Recognition of the profession

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.

This report summarizes the analysis of major issues affecting the status of teaching personnel worldwide at all levels of education by the 12th Session of the Joint ILO–UNESCO Committee of Experts on the Application of the Recommendations concerning Teaching Personnel (the Joint Committee), held in Paris on 20–24 April 2015. Composed of independent education experts from around the world, the 12th Session of the Joint Committee examined a number of urgent issues affecting teaching personnel, including quality teaching in higher education, professionalization of early childhood education personnel, changing employment relationships in teaching, the impact of digital technologies, and social dialogue. The Joint Committee also examined a number of allegations from teacher unions regarding the application of the Recommendations. The report of this session contains recommendations to the Governing Body of the ILO and to the Executive Board of UNESCO, and through them to governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations of their member States, on how to improve the condition of the teaching profession within their respective mandates, using the two Recommendations as guidelines. The recommendations of the Joint Committee are nonbinding, being intended to guide the actions of national authorities, employers’ and workers’ organizations and other education stakeholders.

ILO and UNESCO

2015

Southeast Asian Guidelines for Early Childhood Teacher Development and Management focuses on recommendations based on both regional and international experiences concerning how to best manage and further enhance the quality of early childhood teachers in terms of the following aspects:

• recruitment to the profession,
• pre-service education,
• certification, deployment,
• continuing professional assessment and development,
• career progression, and
• working conditions and environments.
• These guidelines aim to aid relevant ministries and agencies in the professionalization of early childhood teachers and the promotion of better working conditions.​

SEAMEO

2016

This report is an important contribution to the Women at Work Centenary Initiative. It gives a picture of where women stand today and how they have progressed in the world of work over the last 20 years, and of the root causes of inequalities and how they should be tackled based on what works and the guidance provided by international labour standards. It shows that, despite some encouraging advances, major gender gaps at work remain. Increasing gender parity in educational attainment does not prevent women from being concentrated in middle to lower-paid occupations that reflect traditional gender stereotypes and beliefs about women’s and men’s aspirations and capabilities. While sectoral and occupational segregation and differences in working time contribute to the gender wage gap, the report turns the spotlight on the role of the discrimination that further exacerbates labour market inequalities, including the persistent differences in access to social protection between women and men. The report also discusses the extent to which measures to recognize, reduce and redistribute unpaid household and care work in families and societies affect women’s access to quality work and social protection. It shows how work-family policies aligned with international labour standards can help to remedy inequalities and to transform the gender-based division of labour at home.

The report aspires to support a renewed and reinforced global commitment towards gender equality at work, as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It is also hoped that the report will be of use to ILO constituents in their efforts to identify, in their specific contexts, the policies that are most conducive to the attainment of substantive equality between women and men, combining increased economic growth with decreased income inequality.

International Labor Organization

2016

This report discusses the importance of supporting the early learning workforce – nearly a totality of whom are women – not only to improve the quality of early learning programs, but also to ensure fair pay so that they can support their own families. The report discusses how high-quality early learning matters for healthy child development and how the wage gap undermines children’s outcomes. It presents data on workforce earnings across states, as well as relevant state demographics and the recent federal efforts to support the early childhood workforce.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services U.S. Department of Education

2016

This literature review of national and international surveys of early childhood care and education (ECCE) provision and the teaching workforce was commissioned by UNESCO to inform the development of survey instrument and methodology for the Survey of Teachers in Pre-Primary Education (STEPP) project (May 2015–December 2017). The key tasks set by UNESCO were to:

1. Provide an analysis of the purpose, scope, content, target population/ institution, sampling procedure and sample size of relevant international and national surveys, including the kinds of constructs and indicators/variables included;
2. Identify lessons from the implementation of relevant international and national surveys, from which the project can learn;
3. Provide recommendations to the Project

The main purpose of the surveys was to make visible information about the teacher workforce in order to analyse and compare policy, to highlight issues that might be supported by policy and practice and to make plans within countries to enhance the teacher workforce. Survey information can also generate theoretical understanding by enabling relationships between variables to be examined.
The report presents lessons learnt from the implementation of the surveys as well as recommendations for future research.

This document focuses upon the situation of orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) in Tanzania and describes the current status of Social Welfare Workforce Strengthening for OVC in the country. The report provides an overview of: 1) Tanzania’s social welfare system and how it supports OVC, 2) the social welfare workforce for OVC, 3) the challenges faced by the workforce for OVC, and 4) the efforts to address those challenges. The report concludes with links to two tools to support these efforts: a guide for assessing the public sector workforce and a training manual for workers supporting OVC.

The aim of this study is to inform stakeholders about the opportunities for and constraints on building the social work workforce within the child welfare sector in Africa. Based on principles and practices of family-centered, community-based social work practice for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), this report analyzes the capacity of the child welfare workforce and the education and training of social workers in Africa within the framework of African child welfare policies. Opportunities and constraints of the child welfare workforce in Africa are identified based on the a four-pillar framework that includes: 1) Policy and Legal Framework; 2) Child Welfare Service Models and the Practice Environment; 3) Education and Training; and 4) Outcomes and Performance Measures. One observation that underscores all the other observations and findings is that there exists a historically rich social work profession in Africa that was built on a community ideology and focused on meeting the needs of vulnerable children and families, especially those living in poverty. The loss of community in social work methods, the lack of indigenous knowledge and the underdevelopment of the profession, and the need to build the capacity of child welfare and social work education systems in Africa are consistent themes in this analysis. Results highlight that strengthening child welfare systems necessitates an approach that connects laws, policies, the child welfare practice environment, workforce capacity (including education and training), and defined outcome measures and data collection systems.

This background paper highlights the importance of early childhood development and presents ECE data on demand, enrolments and national policies. It also discusses the important role of pre-primary/early childhood education and the complexities of the teaching profession. Special emphasis is given into the professionalization of the field and examples in the following fields: 1) the roles and responsibilities of government bodies, employer organizations, trade unions and civil society groups; 2) ECE content: Curricula and teaching methods; 3) ECE financing; 4) Preparation for the profession; 5) Recruitment, deployment and retention; 6) Professional and career development; 7) Employment terms and conditions; 8) Learning and teaching conditions; 9) Evaluating ECE personnel; and 10) ECE governance and social dialogue.

Drawing on the analysis of those factors, a variety of recommendations in line with the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, as well as the ILO guidelines, have been suggested, which should be put in place by governments and other providers of early childhood education to enhance the professionalization of – and improve the working conditions of – ECE personnel.

The focus of this report is on the impact of the working conditions and continuous professional development (CPD) of the workforce in the field of early childhood education and care (ECEC) on the quality of the services provided and, in particular, on the outcomes for children. The report reviews research evidence from all 28 EU Member States, including both English and non-English language studies. The aim is to identify how the training and development of ECEC workers who operate in a range of settings might be tailored to most effectively improve the quality of the care and education services available for children below primary-school age in EU Member States. The review establishes what are known to be, on the basis of available research evidence, the links between CPD interventions, working conditions and outcomes for children. In so doing, it aims to inform policymakers’ decisions on effective strategies for sustaining the quality of ECEC through investment in its workforce. The evidence points to critical factors in CPD intervention.