about. For example, you can hear how children learn to speak Kurdish in an English presentation and then listen again in Kurdish, or you can listen to a presentation about Jamaican Creole in English and in Jamaican Creole.
 

STREAM 3: Children draw playing global online gallery
https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/children-draw-playing/
 

You can "listen" to children from across the world who were invited to “draw (or create) a picture of you playing”, then answer a few quick questions to describe their drawing.

More than 200 drawings, creations and photos from children across the world show us:

WHAT children do when they play
WHO children play with
WHERE children play
HOW children feel about playing
WHY children think playing is good for the world.

Gallery 1: 

Gallery 2: 

Gallery 3:

Preparing for the ECV2024 conference launch

This afternoon we did a pre-production walk through of the Charles Sturt University television studio and The Treehouse in preparation for the Early Childhood Voices 2024 (ECV2024) conference next Monday.

Thanks to:

• Kevin Ng, Karl Shead and Simon Fraser (DLT) - Communications, CSU
  
• Brendon McLeod - Assumption School Band conductor