Background: The use of a strengths approach in early childhood education is often promoted as best-practice for working with children and families and is being used as a conceptual framework in early childhood research. While strengths approaches are gaining attention as a useful theoretical framework in education fields, there are multiple variations of strengths-based approaches, strengths theories and perspectives – so how do early childhood educators and researchers know where to start to enact a strengths approach (SA)?

Aims: To answer this question, findings from an exploratory ethnographic study of a SA intervention in two Australian Kindergarten classrooms are explored as an example of how to demystify the use of a SA in early childhood practice and research.

Method: Participants included two teachers and 21 children. Data was gathered via observations, interviews, document collection, exit questionnaires and researcher reflections. Ethical approval was provided by CSU HREC (H20289).

Results: Changes in practice and recognition of resources as strengths were benefits of the SA intervention.

Conclusions: A strengths approach can not only provide early childhood educators with the support and flexibility needed to cater for early years education and the complex needs of young children and families, but it is also a useful and emerging theoretical framework for research that prompts positive change.

Implications for children and families: You have strengths and resources that can be leveraged to support your education needs.

Implications for practitioners: The presentation aims to add understanding in three ways: 1) by exploring how you may already implicitly be enacting strengths approach principles, 2) by demonstrating how you can incorporate a SA explicitly into your practice by using some key evidence-based strategies and, 3) by highlighting the use of the SA as a practice-based theory in research.

Key words: children’s voices, professionals’ voices, education, qualitative methods, strengths, practice-based theory

This presentation relates to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:

• SDG 4: Quality Education