Competences & Standards

The appendices from the Critical Competencies for Infant-Toddler Educators Related Professional Criteria, provide clear and concise guidance on essential knowledge and skills for infant-toddler educators.

Illustrating how criteria from various partners can be used together to support the preparation and professional development of infant-toddler educators, this document includes related professional criteria, tools and child development benchmarks.

ECEC professionals’ qualifications and working conditions are inseparably linked to the quality of education and care children receive. This series of reports present why do workforce qualifications, education, training and working conditions matter for better child development. Each of the reports also describe where each of the respective countries (Slovak Republic, Japan and Finland) stand compared to other countries in terms of workforce qualifications, training and working conditions, what are the challenges they face and what strategies have been employed in order to address those challenges.

Early Years Workforce Strategy is the early childhood education and care workforce strategy for Australia from 2012 through 2016. It sets out a vision agreed upon by Australian governments, which aims to build and support the early childhood education and care profession. The strategy aims to guide governments, as well as the sector as a whole, to: deliver a sustainable, highly qualified and professional workforce; foster a flexible and responsive workforce capable of identifying and delivering services in response to the needs of children and families; and support ECEC staff to work in a more integrated way with the broader early childhood development (ECD) workforce including the range of professionals that work with children and their families across health and family services. The following five priority areas have been identified as essential components of achieving a sustainable and highly qualified ECEC workforce: 1) a professional workforce; 2) a growing workforce; 3) a qualified workforce; 4) a responsive workforce; and 5) a collaborative workforce.

The strategy which builds on 2009’s Investing in the Early Years –A National Early Childhood Development Strategy, reflects a commitment by governments to address the immediate priorities for the ECEC workforce, and at the same time working towards a long-term broader strategy for the workforce with a focus on supporting more integrated ways of working across the ECD sector.

Commissioned By:
Standing Council on School Education and Early Childhood

2012

Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress.

Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.

This up to date text is suitable for students on all early years and early childhood courses as well as interested practitioners. It looks at the current structure of the early childhood education and care (ECEC) workforce in different countries, each of which represents a distinct philosophical tradition, tracing what has shaped this structure and examining how politics and policy have moulded the workforce over time. Each chapter analyses historical, philosophical and political developments in the respective country and looks at key theorists, the concepts of childhood that have shaped the workforce and the pedagogical approach. The unique aspects of each country are highlighted along with a consideration of what the future might hold for the workforce. Students and practitioners will achieve a more critical understanding of current practice and the beliefs which underpin particular pedagogical approaches while being encouraged to question their own values and practice.

Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the family—which includes all primary caregivers—are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment.

Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.

The goal of the integrated programme guide for ECD in emergencies is to guide the humanitarian community in designing a response that takes into account the needs of young children. This programme guide can be used in times of emergency preparedness, response, and early recovery, and for building resilience. It is designed for use by UNICEF Programme Officers as well as for representatives from other UN agencies, NGOs and government divisions responsible for designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating ECD interventions.

SEAMEO INNOTECH has prioritized Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) in Southeast Asia as one of its programmatic areas to support universalization of ECCD in the region. As part of its research agenda, the Center has completed an investigation of the ECCD quality assurancepolicies, mechanisms and models being implemented by SEAMEO member countries. Out of the 11 SEAMEO member countries, ten participated in the study. Data collected from these countries were analyzed to generate a regional ECCD quality assurance profile. SEAMEO INNOTECH is now pleased to share these findings in this latest publication.

The current publication discusses the current and depth of these ECCD policies, mechanisms and models as well as issues and challenges that still need to be addressed by SEAMEO member countries.

One major finding of the study shows that although there are ECCD policies and standards already in place in most SEAMEO member states, there is an absence of explicit ECCD quality assurance frameworks that could serve as an anchor for a holistic ECCD program. Because of this absence, most ECCD policies and standards in Southeast Asia are limited to qualifications of pre-school heads and teachers, early learning curricula, and requirements of physical facilities.

It is hoped that this publication will support SEAMEO member countries in their efforts to act on strengthening their ECCD policies and standards and formulating a comprehensive and holistic ECCD quality assurance framework that would consider the varied needs of pre-school children.

Children need good care. Their survival through childhood depends on adults who notice when they are hungry or sick, and are able to meet their needs.

Good care also means keeping children safe from harm, and giving them love, attention, and many opportunities to learn. From birth, children build ties to special adults and look to them to learn important skills. What children learn from these relationships helps to prepare them for life.

This course on Counsel the Family on Care for Child Development supports the efforts of families and others in your community who are trying to raise healthy, happy children. They may live in poverty and face many other challenges. The children they raise may be their own. Or they may have accepted the task of raising other children in their family or community. You can help them be better able to care for their children, even under difficult conditions.

Course Objectives

At the end of the course on Counsel the Family on Care for Development, you will be able to:

• Identify the interaction between a child and a parent or other person – the primary caregiver – who most directly takes care of the child.
• Counsel the family on activities to strengthen the relationship between the child and the caregiver.
• Advise the family on appropriate play and communication activities to stimulate the child’s growth and healthy development.

As you learn these tasks, you will focus on observing caregivers with their children. Using good communication skills, you will counsel the family.