Rate My Professor Natalie Brand

Brand's research focuses on infants' and toddlers' social interactions in early childhood centres, infant-toddler pedagogies based on interactions with peers and educators, toddlers’ learning-oriented language, infant-toddler curriculum, young children’s developmental trajectories, language development, and methods for implementing early childhood research in educators’ everyday practice. As primary chief investigator, she led the MQ Toddler TaLK project from 2021 to 2024, tracking the developmental trajectories of learning-oriented talk produced by toddlers aged 2.5 to 3.5 years to identify interaction features that promote language development and learning. She also served as a chief investigator on the Early Childhood Education and Care Pay and Conditions Research project completed in 2023. Key publications include the commissioned report "Early childhood education and care pay and conditions research: final report" (2026, co-authored with Degotardi et al., 186 pages), "Conversational leadership in toddler-educator talk and its potential to promote learning" (Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 2025), "From ‘what’ to ‘why’: plotting the emergence and frequency of children's questions from 30 to 42 months of age" (European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 2025), "Toddler-educator decontextualised talk and its value for toddlers’ learning" (Early Years, 2024), and the project’s interim report (2023). As a member of the Pay and Conditions Team, she contributed to the Faculty of Arts Learning and Teaching Award. Her contributions enhance theoretical knowledge and practical applications in early childhood education.