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The subject of which this paper treats has already been traversed by the author in his Presidential address to the Geological Section of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, at its meeting at Brisbane in January 1895. The author hopes, however, that the presentation to this Society of a summary of these previous records,—with the addition of his subsequent field–work in 1895,—will be justified by the opportunity now given of a discussion which will be of immense benefit in furthering an important and interesting branch of geological investigation. The personal observations recorded in this paper are the result of 13 years‚, more or less constant, field-work in Australia. I. Work done by previous observers. The first actual record of evidence of ice–action in Australia is probably that made by Dr. A. R. C. Selwyn in 1859. The statement is as follows :— At one point in the bed of the, Inman I observed a smooth, Striated, and grooved rock–surface, presenting every indication of glacial action. The bank of the creek showed a Section of clay and coarse gravel; or drift, composed of fragments of all sizes irregularly interbedded through the clay. The direction of the grooves and scratches is E. and W. in parallel lines; and though they follow the course of the stream, I do not think they could have been produced by the action of water forcing pebbles and boulders detached from the drift along the bed of the stream. This is the first and only

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This paper is based on the findings of two research teams, working collaboratively, between 1998 and 2000 in four countries: Australia, Singapore, France and England (see David et al 2000). Taking an ecological stance (Bronfenbrenner 1979), both teams adopted a cross-cultural approach in order to gain a better understanding of the contexts in which young children become familiar with literacy. The team led by Bridie Raban worked in Singapore and Australia, that led by Tricia David in France and England. Early years practitioners in all four countries responded to questionnaires, were observed in action and interviewed. (Information about their training and about entry to primary school in each of the countries is given in the endnote. 1 ) In addition, the research teams carried out document analyses on Governmental, research and training literature and teachers' plans, and discussed their findings with others in positions to be able to`authenticate' ± or refute ± findings. Further data were obtained through group interviews with parents of children attending selected settings involved in the research.Here we provide some of the evidence about the different views expressed by practitioners, our observational findings and analysis of the different pressures relating to literacy experienced in early childhood education and care settings. In each case the learning experiences practitioners provided for children were influenced by a range of factors, such as the contested role of preschools as preparation for schooling. In some settings this preparation was not explicit and practitioners often emphasised the importance of the`here and now' nature of young children's experiences. Rosenthal's (2000) framework for exploring`collectivist' and`individualist' cultures in relation to their valued educational practices was applied to our findings, in order to identify how the cultural assumptions about literacy, learning and young children influenced the teaching approaches selected. Influences on provision for early literacyPreschool teachers' views on literacy, derived within their own cultural and ecological contexts (Barton 1994; Brofenbrenner 1979;Bronfenbrenner & Morris 1998), impact upon the type of learning experiences they include in their preschool curricula. Even within the four countries studied, Australia, Singapore, France and England, early childhood educators work in many different contexts and this in turn further influences how, or if, they plan for literacy.Assumptions about children's cognitive development, theories of how reading and writing should be taught and issues concerning maturation and readiness for schooling all influence educators' thinking about literacy education for young children. External pressures such as parental expectations and the policies and curriculum guidelines devised by government agencies all add to the range of issues educators will take into account in making decisions about early literacy. These factors are also influenced by the cultural constructions of early childhood (eg...