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SNAICC has a new keynote presenter at our national conference: Dr Joseph Sparling. Sparling has been involved in landmark research in the United States that recorded successful outcomes with at-risk children over 30 years. His research developed simple tools that doubled children¹s learning capacity and improved their health, social emotional well-being, employment and other life outcomes. Results indicated that by the age of eight, children who received preschool intervention subsequently performed better academically than those who had no preschool experience. Benefits were gained regardless of disadvantage, family factors and other contextual issues.

Sparling is retired, but was formerly an early childhood educator and Research Professor affiliated with Georgetown and North Carolina universities in the United States. His educational tools have been published in LearningGames®, Partners for Learning, and Conversation Books and used widely in the United States and other countries. In mid-2010, Sparling conducted research at Melbourne University into the potential implementation of a similar approach called the '3A concept' for use with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and other disadvantaged groups in Australia. Dr Sparling will present a keynote address and run a workshop on Wednesday 28th July at the SNAICC conference, then hold information-sharing sessions on the '3A concept' across the country.