EECERA Narratives #2: Gerry Mulhearn
Posted 10th November 2025
By Gerry Mulhearn- Charles Sturt University, Australia
Membership of EECERA for over twenty years has been a major influence both professionally and personally for me. Many aspects of EECERA have contributed – the journal, SIGs, and identifying mutual interests and contexts, but most of all attending many annual conferences.
Living in Australia and working in the early childhood curriculum policy area in government it took me a while to realise that I needed EECERA in my life. After all it existed in a very different context to mine and could be up to a 30 hour trip to participate in a conference somewhere in Europe. The benefits were confirmed by Professor Philip Gammage with whom I was working at the time. So I took my first journey to the EECERA Conference in Helsinki in 1999, and very courageously prepared a paper which to my amazement was accepted. My session was chaired by Lillian Katz – an awesome privilege for me: – she gave me a clear message to ‘just get on with it’. As my topic was about the innovative work we were doing in South Australia focussing on children’s learning from birth, I was particularly nervous but Lillian’s direction and the level of interest from new colleagues got me through. What ensued for every conference thereafter was my front of mind recognition of the organisation’s culture of collaboration, encouragement and constructive feedback, demonstrated across many aspects of my participation in those conferences, including presenting individual papers, and group seminars, chairing sessions, networking and in turn supporting colleagues.
Over the duration of my involvement with EECERA, my work evolved from policy practitioner and industry partner to researcher. Papers I presented covered areas such as policy development continuing with a curriculum focus and practitioner research, working with families, professional partnerships, and quality improvement. I learnt that working with colleagues in my own country could both be reassuring and challenging. The same could be said of discussion with colleagues from similar countries. Wonderful opportunities to interact with colleagues from very different cultural and social settings broadened my thinking and provoked critical reflection about usual assumptions and insular ways of solving problems. As a senior policy practitioner, making connections through EECERA with a wide range of colleagues from diverse settings stimulated my reading and embedded a strong relationship between research and policy development. This enabled us in Adelaide to engage more formally with academic leaders, bringing them to Australia to assist us in progressing our work in many aspects of early childhood education and care, resulting in significant leadership development.
Eventually presenting papers about my doctoral thesis was a memorable experience, again provoking a significant degree of nervousness, especially during the initial development phase of this endeavour. Comments and suggestions from conference participants helped me enormously causing me to ponder the direction of my thesis and clarify the theoretical foundations for the ethics of care and its application for policy. Knowledgeable and thoughtful feedback and questions provided in the spirit of positive challenge, encouragement and deep thinking from participant were something I greatly appreciated, whether from observers or highly respected international experts. A bit further down the track I really wobbled when I noticed one of my examiners in the audience and the technology failed midway through – still it all moved ahead and I survived, largely due to the supportive atmosphere.
Because of my employment situations I have been privileged that I could combine travel to the conference with other professional activities such as service visits and consultative sessions with early childhood organisations. This has helped me to realise that I can collaborate with others and offer helpful perspectives.
Conference dinners and social events within and external to conferences have meant that I have visited places I may not have thought of for leisure travel yet the different locations I have encountered have given so much more than the professional. You can learn a lot about people from visiting them in their own country and can have new adventures as well as learning new skills. One of my treasured souvenirs is a fun medal awarded for (not very talented) Irish dancing! Thanks Evelyn !
Through some chance interactions I have made lifelong friendships that go well beyond professional links. I have also been able to visit members of my extended family in the country of my ancestors.
If you are thinking about joining EECERA give it serious consideration. Your experience may not be similar to mine but I am sure it will be professionally rewarding and challenging in ways that you may not have anticipated. As in any organisation your experience and those of your colleagues will be shaped by your contribution and will ensure that our important work for young children will continue into the future.
Any views expressed in this post are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official stance of their affiliated institution or EECERA.
Related links:
EECERA Narratives #1 – Michel Vandenbroeck