Professor Margaret Sims
Professor, Faculty of The Professions, School of Education
Qualifications
BA, MA, PhD, Dip Ed, Dip Mgmt
Contact
| Email: | margaret.sims@une.edu.au |
| Room: | Milton Building (E6) 5 |
| Phone: | 02 6773 3823 (or +61 2 6773 3823 overseas) |
| Fax: | 02 6773 5078 |
| Mobile: | 0421 659 467 |
Margaret is a member of the Early Childhood group within the School of Education.
Affiliations
Australian Early Childhood Association (editor of the Australasian Journal of Early Childhood)
Australian Early Intervention Association
European Early Childhood Education Research Association
Western Australian Institute for Educational Research
Centre for Research on Women
Australian Institute of Family Studies
Family Support America
NIFTeY: National Investment for the Early Years
TASH - The Association for the Severely Handicapped - USA
Adjunct Edith Cowan University
Areas of Teaching
ECED340 Young children developing and learningEDUC790 Advanced Research Methods for EducationEDUC791 Applying Research Methods in Education
Research interests
· young children and families· parenting· community-based services for young children and families· child care and other forms of alternative care for children · difference and diversity · social justice· community work· Families from CaLD backgrounds· Indigenous issues· disability· children's participation
Consultancy
· Early childhood· community-based service delivery - young children, families, Indigenous and CaLD· children and families· child care and various forms of non-parental care· parenting · children's participation · difference and diversity
Publications
BOOKS
Sims, M (2002) Designing family support programmes: building children, family and community resilience. Altona, Vic: Common Ground Press.
Hutchins T & Sims, M (1999) Program planning for infants and toddlers. An ecological approach. Sydney: Prentice Hall.
Sims M (1997) Including all children and families. A practical guide to using inclusion for meeting diverse and different care and development needs in Children’s Service settings. Perth, WA: Praxis Education.
Sims M (1994) (ed) Current Issues in Children’s Services 1993. Monograph in Children Studies. Perth: Centre for the Development of Human Resources.
BOOK CHAPTERS
Sims, M (2007) The determinants of quality care: review and research report. In Hill, E., Pocock, B. and Elliot, A (eds) Kids Count: Better early childhood education and care in Australia. (pp 220 – 241). Sydney: Sydney University Press.
Saggers, S. & Sims, M. (2004) Family diversity, in Poole, M. (Ed) Family.Changing families, changing times. (pp 66 – 87). Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Sims, M., O'Connor, M., & Forrest, M. (2003). Aboriginal families and the school system. In Q. Beresford & G. Partington, (Eds.), Reform and Resistance in Aboriginal Education: the Australian Experience. (pp 69 – 91). Perth, WA: University of Western Australia Press.
JOURNAL ARTICLES
Sims, M (in review) Who should care for our babies? The First Years. Nga Tau Tuatahi. New Zealand Journal of Infant and Toddler Education.
Cavazzi, T., Guilfoyle, A & Sims, M (in review) A Phenomenological study of Foster Carers Experiences of Formal and Informal Support. Illinois Child Welfare.
Guilfoyle, A., Saggers, S., Sims, M. & Hutchins, T (in review) Culturally strong child care programs for Indigenous children, families and communities. Australian Journal of Early Childhood.
Sims, M., Targowska, A., Kulisa, J., Guilfoyle, A. M., & Teather, S. (in review). Including children and families from CaLD backgrounds in community programmes. Community Development Journal
Sims, M., Guilfoyle, A. M., Maynard, R., & Earley, C. (in review). Family support in child care centres. Australian Journal of Early Childhood.
Sims, M & Saggers, S (in review) The development of Indigenous child care services. Australian Journal of Early Childhood
Sims, M (2009) Neurobiology and child development: challenging current interpretation and policy implications. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 34 (1), 36 - 42
Sims, M., Guilfoyle, A., & Parry, T. (2008). Children’s stress levels: an evaluation tool to determine programme quality. Illinois Child Welfare, 3(1), 17 - 29.
Sims, M., Saggers, S., Hutchins, T., Guilfoyle, A., Targowska, A., and Jachiewicz, S (2008) Indigenous child care: leading the way. Australian Journal of Early Childhood. 33 (1) 56 – 60.
Gray, C & Sims, M (2007) Parental Stress and Child Rearing Decisions. New Zealand Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 10, 119 - 130
Sims, M., Guilfoyle, A & Parry, T (2006) Child care for infants and toddlers: where in the world are we going? The First Years – Nga Tau Tuatahi - New Zealand Journal of Infant and Toddler Education. 8 (1) pp 12 - 19
Sims, M., Guilfoyle, A & Parry, T (2006) Children’s cortisol levels and quality of child care provision. Child: care, health and development.32 (4), 453 - 466
Sims, M., Guilfoyle, A & Parry, T (2005) What cortisol levels tell us about quality in childcare centres. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 30 (2), pp 29 – 39.
Sims, M. (2004) Making values matter. Training in difference and diversity. Journal of Australian Research in Early Childhood Education. 11(1), pp 75 – 90
Sanders, L., & Sims, M. (2003) Beyond the obstacle course: developing movement skills in young children. Australian Research in Early Childhood Education. 10 (1), pp 109 – 120.
Sims, M. (2003) Are we asking the right question when we ask is child care bad for children? Australian Journal of Early Childhood. 28 (4), pp 34 – 39.
Sims, M. (2003) Employment outcomes for Children’s Services graduates. Australian Research in Early Childhood Education. 10 (2) 97 – 107
Sims, M. (2003). SUPs workers perspectives of child care quality. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 28 (3), pp 25 – 32
Sims, M. (2003) Value-based education for pre-service students in Children and Family Studies. Journal of Educational Enquiry, 4(1), pp 68 - 79
Sims, M. (2002) Junior pay, senior responsibility: the experiences of junior child care workers. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 27 (3), pp 7 - 11.Sims, M., Hayden, J., Palmer, G., & Hutchins, T (2002) Young children who have experienced refugee or war-related trauma. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 10 (1), 99 – 110.
Sims, M., Hutchins, T. & Dimovich, C (2002) Junior minding juniors: the experiences of junior child care workers. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 3 (1), 117 – 131.
Sims, M. & Hutchins, T (2001) Transition to child care for children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 26 (3), pp 7 – 11.
Sims, M., Hayden, J., Palmer, G & Hutchins, T (2000) Working in early childhood settings with children who have experienced refugee or war-related trauma. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 25 (4), pp 41 -46.
Sims, M. (2000) Young children's conflict behaviour in child care. Australian Research in Early Childhood Education, 7 (1), pp 78 - 86.
Sims, M. (1999) What we believe is what we do. Australian Journal of Early Childhood., 24 (2), pp 1 - 5.
Sims, M., & Hutchins, T (1999) Positive transitions. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 24 (3), pp 12 - 15.
Sims, M. & Omaji, A (1999) Migration and parenting. Journal of Family Studies, 5, (1), pp 84 – 96.
Sims M., Hutchins T & Taylor M (1998) Gender segregation in young children’s conflict behaviour in Child Care settings. Child Study Journal, 28 (1), pp 1 – 16.
Sims M. (1997) Early intervention: where have we been and where are we going? Australian Journal of Early Childhood., 22 (4), pp 40 - 46.
Sims M. (1997) Gender segregation in child care: what it is and what can we do about it? Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 22 (5), pp 35 - 39.
Sims M. Hutchins T & Taylor M (1997) Classroom ‘culture’ and children’s conflict behaviours. Early Child and Development Care, 134, pp 43 - 59.
Sims M. Hutchins, T. & Taylor, M. (1997) Conflict as social interaction building relationship skills in child care settings. Child and Youth Care Forum, 26 (4), pp 247 – 260.
Teather, S. Evans, L. & Sims M. (1997) Maintenance of mother-child relationship by incarcerated women. Early Child Development and Care, 131, pp 65 - 75.
Sims M. & Hutchins, T. (1996) The many faces of child care: roles and functions. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 21 (1) 21-26.
Sims M. Hutchins, T. & Taylor, M. (1996) Young children in child care: the role adults play in conflict management. Early Child Development and Care, 124, 1-9.
Sims M. (1995) Accreditation and quality care for children with special needs. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 20 (4) 5-10.
Sims M. (1995) Including children with special needs in early childhood settings. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 20 (4) 40-44.
Sims M. (1994) Care and Education: Revisiting the dichotomy. Early Child Development and Care, 103, 15-26.
Sims M. (1994) Children at work. A survey of Children going to work with their mothers in New Zealand. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 32 (1) 83-88.
Sims M. (1989). Evaluation of a Community Living Programme in New Zealand. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, April. 211-214.
Sims M. (1987). Community Living. Directions for the future. Mental Handicap in New Zealand, 11 (3), 12-16.
Sims M & Bridgman G (1984) Evaluation of progress using the context input process and product model. Child: Care, Health and Development, 10, 359-379.
Sims M. (1981). Growth of Auckland Preschool Children. New Zealand Medical Journal, 95 (707), 305-307.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
BOOKSSims, M (2000) CHCPR13 Facilitate the development of programs for children with additional needs. . Adelaide: Children’s Services and Training, South Australia
Sims, M (1999) CHCIC12A Plan the inclusion of children with additional needs. . Adelaide: Children’s Services and Training, South Australia
Sims, M & Hutchins, T (1998) (eds) Certificate II Children’s Services (Bilingual Support Workers – 0-6 years). Perth: Ethnic Child Care Resource Unit.
REPORTSCooper, T., Bahn, S., Hancock, P., Targowska, A., Sims, M & Guilfoyle, A (2008) Research of participation in organised sport and recreation by people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) backgrounds. Final report presented to the Department for Sport and Recreation, November.
Sims, M; Guilfoyle, A., Kulisa, J., Targowska, A. and Teather, S (2008) Achieving outcomes for children and families from culturally and linguistically diverse families. Paper prepared for ARACY. Available at http://www.aracy.org.au/publicationDocuments/TOP_Achieving_Outcomes_for_Children_and_Families_from_Culturally_and_Linguistically_Diverse_Backgrounds_2008.PDF
Hutchins, T., Martin, K., Saggers, S & Sims, M (2007) Indigenous early learning and care. ARACY Topical Paper number 7. Available at http://www.aracy.org.au/publicationDocuments/TOP_Indigenous_Early_Learning_and_Care_2007.pdf
Saggers, S., Guilfoyle, A., Hutchins, T., Jackiewicz, S., Sims, M., Targowska, A. and Dunbar, T (2006) Towards an Indigenous Child Care Plan. Final Report, presented to the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. November.
Hutchins, T and Sims, M (2004) Report to the Office of Children and Youth, Consulting rural and remote children and children from CALDSaggers, S., Sims, M., Hutchins, T., Theunissen, C., McKenzie, G and Targowska, A (2003) Report to the Department of Community Development. Evaluation of the Safecare Programme.Sims, M (1989) Working with children with intellectual disabilities in the regular preschool environment. Training package for staff in Kindergartens and Child Care Centres in the Tamaki area. Tamaki Branch IHC Auckland.
Sims, M (1988) Community based services for preschool children with intellectual disabilities. Seminar organised for the Tamaki Branch of the IHC, Glen Innes Auckland.
Sims, M (1986) Training Programme for the Community Living Programme. A 15 module training Programme for the Community Living Programme Staff. Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind.
Sims, M (1985) The Community Living Programme. Information Packet for the Community Living Programme, Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind.
1980s |
Sims, M. (1998) Children with diverse needs in child care. Every Child, 4 (2), pp 10 – 11.
Hutchins T & Sims, M (1995) Working with babies in group settings. Every Child, 1 (3).Conferences and other presentations
RECENT CONFERENCES AND OTHER PRESENTATIONS
Sims, M (2009) Neurobiology and implications for early childhood. Keynote address Early Years Conference. Adelaide. 30 April
Sims, M (2009) Neurobiological and ecological perspectives in child and family support. Keynote Address Galilee Early Childhood Wisdom Day. Adelaide. 30 April.
Sims, M (2009) Supporting early learning. Giving children the best start in life. Invited presentation to the Federation of Catholic School Parent Communities. Adelaide. 29 April.
Sims, M (2009) Interaction between parenting and children’s cortisol responses to variation in child care quality in Australian childcare centres. Paper presented at 2009 Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development. Denver, CO, USA. 2 – 4 April.
Sims, M (2009) Neurobiology, child development and programme planning. Keynote address. C&K Sunshine Coast Early Childhood Conference. Sippy Downs, QLD. 21 March.Sims, M (2009) Factors in the environment that impact on planning and programming. Invited Workshop C&K Sunshine Coast Early Childhood Conference. Sippy Downs, QLD. 21 March.
Sims, M (2009) The neurobiological research: how can we use research to inform our practice? Keynote address at Our Families Our Future – Early Intervention through Playgroups Conference. Brisbane, 6 March.
Sims, M (2009) Community-based early childhood and family workers. Paper presented at Getting it together for Australia’s children. What role for Parent and Child Centres? Melbourne, 15 – 17 February.
Sims, M (2009)Neurobiology and child development: challenging the myth of motherhood. Poster presented at Getting it together for Australia’s children. What role for Parent and Child Centres? Melbourne, 15 – 17 February
Sims, M (2008) Social inclusion and multi-cultural competence in integrated service delivery. Keynote address. Children Communities Connections Conference, Adelaide, 15 – 17 November.
Sims, M (2008) Applying neurobiological evidence in caring for infants and toddlers. Invited presentation. Children Communities Connections Conference, Adelaide, 15 – 17 November.
Sims, M(2008) The neurobiological story: using evidence to guide our advocacy. Paper presented at Early Childhood Australia Biennial conference. Canberra. 3 – 6 October.
Lymbery, C., Sims, M & Slattery, C (2008) What has cortisol got to do with the early childhood educator: building resilience through effective leadership and management. Paper presented at Early Childhood Australia Biennial conference. Canberra. 3 – 6 October.
Sims, M (2008) It is time to talk of many things. Keynote speech at the 16th Biennial Conference of the Australian Organisation of Retired Teachers Association (AORTA). Perth. 15 September.Sims, M (2008) Quality care for our children. Keynote speech at the 30 year celebration ceremony for city of Cockburn Family Day Care. Cockburn, WA. 18 August.
Sims, M (2008) Children’s stress in child care: preventing mental health problems. Paper presented at the 3rd International conference on Child and Adolescent psychopathology. Roehampton University, London. 14 – 15 July.
Sims, M (2008) Care for Infants and Toddlers; The neurobiological evidence and advocacy. Keynote presented at Birth to Three Matters. Brisbane, 5 – 6 July.
Sims, M. (2008) Supporting the community. Invited plenary and workshop at Together we grow – embracing the challenge. Early Childhood Education Conference. Melbourne. May 30 – 31.
Sims, M. (2008) Embracing change – using the neurobiological research to inform our practice. Invited workshop at Together we grow – embracing the challenge. Early Childhood Education Conference. Melbourne. May 30 – 31.
Sims, M. (2008) The early years of life: the 5 capital model of sustainability. Invited presentation at the Technology and Enterprise Conference, Perth, 23 – 24 May.
Sims, M. (2008) Improving outcomes for young children and families: disadvantage need not be a life sentence. Keynote at the International Child Welfare Conference, Taichung, Taiwan. 19 – 20 May.
Sims, M. (2008) Babies and stress in child care. Invited public presentation as National Ambassador for the 1:4 Make it Law campaign. Sydney 13 May. This speech is available to download http://semannslattery.com/
Sims, M (2008) The early years of life. Shaping brain architecture and long term outcomes. Keynote address at Working Together Families NSW Conference. Wagga Wagga, NSW. 12 – 13 May.
Sims, M. (2008) Advocacy and the latest research evidence. Invited workshop at Working Together Families NSW Conference. Wagga Wagga, NSW. 12 – 13 MaySims, M. (2008) Quality care: a basic right for children. Invited public presentation as National Ambassador for the 1:4 Make it Law campaign. Sydney. 24 January.
Sims, M. (2008) The stress and child care study: where are we and where are we going? Paper presented at the Australian and New Zealand Research in Early Childhood Education Conference, Melbourne, 22 – 23 January.
Sims, M. (2007) The early years: the role of family support and service quality. Invited presentation Early Childhood Intervention Australia Conference, Melbourne, 9 November.
Sims, M. (2007) The impact of stress and trauma on children’s development. Invited presentation, Children’s Services Conference, Melbourne. 8 November.Sims, M. (2007) Stress research: the importance of relationships. Invited Paper presented at the WA Child Care Conference. Perth. 26 August, 2006.
Sims, M. (2007) Stress: transforming the outside world to the internal child. Paper presented at the Children and Young People are Key Stakeholders National Conference, Perth. 24 – 25 July.
Sims, M. (2007) Emotional well-being. Invited paper presented at Playing to Learn Conference, Manchester, UK. 23 June.Sims, M. (2007) Neurobiology and development. The role of Early Childhood professionals. Invited paper presented at Early Literacy Conference, Bunbury. 9 June.
Sims, M. (2007) Early brain research and its implications for our practice. Keynote address Early Learning Conference, City of Casey, Melbourne, 18 May.
Sims, M. (2007) Relationships to build children. Invited workshop, Early Learning Conference, City of Casey, Melbourne, 18 May.Sims, M. (2007) Equity and diversity. How do we manage to ensure ALL young children have the best possible start? Keynote presentation. Edith Cowan Memorial Conference. Perth. 12 May.
Sims, M. (2007) How do you give a child the best chance in life? Invited presentation Technology and Enterprise State Conference. Perth. 11 - 12 May.
Sims, M. (2007) High quality early environments. South West Public Lecture sponsored by City of Bunbury and South West Campus Edith Cowan University. 8 May.
Sims, M. (2007) The importance of the early years. Your role as a children’s services worker. Invited presentation to launch the joint Pilbara Development Commission, BHP and Pilbara TAFE Children’s Services Training Project. South Hedland. Friday 23 March.
Sims, M. (2007) The latest early years research; what that means for us. Opening Keynote address delivered at the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association of WA 35th Annual State Conference. Perth. 15 March.
Sims, M., Guilfoyle, A, & Parry, T (2007) Social protective factors in child care: the mediators of young children's stress levels in alternative care settings. Paper presented at Kindling the flame: Promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing. Perth, 21 – 23 February .
Sims, M. (2006) Children’s stress levels in child care: a measure of quality. Paper presented at New Zealand Early Childhood Research Conference, Porirua, New Zealand, 4 – 5 December.
Sims, M. (2006) Quality child care: a crucial component of the early years. Keynote address, Children’s Services Southwest Conference, Bunbury, 21 October.Sims, M. (2006) Better outcomes for children, families and communities. The evidence. Keynote address, Family and Children’s Services Conference, Knox City, Victoria, 14 August.S
ims, M. (2006) Child friendly families and communities. why are these important. Invited paper presented at Family and Children’s Services Conference, Knox City, Victoria, 14 August
Sims, M. (2006) The determinants of quality care. Invited paper presented at Children: A Better Policy Framework for Australia, Academy of Social Sciences in Australia workshop, University of Sydney, 13-14 July.
Sims, M., Guilfoyle, A. & Parry, T. (2006) The learning environment in child care: stress and quality service provision. Paper presented at The thirteenth International Conference in Learning, Montego Bay, Jamaica, 22 – 25 June.
Sims, M., Guilfoyle, A. & Parry, T. (2006) Stress levels, parenting and the role of caregivers. Paper presented at Parenting Imperatives II. National Parenting Conference, Adelaide, 24 – 27 May. paper available at http://www.cyh.com/parentingconference/npcpapersD3.htm
Sims, M., Guilfoyle, A & Parry, T (2006) Children’s cortisol levels in child care in WA: what do they tell us about quality child care, and, by implication, children’s longer term outcomes? Paper presented at National NIFTeY Conference, Sydney, 8-10 February.Parry, T., Sims, M. & Guilfoyle, A (2006) Salivary cortisol levels of children as a biomarker of quality care. Paper presented at the World Association of Infant Mental Health Congress, Paris, 8 – 12 July.
Research Grants
1993: ECU $12,000: with T Hutchins: Peer social contact and the development of friendship skills in early childhood
1997: Ethnic Child Care Resource Unit $20,000: with T Hutchins: The development of training for multicultural bilingual support workers
1997: ECU $10,000: with T Hutchins: The needs of multicultural bilingual support workers.
1997: ECU $10,000: with T.Hutchins, J Hayden & G. Palmer: Identification of best practice in children’s services for children who have experienced refugee or war-related trauma.
1998: ECU $14,000: with M O’Connor and R Lincoln: Shifting models of parenting for Aboriginal fringe dwelling itinerent families
1998: ECU $14,000: with T Hutchins and C Dimovich: Juniors minding junior: the workplace experiences of 14-16 year olds employed in the child care sector with particular reference to Article 32 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
1998: Karitane $8000: with T Hutchins, R Lincoln and M O’Connor: Ngunytji Tjitji Pirni; an innovative approach to Aboriginal child care programmes.
1999: Small ARC $9800: with J Hayden (UWS), G. Palmer (Griffith), T Hutchins: Best practice in practise. Working with children who have been traumatised.
1999: Small ARC: $9700: with P Omaji, M O’Connor & A Omaji: African youth. Overcoming barriers to community participation.
2000: ECU School Grant; $3570. Pre-service preparation for working with children and families who are different.
2001: ECU Industry Collaborative Grant $27,117 with Trevor Parry and Virginia McSporran. Children’s Services as a vehicle for family support.
2002: Lotteries Social Research Grant, $150,000. With Trevor Parry. Stress and child care.
2003: Department of Community Development. $20,000. with Professor Sherry Saggers, Teresa Hutchins, Chris Theunissen, Gally McKenzie, Anna Targowska. Evaluation of the Safecare Programme.
2004: Office of Children and Youth, $40,000. with Teresa Hutchins. Consulting rural and remote children and children from CALD
2005: Family and Community Services , $442,000. Development of an Indigenous Child Care Plan: with Sherry Saggers, Teresa Hutchins, Andrew Guilfoyle and Anna Targowska,.
2006: Save the Children $76,421 over 4 years. Local evaluation of East Kimberley initiatives for children and families. With S Saggers, T Hutchins and A Targowska.
2006: ARACY, $25,000. To produce a Topical paper on Indigenous Child Care. with Sherry Saggers & Teresa Hutchins.
2007: ARC Collaborative, $436,000 from ARC over 4.5 years + $930,000 from partners over 4 years. Peel Child Development Project. With Anne McMurray, Barry Downes, Eugen Mattes, Jianhong Li, Anke van Eekelen, Phil Stumbles, Garth Kendall, Peter Franklin
2008: E&A T&L Grant: Meeting the needs of our market: the employability of Bachelor of Social Science graduates. $4371..
2008: ARACY, $14,977. To produce a paper on Successful inclusion of CaLD families. With Anna Targowska, Andrew Guilfoyle, Judy Kulisa and Susan Teather
2008: Department of Sport and Recreation; $30,000. Participation in organised sport and recreation by people from CaLD backgrounds. With Trudi Cooper (CI), Peter Hancock, Andrew Guilfoyle, Anna Targowska and Sue Bahn.
2009: ECU Collaborative Grant. $29,007. Settling into foster care: implications for long term outcomes. With Lauren Breen.
Major themes in my research
My research has focused on examining aspects of parenting and high quality community-based service delivery to young children and their families. In this section I provide an overview of the main themes in my work.
Parenting research: Parenting is difficult at the best of times – for many of us parenting is probably the most difficult task we take on in our lives. For some parenting is made even more difficult by life circumstances. Parents who are stress through economic hardship for example, or who are members of a minority group, face a very difficult time fulfilling their parenting role. I have explored some of these themes in my research.
Sims, M. & Omaji, A (1999) Migration and parenting. Journal of Family Studies, 5, (1), pp 84 – 96.
Sims, M., O'Connor, M., & Forrest, M. (2003). Aboriginal families and the school system. In Q. Beresford & G. Partington, (Eds.), Reform and Resistance in Aboriginal Education: the Australian Experience. (pp 69 – 91). Perth, WA: University of Western Australia Press.
Gray, C & Sims, M (2007) Parental Stress and Child Rearing Decisions. New Zealand Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 10, 119 - 130
Family support research: Given that parenting is a difficult task, and that society often creates conditions to make that task even more difficult, it is important that we understand how to support parents effectively. Family support is an important component of the Children and Family Studies major and in developing that focus in our degree, I found it difficult to obtain exactly the material I wanted for the students. In the end, I wrote the text that we are now using to teach in this area. The text can be viewed online at http://thelearner.cgpublisher.com/
Sims, M (2002) Designing family support programmes: building children, family and community resilience. Altona, Vic: Common Ground Press.
Sims, M (2009) Caring for young children: what children need. Policy Brief no 15. May. Centre for Community Child Health.I have also been engaged in looking at issues of indigenous child care and how quality care links to family support. Working with a team of researchers we have submitted the following articles to AJEC arguing that family support is an integral component of quality child care.
Guilfoyle, A., Saggers, S., Sims, M. & Hutchins, T (in review) Culturally strong child care programs for Indigenous children, families and communities. Australian Journal of Early Childhood.
Sims, M & Saggers, S (in review) The development of Indigenous child care services. Australian Journal of Early Childhood
Sims, M., Saggers, S., Hutchins, T., Guilfoyle, A., Targowska, A., and Jachiewicz, S (2008) Indigenous child care: leading the way. Australian Journal of Early Childhood. 33 (1) 56 – 60.
Child Care research: Child care is a form of family support though it can also fulfil a range of other roles. In early publications I explored some of these roles.
Sims, M., Guilfoyle, A. M., Maynard, R., & Earley, C. (in review). Family support in child care centres. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood.
Sims M. & Hutchins, T. (1996) The many faces of child care: roles and functions. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 21 (1) 21-26.
Sims M (1994) Care and Education: Revisiting the dichotomy. Early Child Development and Care, 103, 15-26.Sims M (1997) Early intervention: where have we been and where are we going? Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 22 (4), pp 40 - 46.
Child care for very young children is often a controversial issue, and Teresa Hutchins and I explored some of these issues in our book (I am hoping to write a second edition of this book in the next little while):
Hutchins T & Sims, M (1999) Program planning for infants and toddlers. An ecological approach. Sydney: Prentice Hall.
In one of my earlier projects I explored children’s interpersonal interactions in the child care setting. I was particularly interested in how children resolved conflicts and how adults, peers and the classroom environment itself influenced this.
Sims, M. (2000) Young children's conflict behaviour in child care. Australian Research in Early Childhood Education, 7 (1), pp 78 - 86
Sims M., Hutchins T & Taylor M (1998) Gender segregation in young children’s conflict behaviour in Child Care settings. Child Study Journal, 28 (1), pp 1 – 16.
Sims M. Hutchins T & Taylor M (1997) Classroom ‘culture’ and children’s conflict behaviours. Early Child and Development Care, 134, pp 43 - 59.
Sims M. Hutchins, T. & Taylor, M. (1997) Conflict as social interaction building relationship skills in child care settings. Child and Youth Care Forum, 26 (4), pp 247 – 260.
Sims M. (1997) Gender segregation in child care: what it is and what can we do about it? Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 22 (5), pp 35 - 39.
Sims M. Hutchins, T. & Taylor, M. (1996) Young children in child care: the role adults play in conflict management. Early Child Development and Care, 124, 1-9.
I am also particularly interested in issues of diversity.
Sims M. (1995) Including children with special needs in early childhood settings. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 20 (4) 40-44.
In the days when accreditation of child care was first introduced I was particularly concerned about what I saw as the separation of quality service for children with special needs and children without special needs.
Sims M. (1995) Accreditation and quality care for children with special needs. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 20 (4) 5-10.
Children coming to Australian from backgrounds of war and trauma have special needs that child care services have to meet. With a group of colleagues I was funded by an ARC Small Grant to investigate their experiences.
Sims, M., Hayden, J., Palmer, G., & Hutchins, T (2002) Young children who have experienced refugee or war-related trauma. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 10 (1), 99 – 110.Sims, M., Hayden, J., Palmer, G & Hutchins, T (2000) Working in early childhood settings with children who have experienced refugee or war-related trauma. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 25 (4), pp 41 -46.
At the same time there were concerns being expressed around the country as to the quality of services offered in child care and I spent some time collating some of the evidence to support this concern.
Sims, M. (2003). SUPs workers perspectives of child care quality. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 28 (3), pp 25 – 32Sims, M., Hutchins, T. & Dimovich, C (2002) Junior minding juniors: the experiences of junior child care workers. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 3 (1), 117 – 131.
Sims, M. (2002) Junior pay, senior responsibility: the experiences of junior child care workers. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 27 (3), pp 7 - 11.
I have been interested for many years in the impact that child care has on children. As a society we tend to expect that young children are cared for in their homes by their mothers. We believe that care outside of the home is not as good as care in the home. However, that is clearly not true as we know that there are some children living in homes that are dangerous, and some children attending very good care. In this first article I present a review of the research evidence about the impact of child care on children's outcomes.
Sims, M. (2003) Are we asking the right question when we ask is child care bad for children? Australian Journal of Early Childhood. 28 (4), pp 34 – 39.
In following my interest in child care and its impact on children I came across studies using cortisol as a biomarker of stress and realised just how useful that would be in determining the immediate impact of the child care environment on children. As humans, we react quickly to stressful situations and cortisol is one of the hormones released to enable our bodies to cope with stress. Normally we would expect cortisol levels to return quickly to normal once the stressful event was over. However, when we are CHRONICALLY stressed, our bodies are subject to long term cortisol elevations. When this happens in our early years of life it impacts on our brain development and can have significant impact long term outcomes. So using cortisol to measure the immediate impact of the child care environment on children gives us the ability to make some predictions about how this environment might be influencing children's long term outcomes. This research is reported in the following papers, all of which address different aspects of the child care environment.
Sims, M., Guilfoyle, A., & Parry, T. (2008). Children’s stress levels: an evaluation tool to determine programme quality. Illinois Child Welfare, 3(1), 17 - 29.
Sims, M., Guilfoyle, A & Parry, T (2006) Child care for infants and toddlers: where in the world are we going? The First Years – Nga Tau Tuatahi - New Zealand Journal of Infant and Toddler Education. 8 (1) pp 12 - 19
Sims, M., Guilfoyle, A & Parry, T (2006) Children’s cortisol levels and quality of child care provision. Child: care, health and development.32 (4), 453 - 466
Sims, M., Guilfoyle, A & Parry, T (2005) What cortisol levels tell us about quality in childcare centres. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 30 (2), pp 29 – 39.
I am planning further projects which will look at the home environment and how different aspects of children’s lives at home impact on their cortisol levels and this may be influencing their long term outcomes. The programme "Life at One" has given us a change to look at that in detail for 11 Australian children and their families and we can already see differences in children's experiences and in their cortisol reactions to those experiences. How will those differences play out in long term outcomes? We will have to wait and see. We are currently filming “Life at Three” and this should screen on ABC TV in April 2008.
See http://abc.net.au/tv/life/
Caring for children: reflections on parenting and non-parental care: In recent years I have been interested in sharing my ideas around who should care for children, the place of children in our society, and what this means for policy development in family and children’s services. This is particularly relevant given the current federal government interest in early childhood, and the proposed development of parent/child hubs.
Sims, M (in review) What does being an early childhood ‘teacher’ mean in tomorrow’s world of children and family services. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood
Sims, M (in review) Who should care for our babies? The First Years. Nga Tau Tuatahi. New Zealand Journal of Infant and Toddler Education.
Sims, M (2009) Neurobiology and child development: challenging current interpretation and policy implications. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 34 (1), 36 - 42
Teaching and learning: Part of my role as an academic is to prepare graduates to work in the early childhood and family support professions with the skills to work face to face with people, and the vision and leadership abilities to increasingly professionalise our work. Over the years I have undertaken a range of small research projects to help me better teach my students and better prepare them for the world of work.
Sims, M. (2004) Making values matter. Training in difference and diversity. Journal of Australian Research in Early Childhood Education. 11(1), pp 75 – 90
Sims, M. (2003) Value-based education for pre-service students in Children and Family Studies. Journal of Educational Enquiry, 4(1), pp 68 - 79
Sims, M. (2003) Employment outcomes for Children’s Services graduates. Australian Research in Early Childhood Education. 10 (2) 97 – 107
Sims, M. (2002) Teaching values. Meeting our obligations under Human Rights Agreements. In Goody, A., Herrington, J & Northcote, M (eds) Quality Conversations. Proceedings of the Research and Development in Higher Education Conference.(pp582 – 589). Perth, July 7-10.