The much anticipated version 2.0 of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) came out this week. It’s much bolder — and not just in colour scheme! If you’re an early years educator with an interest in social activism you now have more support to do work that has often been referred to as “too political”. (A ridiculous claim. All education is political!). The 25 page increase has allowed for more detail and leaves less open to interpretation.
ACECQ has published a summary of the main changes that you can look at here, but of course I want to share with you the changes related to doing gender expansion work. That’s what you’re here for right?
There’s now 11 mentions of gender (not just 3), but here’s two quotes from the EYLF v2.0 that I want to bring to your attention:
- “provide books and other resources that depict diverse gender roles and identities respectfully.” (p34),
- “provide materials, texts and resources that are inclusive of gender, ability, ethnicity, culture, language and family diversity.” (p42)
What does this mean for you? When a parent or another educator express concern about you reading Introducing Teddy or discussing pronouns with children, or explaining nonbinary gender, you have unequivocal government support in the form of this document. If you’re applying for a grant to buy gender expansive materials, you have this document to justify it.
If you’ve wanted to do gender work, but been too nervous, now’s the time to do it! Send me a message if you need help.