Monitoring & mentoring

Interactive Audio Instruction (IAI) is a distance learning technology that can deliver low-cost, culturally appropriate education via radio or mobile audio technology. It is a highly effective tool to reach children who can be hard to reach through conventional programs, including the rural poor and children with disabilities. IAI can also be an effective form of service delivery in unstable and conflict-affected regions.

This document provides guidance for program designers and managers who may be interested in using IAI for early childhood development programming, it provides solid evidence for the viability of the IAI approach and outlines the process for designing and implementing an IAI program specifically for early childhood contexts – from initial start-up in a given community, to large scale expansion in a country. It highlights the main steps in the production cycle, the roles and responsibilities of government and communities, and provides useful tips for practitioners at each stage of the process.
The toolkit outlines the four phases in the IAI program cycle as they pertain to ECD programming in a facilitated group setting (early childhood classrooms, non-formal community learning centers, or other adult-led group childcare settings), with a particular focus on community-based early learning initiatives as a means of increasing access. Annexes provide more detail on processes, players and costs of an ECD IAI program, as well as a list of common pitfalls and means of avoiding them or minimizing their impact.

This case study is part of a larger effort to document and increase understanding of the various approaches for supporting children affected by HIV and AIDS in South Africa and around the world. The role of the child and youth care workers (CYCWs) who provide programs to those children and their families is of significant importance. Although they report high levels of job satisfaction they role is very demanding. Believing that offering enhanced psychosocial support to CYCWs would prove critical to the program’s success, in 2007 The National Association of Child Care Workers (NACCW) facilitated the development of an innovative model called Care for Caregivers (C4C). The model brings clinical psychologists directly to CYCWs for a six month program of professional psychosocial support through individual and group counseling.

This case study offers a detailed examination of the C4C model. The report provides an overview of the strengths of the C4C program, recommendations for the future implementation and extension of the program, as well as specific priorities.

Programs and policymakers face numerous challenges as they develop and implement professional development strategies for the early childhood workforce. The field lacks consistent standards and requirements for professional preparation, and, as a result, low levels of education and a minimum of specialized training in early childhood education are the norm. In addition, current strategies of professional development do not adequately prepare all educators for the array of responsibilities, knowledge, and skills they are expected to demonstrate in their work with young children and their families.

This review incorporates findings from research on four targets of early childhood professional development: 1) strengthening human or social capital; 2) strengthening practices at institutions or organizations providing professional development; 3) strengthening early educator practices related to specific child outcomes; and, 4) strengthening overall quality in classroom or group settings. The literature review analyzed the research on professional development of early childhood educators to work toward identification of a set of core features that characterize effective professional development. A number of gaps were identified in the research on early childhood professional development that need to be addressed.

Examining the Associations Between Infant/Toddler Workforce Preparation, Program Quality and Child Outcomes: A Review of the Research Evidence summarizes the findings of an evidence review conducted to address the following question:
What evidence do we have from the research literature about associations between infant/toddler teacher and caregiver preparation (e.g. education, credentials, etc.) and improvements in quality and child outcomes.

The research team worked to synthesized research about which core competencies and credentials have the strongest associations with program quality outcomes. Their findings report what research currently says about:

• teachers’ degrees in relation to program quality and child outcomes;
• teachers’ major/concentration in ECE or child development in relation to observed quality and child outcomes;
• state credentials on observed quality and child outcomes; and
• teacher training on observed quality and child outcomes.

The study describes the implications of this research for policy, practice and for further research.

2013 National Early Childhood Education and Care Workforce Census, commissioned by the Department of Education as part of a range of Australian Government initiatives designed to improve the quality of information used in developing and measuring early childhood policy and programs. This report was developed specifically to address information gaps in existing administrative data sources, with respect other ECEC workforce, participation in and provision of preschool programs and children with additional needs in child care. The data presented in this census will help policy makers better understand the challenges of providing quality child care and early learning, assess the capacity in the workforce to meet future demand and formulate strategies to support early childhood development policies.

This global survey, which presents information on 426 programs in 121 countries in all world regions, aims to fill in existing gaps in our knowledge about the status of IECD and ECI programs internationally. Specifically, the main objectives of the survey were to: 1) Map current implementation of IECD and ECI programs and related activities; 2) Describe key IECD and ECI program features; 3) Identify gaps and challenges in providing accessible IECD and ECI services; 4) Document factors associated with successful implementation and scale-up; and 5) Generate recommendations to inform future policy and program development and national planning and implementation efforts.

The study reports program types and participants, legal frameworks that support the development and implementation of programs, program objectives, multi-sectoral cooperation, service provision, financial support and parent involvement across regions. In addition, the study highlights the barriers and enabling factors that can support the development, expansion and improvement of IECD and ECI programs. Based on the robust findings and conclusions of the study, the authors formulate 20 recommendations that can support the development, scale up and effectiveness of the IECD and ECI services globally and at the same time they issue a Call for a global agenda for the improvement and expansion of IECD and ECI programs.

RISE Institute, UNICEF, Early Childhood Development Task Force

2019

The Wanda method: overview and steps forward  report is the result of an ISSA Peer Learning Activity and involved several members of the ISSA network.

WANDA is a method developed in 2010 in order to support professional group reflection, with specific attention to valuing each other, with respect towards the child, the family, the colleagues, the community. WANDA aims to improve quality in ECEC for children and families.

The specific objectives of the PLA were:

1) Get an overview of what (and how) has been done with Wanda on a local level in each country: which services have been involved, with which frequency did they organize Wanda sessions, what has been the impact, what are the strengths and the critical points that come out, what are the needs of the target groups etc.
2) Co-reflect on the strengths and challenges, with the aim of fine-tuning the different Wanda paths: the aim is not homologating the peculiar experiences of the different contexts, but finding coherency within the differences (agreeing on what is Wanda and what it is not, discussing possibilities and borders, stimulating each other by getting to know the different experiences that took place etc.).
3) Consider all this, thinking together about possible next steps for Wanda, both on a local level in each country involved, and on an international one (f.e. through EU projects).

Call to Action on the Social Service Workforce Strengthening in the Europe and Central Asia Region, developed by Oxford Policy Management and UNICEF Europe and Central Asia, seeks to ensure that functions, competencies and qualifications across the social service workforce are aligned so there will no longer be unqualified professionals in roles requiring professional competencies and there will be a range of personnel deployed across a range of services with the right qualifications for the competencies and responsibilities of their position.

The governments of the region are called upon to act upon the following:

1. Agreeing to a common set of definitions of the social service and allied workforces in the ECA region
2. Effective long-term planning of the social service workforce and aligning functions, processes, competencies and qualifications
3. Developing the competencies of the social service workforce
4. Supporting the social service workforce

The Erasmus+ report, Professionalisation of Childcare Assistants in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC): Pathways towards Qualification, focuses on reviewing profiles of ECEC assistants in 15 European countries, as well as the professionalization opportunities available to them. The report makes recommendations on how pathways for qualification and continuous professional development (CPD) can be created for assistants. Examples from Denmark, France and Slovenia show some successful pathways in these areas.

Several key findings were introduced in the report. The first is that ECEC assistants are not recognized in policy documents or research. This is unacceptable considering the high number of assistants in the ECEC workforce. Additionally, ECEC assistants have little opportunity to receive the same qualification as a core practitioner. There should be investment in systems that reward the work of all staff, and opportunities to be upwardly mobile at work. This includes increasing the number of opportunities for professional development that assistants have access to. European countries do not generally provide funding for staff’s non-contact time, causing assistants to miss out on reflection time with their teams.

Proper supervision enables home visitors to form supportive relationships with families. Supervision: supporting professionals and enhancing service quality focuses on supporting the supervision of home visitors in order to guide home visitors in their work.

Through these modules, readers may: 

• review the meaning of supervision and the contribution it makes to support quality in the delivery of services and professional development of the home visitor;
• reflect on the supervisory role and related activities in supporting professional development in the work environment;
• explore the meaning of lifelong learning and professional development; and
• reflect on current supervision practices as related to home visiting and identified concrete actions and approaches that can be used to strengthen them.

This module belongs to the Supporting Families for Nurturing Care resource modules for home visitors.