Building a professional and engaged ECEC workforce Research
Building a professional and engaged ECEC workforce
Research Team Academics – QUT and CSU Karen Thorpe Developmental Psychology Sue Irvine ECEC Policy and Practice Paula Mc. Donald Management and workforce strategy Jo Lunn ECEC education and training Jennifer Sumsion ECEC Education and training Wendell Cockshaw Workforce wellbeing Industry Partners Kate Liley Research director, Goodstart Early Learning Pam Spall C&K Queensland Mary Lincoln OECEC, Depart Education and Training and Employment, QLD
Educator Training Satisfaction Quality of interaction Turnover Attachment security Learning Child
ARC Study : Key Question What factors enable and impede recruitment, retention, engagement and on-going professional qualification of early years educators, in the context: 1. National and State policies and strategies? 2. Local workplace ecosystems?
National Early Years Workforce Strategy Goal: Raise the quality of ECEC Local Work Eco-systems Recruitment and retention Improved qualifications
Research literature : Staying and Training Barriers Motivations Reward of working with children Belonging to a team Autonomy and social justice Pay and conditions Career progression Local conditions
Study aims • Identify the personal, professional and workplace mechanisms associated with staying and training in the EY workforce • Track occupational trajectories and pathways of EY professional development over time and their association with policy, practice and personal dynamics • Assess the role of local contexts in predicting staying and training with reference to different workplace conditions and variation across urban, regional and remote locations • Translate research findings to inform Commonwealth and State government departments about current policies and strategies and provide advice regarding effective strategies to improve engagement, qualifications and workplace conditions for the EY workforce.
Research questions, methods and outcomes What personal and professional factors are associated with staying and training National Survey of ECEC providers and intense case studies in 14 centres What is the role of local work ecosystems on staying and training Study of staff in 14 centres in three locations with different work ecosystems Identification of local and personal variation in motivation and barriers Longitudinal tracking of the effects of and perspectives of ECEC providers Feedback on appropriate strategies into the future What are the impacts of current strategies Overview and identification of key locations and focus for intervention
Thank you for your support and inputs to this important study
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