Globalisation and Education Futures: Global Dynamics and Local Realities—Navigating Early Childhood Education Transformation in Western Australia

This chapter has unveiled a narrative where humanity’s interconnectedness and interdependence, spurred by historical events and global forces, have both illuminated the threatened the provision of child-centred PBL approaches in ECE. Advocates ask: What are the consequences of not having time to play? Contemporary research paints a vivid picture: a spectrum of consequences ranging from depression and aggression to reduced self-control, poor resilience and obesity. The toll on practitioners is also significant—they suffer their own mental health conditions due to mandates to push young children to do more and more academic learning each year. The system is now geared toward creating a new generation of ‘brick[s] in the wall’. It is the case that, over the past decade, WA has gone astray in this ‘evidence-based’ mantra: a mantra that has persuaded many that children need more explicit direct instruction and didactic instruction time to learn and be deemed successful members of society.