OECD Presentation ECEC Quality Project Ms Vicki Rundle

OECD Presentation ECEC Quality Project Ms Vicki Rundle Australian Government December 2009 1

Early Childhood Initiatives Early Childhood Development Strategy Improving Quality and Accessibility of Early Childhood Education and Care Services Quality National standards rating system Early Years Learning Framework Streamlined regulation Workforce University places HECS remission No TAFE fees National strategy Data Support for Parents & Funding AEDI National Performance Information Framework & Data Agreement Home interaction program Increased CCTR Integrated services Better information For parents Infrastructure 260 early learning & care centres Early Childhood Education Indigenous Early Childhood Development Universal Access to Early Childhood education Early learning programs for remote Indigenous children Indigenous Early Childhood Development National Partnership & children & family centres 2

Australia’s quality reform agenda The reforms agreed to by the Council of Australian Governments comprise: • strong national quality standards for early childhood education and care; • a quality rating system to drive continuous improvement and provide parents with relevant information about the quality of learning and care; • a new national body; • streamlining or integrating licensing and accreditation arrangements; and • a national Early Years Learning Framework. 3

questions Drawing on Australia’s recent experiences: • the current questions would capture the essence of our reforms: o The first three analytical questions seem to be critical to answer before we get to the other two o Although all five are relevant Some additional thoughts: o there is no single path to quality o the importance of context: critical to know where countries are starting from and the geo-political environment in which early childhood services are delivered 4

Q 2 - What is Australia doing? Against the 7 policy areas, Australia is taking action to: Take a systemic and integrated approach to policy development / implementation Provide autonomy, funding and support to services Provide substantial public investment in services and infrastructure Place systematic attention to monitoring and data collection Improve working conditions and professional education for staff Develop broad guidelines and curricular standards with stakeholders Encourage family and community involvement in early childhood services 5

Q 3 : Policy tool box & packages The tool box: • a good idea • however, definitions and indicators can be useful, but they are often very country (or even dataset) specific and can be hard to replicate elsewhere • Our new indicators will be based on the new policy framework and seven dimensions or areas of quality Policy packages: • should be about identifying a range of options – to suit changing political/financial/policy climates over time : no one road to quality • based on evidence: what works and what can be implemented 6

Q 4 - Country Specific Profile • May be useful, for eg, benchmarking with “like” countries but would appreciate a discussion today Q 5 – Policy Forums • Good idea • Build consensus with stakeholders • External/international flavor is beneficial • International forums – be creative, travel is a constraint 7

Questions for brainstorming Writing survey questions is something of an art. Our approach is instead to offer some of the answers are seeking or we could possibly provide: • Governance / coordination: we would want to talk about: o o the new working relationship between our Commonwealth and state governments; and the need to balance providing support and autonomy for services with being confident about the level of quality services provide. • Funding: we would want to talk about funding mechanisms including creating incentives to improve quality and enhancing access for those most in need and/or cash transfers/subsidies for parents vis a vis investing in service delivery systems • Monitoring and data: we would want to talk about existing efforts, future 8 plans, and the constraints of working across a number of separate bureaucracies and jurisdictions.

Questions for brainstorming, • Professionalising the EC workforce generally including creating career paths and a workforce mix that is affordable and enhances quality • Teachers: we would want to talk about existing efforts to improve recruitment, retention and working conditions. • Organisation, curriculum and pedagogy: we would want to talk about o o our new Early Years Learning Framework; and how we have engaged families and the broader community in early childhood services, what’s worked well and what has been less successful. 9

Thank you and Merry Xmas 10