Open Letter to Australian Prime Minister

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRIME MINISTER MALCOLM TURNBULL from members of the international early childhood academic community. The Hon. Malcolm Turnbull, MP. Prime Minister Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2600. 13 February 2016 Dear Prime Minister Turnbull, We are writing as concerned world citizens to request that the proposal to deport babies and young children to the Nauru Offshore Processing Centre should be abandoned. The world media informs us that there are currently 95 children held at the Nauru OPC and 112 children in detention in Australia, the intention to send yet more to Nauru OPC is alarming to us. We are concerned about the damaging effects detention has on the physical, emotional and psychological wellbeing of these children, who are effectively being sentenced to an unacceptable experience which places them outside normal legal, child protection and welfare frameworks within which their circumstances should be addressed. As an international community we are shocked that a country such as Australia would contravene the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. We suggest that it would be more appropriate for these children and their families to be permitted to live within the community, in Australia, indefinitely. Yours sincerely, Early Childhood Academics from the International Community Signatures overleaf

1. Professor Jayne Osgood, Middlesex University, London, UK; Visiting Professor at Western Sydney University, Australia; Visiting Professor at HiOA Oslo, Norway. 2. Nicola Fairchild, Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Studies, University of Chichester, UK. 3. Dr Marni Binder Associate Professor, School of Early Childhood Studies, Ryerson University, Toronto Canada. 4. Nina Odegard, Phd Candidate, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Norway. 5. Professor David Oswell, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK. 6. Professor Emerita Marianne Bloch, University of Wisconsin-Madison USA. 7. Riikka Hohti, Associate Professor, Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki. Finland. 8. Assistant Professor Karin Elise Fajersson, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Norway. 9. Dr. Bente Ulla, Østfold University College, Norway. 10. Dr. Susan Nordstrom, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology and Research, University of Memphis, USA. 11. Professor Beth Blue Swadener, Justice, Social Inquiry & Childhood Studies, Assoc Director, School of Social Transformation, Arizona State University, USA. 12. Dr Laurie Kocher, Early Childhood Education, Douglas College, Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada. 13. Dr Richard House, Child Psychologist & Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood, University of Winchester, UK. 14. Dr Papanastasiou Efthymia. London Metropolitan University, Kimotini, Greece. 15. Dr Pauliina Rautio, Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Oulu, Finland. 16. Professor Debbie Epstein, University of Roehampton, London, UK. 17. Dr Pam Jarvis, Senior Lecturer, Leeds Trinity University, UK. 18. Professor Deborah Youdell, Birmingham University, UK. 19. Marie Louise Charlton, Early Years Education Consultant, Optimus Education, UK. 20. Dr Sally Campbell Galman, Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts, USA. 21. Dr Tamsin Meaney, Høgskolen i Bergen, Bergen, Norway. 22. Dr.Leena Helavaara Robertson, Associate Professor, Middlesex University, UK.

23. Dr Lacey Peters, Assistant Professor Early Childhood, CUNY, New York, USA. 24. Professor Heather Piper, ESRI, Manchester Metropolitan University & Honorary Fellow Edinburgh University, Scotland, UK. 25. Dr Cinthya M Saavedra, Associate Professor, Utah State University, USA 26. Dr. Dory Lightfoot, Professor of Education, University of Illinois, Chicago, USA. 27. Dr Patricia Palulis, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. 28. Dr Vanita Sundaram, University of York, England, UK. 29. Dr I-Fang Lee. Senior Lecturer, University of Newcastle, Australia & Honorary Fellow University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. 30. Dr Marek Tesar, Auckland, New Zealand. 31. Dr Emma Renold, Professor of Childhood Studies, Cardiff University, WALES, UK. 32. Dr. Casey Y. Myers, Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education & Coordinator of Studio & Research Arts for the Child Development Center, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, USA. 33. Dr Maiju Paananen, Research Fellow, University of Helsinki & University of Tampere, Finland. 34. Ann Merete Otterstad, Docent in Early Childhood Education, Oslo and Akershus University College - Høgskolen i Oslo og Akershus, Norway. 35. Shil Bae Ngarmkam, PhD Candidate, University of Christchurch, New Zealand. 36. Sonja Arndt, Lecturer in Early Childhood Education, University of Waikato, New Zealand. 37. Dr Louise Taylor, Senior Researcher, CORE Education, New Zealand. 38. Dr Leigh M. O'Brien, Professor, Ella Cline Shear, School of Education, SUNY Geneseo, NY, U.S.A. 39. Dr Liz Jones, Chair Professor, Institute of Education, Hong Kong. 40. Dr Rachel Berman, Associate Professor, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 41. Dr Marek Tesar, Senior Lectuer in Early Childhood Education and Childhood Studies, University of Auckland, New Zealand. 42. Dr Hana Guttorm, Associate Professor Sami University College, Finland. 43. Dr Suela Kacerja Associate Professor, Bergen University College, Norway. 44. Dr Walter Gershon, Associate Professor, Kent State University, Ohio. USA.

45. Professor Andrea Henderson, University of California, USA. 46. Ellen Brodersen-Hval, Migrasjonspedagog Community Teaching, Ostfold County, Norway. 47. Katy Chapman, Graduate Research Assistant at Arizona State University, USA. 48. Professor Carrie Gillon, Arizona State University Tempe, USA. 49. Associate Professor, Doris Warriner, Arizona State University, USA. 50. Kathleen Corley Doctoral Candidate, Research Assistant at Arizona State University, USA. 51. Dr Ann-Hege Lorvik Waterhouse, Associate Professor, Førstelektor at Høgskolen i Oslo og Akershus, Norway. 52. Dr Christine Marmé Thompson, Professor, Penn State University, State College, PA, USA. 53. Dr Brit Nordbrønd, Associate Professor, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences (HiOA), Norway. 54. Dr. Annette Jacobsen, Høgskolen i Vestfold, Tønsberg, Norway. 55. Eric Kim Mbogori, International Masters in Early Childhood Education and Care at Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences (HiOA) Norway. 56. Dr Tuija Huuki, Post-Doctoral Researcher, University of Oulu/ The Academy of Finland. 57. Professor Mathias Urban, Roehampton University, London, UK. 58. Dr Janette Habashi, Associate Professor, University of Oklahoma, USA. 59. Professor Carrie Paechter, Department of Educational Studies, Goldsmiths, University of London 60. Dr Kathleen Quinlivan, Associate Professor, University of Canterbury, New Zealand. 61. Kathleen Corley, Doctoral Candidate, Research Assistant at Arizona State University, Arizona, USA. 62. Mona-Lisa Angell, Editor, Barnehagefolk, Oslo, Norway. 63. Katrine Giæver, Høgskolelektor at Oslo University College, Norway. 64. Shanee Barraclough, Senior Lecturer, University of Canterbury, New Zealand. 65. Faiq Ramli, Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Bahasa Melayu, Malaysia. 66. Olivera Kamenarac, Teaching Fellow, PhD student, Te Kura Toi Tangata, Faculty of Education, University of Waikato, New Zealand.

67. Anna Moxnes PhD candidate, Teacher Education & Pedagogy, University of South East Norway (Høgskolen I sørøst Norge). 68. Andrea Delaune, PhD candidate, University of Canterbury. New Zealand. 69. Kjartan Andersen Belseth, Assistant Professor in ECE, Østfold University College, Norway. 70. Mariana Souto-Manning Mariana Souto-Manning, Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, USA. 71. Dr Eman Yarrow, Head of Norwegian Refugee Council, Kenya. 72. Dr. Jaclyn Murray, University of Winchester, England. 73. Dr Jerneja Jager, Head of Developmental Research Center for Pedagogical Initiatives Step by Step at Educational Research Institute, Slovenia. 74. Agnes W. Bjelkerud, Ph.d.-student, Hedmark University of Applied Sciences, Norway. 75. Dr Smita Ray, London Metropolitan University, UK. 76. Karoline Søgaard, senior lecturer, University College Capital, Copenhagen, Denmark. 77. Dr Andrew Gibbons. Associate Professor, School of Education. Auckland University of Technology. New Zealand. 78. Dr Sharon Taylor, Consultant Child Psychiatrist, Imperial College, School of Medicine, London. 79. Dr Ninni Sandvik, Professor/Dosent, Ostfold University College, Norway. 80. Assistant Professor Marcela Montserrat Fonseca Bustos, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Norway. 81. Dr Veronica Pacini-Ketchabaw. Professor of Early Childhood, University of Victoria, Canada. 82. Dr Collette Murray, Lecturer in Early Childhood Education and Care, Institute of Technology Blanchardstown. Ireland. 83. Dr Erik Blair, Royal College of Physicians, London, UK. 84. Associate Professor, Dr Camilla Eline Andersen, Hedmark University College, Norway 85. Dr Jennifer Lyttleton-Smith, Cardiff University, Wales. 86. Dr Carla Vilhena, Professor Auxiliar, Departamento de Psicologia e Ciências da Educação, Universidade do Algarve, Portugal.

87. Dr Kristin Nawrotzki, Paedagogische Hochschule Heidelberg, Germany & Senior Research Fellow, Early Childhood Research Centre, University of Roehampton in London, UK. 88. Dr Kit Stender Petersen, Adjunct Professor, University College South Denmark. 89. Dr Allison Moore, Edge Hill University, UK. 90. Yordanka Valkanova, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK. 91. Nick Clark, Senior Research Fellow, Middlesex University, UK. 92. Dr Janice Kroeger, Associate Professor, Kent State University, Ohio, USA. 93. Dr Rob Abbott, Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood and Education, University of Chichester, UK. 94. Professor Jocey Quinn, Plymouth University, UK. 95. Mehmet Mart, PhD Candidate, Plymouth University, UK. 96. Diana Sousa, Lecturer in Education Studies, University of Winchester, UK. 97. Dr. Fikile Nxumalo, Assistant Professor, University of Texas, Austin, USA. 98. Dr. Gisela Wajskop, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC São Paulo), Brazil. 99. Tove Lafton, Assistant Professor, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Oslo, Norway. 100.

Linnea Bodén, PhD Candidate, Departement of Social and Welfare Studies,

Linköping University, Sweden 101.

Michelle Salazar Pérez, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Early Childhood

Education, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. 102.

Dr. Hanne Berit Myrvold, Assistant Professor, Oslo and Akershus University

College of Applied Sciences, Oslo, Norway. 103.

Dr Nina Rossholt, Assistant Professor, Oslo and Akershus University College,

Norway. 104.

Professor Rachel Holmes, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.

105.

Joanne Lehrer, Assistant Professor of Preschool Education, Université du

Québec en Outaouais, Canada. 106.

Dr. Chelsea Bailey, Independent Scholar, AnjiPlay (China) Chief USA

Collaborator. 107.

Chao-Ling Tseng, Dissertator, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.

108.

Dr Sonya Gaches, Assistant Professor, University of Arizona, USA.

109.

Dr Susan Garrow-Oliver, Associate Professor, Bachelor of Child Studies,

Mount Royal University, Calgary Canada. 110.

Dr Gunilla Dahlberg, Professor Emerita, Stockholm University, Sweden.

111.

Dr Patrick Turner, Senior Lecturer, Goldsmiths University, London.

112.

Victoria Edwards, PhD Candidate, Cardiff University. UK.

113.

Dr Maybritt Jensen, Associated Professor, Oslo and Akershus University

College of Applied Sciences. Norway. 114.

Dr Arianna Lazzari, University of Bologna, Italy.

115.

Sandra Sinfield, Senior Lecturer: Education and Learning Development, Centre

for the enhancement of Learning and Teaching, London Metropolitan University. 116.

Teresa K. Aslanian, Ph.D. Candidate, Oslo & Akershus University College of

Applied Science, Norway. 117.

Christina Macrae, Manchester Metropolitan University & Midland Road

Nursery School and Children's Centre. Manchester. UK.