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Presentation to Students University of Southern Queensland May 2001 |
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Current Issues in Early Childhood.Presentation to Students University of Southern Queensland
Wednesday May 1st. 2002
Introduction
- about Myself
- Cooloon Children's Centre Inc.
- AECA
- Accreditation experience
Through your studies as Early Childhood students I am sure your awareness has deepened as to the important task ahead of you. That is the care and education of our youngest and most vulnerable citizens. As early childhood professionals we are now challenged, by families and communities, who are much more socially, culturally and ethnically diverse with different beliefs aspirations and requirements. Their visions for their children are our challenges.
- How can we complement and support family values within their environments and hours?
- How as early childhood professionals do we meet these challenges within the complex range of 'conditions' with which we work ?
The International (UN) Convention on The Rights of the Child gives us a framework that we can refer to with some authority with which to base our work with young children and their families on. I will put in examples here that support me in my roles including own centre rights and rights related to the convention.
As early childhood professionals we have an enormous task ahead if we are to make things right for children.
Children do not vote and are often not seen as people in his/her own right. They are often seen as part of someone else (usually the parent) or worse still in some kind of 'waiting room' passing the time to be an adult and therefore worthy of consideration.
At all levels of government early childhood has struggled, and continues to struggle, to gain a commitment to policy and funding in key areas. Funding that will make a difference for them.
As early childhood professionals we know there are significant factors that matter in the caring and educating of young children. We know that what is vital is trusting, stable, and caring relationshipsCan we, as a profession, provide this stability, gain the trust of children, build the relationships with them that are necessary when we have a major crisis in our profession and where state and territory regulations are insufficient to support us to provide quality.
Some of the challenges facing early childhood are :
- classroom sizes in the first years of school
- ratios for infants and toddlers that cannot deliver quality.examples.
- lack of retention of all staff,but especially qualified staff
- casualisation of the workforce
- inconsistencies in awards and conditions across service types and states and territories
- poor remuneration
- limited or no funds for resources and professional development
I refer you to the recent report of the Commonwealth Childcare Advisory Council who spent many hours consulting with the field which details and gives insight to many other issues confronting young children and our profession.
Governments at all levels have talked about the importance of the early years. We now need to find ways to ensure there are sufficient resources and a real investment in young children. This does not just mean a few simple and one off resources but lots of $$$ to underwrite proper services for young children, including proper ratios, proper wages, proper conditions and suitably qualified staff.
The task for us all as early childhood professionals is to gain support and understanding from our communities so they too support the investment by governments in the early years. Let them know how crucial these early years are. Use your knowledge about brain development to support this. We need to get better at talking to parents and the community about what we do and why about what worries us about what is happening - it so tempting not to talk in this way - but unless we do we will not persuade parents to make children an issue at the ballot box and until it is we will not be able to prevail on Government's to invest for quality for children.
The professional early childhood educator as described by Dr Glenda MacNaughton, the Associate Professor in Early Childhood studies and Director of the Centre for Equity and Innovation in Early Childhood at The University of Melbourne must:
- enhance and support young children's learning
- build developmental programs
- build young children's capacity to be heard
- and support young children's to chose and to act.
If we are to do this we need people who understand what they are doing - who are specialists in early childhood. We need people who because of this know how to listen, answer, respect, and support young children to learn and be part of our social world. We need such people wherever young children are being cared for and educated in a formal setting -
Although ways of working with children will vary depending on who they are, where they and their parents come from, their cultural backgrounds etc. But we need to acknowledge that regardless of approach
Children have a right to excellent teaching
Excellent teaching is by definition:
- complex and dynamic
- interventionist
- value based
- needs careful and critical reflection
- is active in incorporating anti-discriminatory principles and practices
We need to know too that there are:
- no recipes for good teaching , and so
- no correct ways to optimise learning
We need to absolutely clear that teaching and learning occurs in more places than school classrooms
- Teaching and learning occur in a diverse range of settings, including childcare.
So what is the way forward. Making thingsNone of this can be done on our own. I know this, as many of the challenges today are ones I have faced in my twenty years in working with young children - as a student, as a beginning teacher, as a parent, as a childcare worker, part time student and now Director and AECA's National President.
It can be done in a myriad of ways but does require a commitment to young children and a commitment to lifelong learning. We need to build a sense amongst those who use early childhood services as to its worth. For example it is much more than just providing the service that allows the parent to return to work.
We need to talk about the importance of our work. As Allison Elliot the editor of AECA's journal 'Every Child' stated"teaching expertise means empowering young children to develop the understandings, skills, strategies, and dispositions that will set them on the path to lifelong learning.
We need to converse with the range of players - parents, colleagues, communities, and governments in language they understand use example play opposed to brain wiring.
We need to acknowledge there are problems. For example accreditation; ratios; lack of resources.
How can we solve a problem without ever acknowledging it?
We need to seek out other colleagues who share our individual concernsAnd work with them to sort out what the issues are and put these out in public arena Use example of Men in Childcare group in Sydney.
We need to take families into our confidence and share with them how things could be different (better) with smaller ratios, release time for planning etc
We need to work with established groups and find ways with them to make a difference. Use AECA's Election Agenda here as an example of this.
We need to be brave and be prepared to have our position heard, supported and or challenged as I was recently when I spoke out on a current Australian issue - children in detention, at a recent world forum in New Zealand.
We need to question the directions of our early childhood community. If you value equity and access where do you sit when children's learning needs are constrained by the business or community need to pay or not for qualified staff and resources.
We need to be advocates for children and talk up children , the importance of childhood and the significance of stable, trusting relationships in the early years. What is your view about the 'childfree' apartments just released on the Gold Coast. What would paid maternity leave mean for children?
Choosing early childhood as a career is much more than just working with children. I urge you all to seek support in early childhood networks use my example of not having any and starting ones own like AECA North Coast.
Join organisations that value and believe in young children and have avenues for you to contribute to children's future good.
Join the Union and push for the things that will not only make a difference for you but ultimately children
Subscribe to journals (like Every Child) - keep current , keep thinking, keep reflecting and talking about children and our most important profession.
Be active and keep your work colleagues( who may not have had the formal training you have had) informed and interested.
Create an e group from your class when you graduate to support your work as beginning teachers.
Together we can make a difference.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 14 June 2007 )
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