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CHILDREN'S LITERATURE IS IMPORTANT because it nurtures emotional, social, creative and cognitive development, and gives children opportunities to appreciate and respond to diversity. In particular, literature that portrays racial and cultural diversity is a powerful means of promoting understanding of others while affirming individual identity. However, the limited number of studies about the nature and use of literature that reflects diversity in early childhood settings prompted this study, which investigates the nature of book collections in five long day care centres in the metropolitan region of Perth, Western Australia, with a specific focus on the extent to which they reflect racial diversity. Qualitative data was drawn from an audit of the children's book collections (2377 books) across each of the five centres. The findings revealed a lack of representation of racial diversity in those collections and where racial diversity was portrayed, non-dominant cultures were commonly misrepresented through stereotypical images often portraying outdated perspectives.

Catering for diversity within birth to 5-year-old settings continues to be an on-going concern for policy makers and educators worldwide. This research contributes to discussion on the value of children’s literature in achieving international principles of diversity and, in particular, the Principles, Practice and Outcomes outlined in the Australian Early Years Learning Framework. The article considers the selection and use of children’s literature related to diversity, as well as what influences these processes. Seventeen educators from five long day care centres located in or near the Perth metropolitan area participated in the study. Data were drawn from interviews and a book audit. The findings revealed educators had limited understandings of the role of literature in acknowledging and valuing diversity and rarely used it to promote the diversity-related outcomes of the EYLF. The key challenges which emerged from the findings concerned beliefs of educators, professional learning and the application of the EYLF in practice.

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<div id="__if72ru4sdfsdfruh7fewui_once" style="display: none;"> </div><div id="__zsc_once"><p>This paper reports an investigation of teachers’ implementation of a new Indonesian curriculum, the <em>Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan </em>(KTSP<em>), </em>meaning <em>school-based curriculum</em>. The specific context chosen was the teaching of writing in Year 2 in the primary schools of Makassar City, Indonesia. The teachers’ implementation was examined through the lens of the KTSP’s key constructivist-based concepts. Using qualitative methods, the study found that the teachers’ implementation of the new writing curriculum reflected a traditional view of teaching, despite the intent of the KTSP to move away from this approach to one that better reflected a constructivist approach. The study also revealed that the inconsistencies between the intentions of the KTSP and the basic competencies it mandated discouraged the teachers from changing their teaching and assessment practices. These findings have important implications for the development of policy and practice regarding the implementation of existing and future curricula in Indonesia and elsewhere.<strong></strong></p></div><div class="testing_notification" style="position: absolute; z-index: 9999; top: 12px; right: 12px;"> </div><div class="testing_notification" style="position: absolute; z-index: 9999; top: 12px; right: 12px;"> </div><div class="testing_notification" style="position: absolute; z-index: 9999; top: 12px; right: 12px;"> </div><div class="testing_notification" style="position: absolute; z-index: 9999; top: 12px; right: 12px;"> </div><div class="testing_notification" style="position: absolute; z-index: 9999; top: 12px; right: 12px;"> </div><div class="testing_notification" style="position: absolute; z-index: 9999; top: 12px; right: 12px;"> </div><div class="testing_notification" style="position: absolute; z-index: 9999; top: 12px; right: 12px;"> </div><div class="testing_notification" style="position: absolute; z-index: 9999; top: 12px; right: 12px;"> </div>