Catharine Hydon

Catharine Hydon is the Director and Principal Consultant at Hydon Consulting. Over the last 10 years she has worked at a range of organisations and governments to understand and articulate quality and inspire change. With a Masters in early childhood education, Catharine has extensive experience in the early childhood sector beginning as a teacher in a kindergarten program in the northern suburbs of Melbourne to lead roles in a range of services and projects for children and their families.

Catharine draws on her experience and ongoing practice research to consider how theory connects and informs practice. Specialising in early childhood practice and pedagogy, quality improvement, policy and governance, the delivery of integrated services to engage vulnerable children and their families.

Catharine’s involvement in the early childhood sector is an important part of her commitment to the outcomes for children. She is a long-time member of Early Childhood Australia (ECA), regular contributor in ECA publications and has just completed 7 years as the Co-chair of the Reconciliation Advisory Group. Catharine is a Board Member of the Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority and the Early Years-10 Curriculum and Assessment Committee for the VCAA as well as a second-tier reviewer for ACECQA.

Catharine is a dynamic speaker and collaborative facilitator and is skilled at engaging professionals in reflective dialogue and creative conversations.


Leading Pedagogical Awakenings:  The Art of Educational Leadership in Changing Times

  • Placing the event in the context of ECEC and Educational Leadership in Australia…
  • What is our emerging practice understanding of Educational Leadership in ECEC – a reading of the landscape, practice signals, risks and gaps, practice awakenings
  • The Education Leader in changing times (COVID and beyond)  – politically, socially, educationally, ethically 
  • Shifting towards a view of the Educational Leader as nurturing Pedagogical Awakenings in collaboration with their colleagues, families and of course, children – lifting our gaze from function to awakening.  
  • What does this mean in practice – what would we see Education Leaders doing, not doing?  Thinking about, enacting? 
  • And what enabling factors might we need to draw on…   and importantly, what ought we be advocating for?