Dr Jayne Kinley has extensive professional experience in early childhood education and care and education more broadly, as a practitioner, service manager and professional practice mentor and consultant. Interest in sustainability and environmental teaching practices together with observations of outdoor nature-based practices with young children informed my PhD research topic: Investigating influences on early childhood educators’ outdoor nature-related practices with children from birth to under three years of age. I currently work as a Sessional Academic at the University of New England, Faculty of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences and Education (HASSE), NSW; and, am involved in early childhood education research at Southern Cross University, School of Education, Australia.

Jayne has extensive background in education including early childhood, primary and music, and current and former early childhood legislation and policy; and, has a special interest in promoting young children's connections and learnings from birth in partnership with nature.

Research projects include:

• Parents’ and educators’ perspectives of belonging in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), SCU School of Education (S. Walker, W. Boyd, A. Phillips, J. L. Kinley, 2024) 
• Early Childhood Defence Program (ECDP), UNE School of Education (M. Rogers, J. Bird, N. Bhullar, E. Thorsteinsson, A. Johnson, I. Harrington, V. Bible, P. Baker, J. L. Kinley, Y. Coffee, E. Small, U-H Anwaar, 2020-);
• Mentoring Preservice Early Childhood Teachers (MPSECT) Program a collaborative partnership between Queensland University of Technology and Queensland Department of Education (S. Irvine, M. Christensen, J. L. Kinley, 2018)
• Education Horizon Leadership project: Professionalism, paperwork & pedagogy with the Office of Education Research, Queensland University of Technology (QUT) culminating in initial findings report Professionalism, Paperwork and Pedagogy: Identifying leadership strategies that enable professional practice in long day care (S. Irvine, J. L. Kinley, K. Thorpe, J. Lunn, A. McFadden, V. Sullivan, L. Beane & J. Bourne, 2017-2018)
• Creating Pathways Project with the Criminology Institute, Griffith University (R. Homel & K. Freiberg, 2016).

Publications:

Hughes, F., Kinley, J. L., & Sonter, L. (2024). [Forthcoming]. Australian Chapter. In Envisioning Sustainable Futures with Young Children: International Case Studies in ECEFS [Forthcoming]. Springer.

Elliott, S. & Kinley, J. L. (2024). Sustainability starts with babies and toddlers. [Forthcoming].   

Kinley, J. L. (2022). Investigating influences on early childhood educators' outdoor nature-related practices with children from six weeks to under three years of age [PhD Thesis, University of New England, Australia]. Research UNE.  

Kinley, J. L. (2022, March). Influence of policy on educators' outdoor nature-related practices in an early childhood education centre. Linking Research to the Practice of Education. 

Irvine, S. Kinley, J. L., Thorpe, K., Lunn, J., McFadden, A., Beane, L., & Bourne, J. (2018). Professionalism, Paperwork and Pedagogy: Identifying leadership strategies that enable professional practice in long day care. Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia. 

Teaching and research interests include: 

• Early childhood education with a particular focus on nature-based teaching and learning for all children in ECEC settings;  
• Facilitating babies and toddlers (children under three years of age) connections with outdoor spaces and natural environments;
• EC educators' and young children’s engagement with sustainability practices;  
• Educators' understandings of ‘sustainability’ and how pillars of sustainability can be embedded in daily practices; 
• Advocating the importance of the early childhood education profession and the professional role of EC educators.