Landscape analysis

Despite increased funding and many reforms, most education systems are still seeking ways to better prepare their students for a world in which technological change and the digital revolution are changing the way we work, live and relate to one another. Education systems that have succeeded in improving student outcomes show that the way forward is by making teachers the top priority. The adaptability of education systems and their ability to evolve ultimately depends on enabling teachers to transform what and how students learn. This requires strong support and training for teachers, both before and after they enter the profession, with new forms of professional development to help teachers engage in more direct instruction and adapt it to the needs of their diverse classrooms. Education systems need to perform well in two dimensions: excellence and equity. Many high performers do well on both, demonstrating that they are not mutually exclusive. To do so requires specific measures to overcome factors that can hinder student performance, such as socio-economic background, immigrant status and gender.

SOS Children’s Villages has been working to embed children’s rights within care settings for many years. Our approach has been multifaceted, embracing structures and institutions, care professionals and young people themselves. One gap identified in the course of this work has been the absence of effective training programmes for care professionals which have children’s rights at the core. This manual has been produced to fill that gap. The two-day course outlined in these pages is designed to familiarise groups of care professionals with the international standards and principles surrounding children’s rights – and above all, to relate this to the daily experience and challenges arising in the field of alternative care. The course is intended to provide participants with the information, motivation and strategies that they can use to carry children’s rights into their daily work. The aim is to contribute to higher quality care and a culture of respect for children’s rights.

Across and beyond Europe, demographic, social and economic pressures both at the macro and the micro level are impacting on the work contexts of early childhood educators. Alongside heightened drives towards expansion and increasing regulation of the field, expectations are intensifying. Additionally, goals and targets for higher education and vocational education at the European policy level are generating restructurings of the national qualification systems for work in the early childhood field. In this dynamic context of change the SEEPRO (Early Education/care and Professionalisation in Europe) study, based at the State Institute of Early Childhood Research in Munich and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Family and Youth Affairs, set out to map the qualification requirements and workplace settings of early years practitioners in their country-specific context. Similarities and differences across the 27 countries of the European Union were documented and analysed. The findings of the study show considerable divergencies across Europe in terms of formal education and training requirements and the desired professional profiles for working with young children. Against this background of diversity, similarities in terms of workforce emergencies and challenges have also emerged: one is a common lack of truly flexible and inclusive pathways linked to formal professional recognition and status for all practitioners in the field; another is the continuing need to seek more effective ways of including men in the early childhood workforce.

This research overviewed the present situation of Korean early childhood education and care workforce's certification, education and training, and working conditions, according to the elements to assure the quality of teachers. Results show that structure and condition of the initial teacher training system, certificating system, professional development system and working environment and treatment of kindergarten teachers were slightly better than child care center teachers', and national/public kindergarten teachers' were better than private kindergarten teachers'. The hidden issues behind it such as marginalization, traditional child care discourse and the underestimation of caring were pointed out, which must be considered in addition to the elements related to teachers' quality that appear on the surface, when the integration plan of kindergarten and child care center teachers is discussed.

A Review of the Literature: Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Personnel in Low- and Middle-Income Countries was commissioned to inform the development of a common survey instrument for the UNESCO pilot Survey of Teachers in Pre-Primary Education (STEPP) which will collect data on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) personnel in selected low- and middle income countries (LMICs). The authors address three questions in this literature review:

• What is the evidence on the relationship among personnel characteristics, the quality of ECCE services and child outcomes?
• What are the training requirements, working conditions, setting characteristics of ECCE personnel in LMICs? What beliefs do these personnel hold?
• What are the trends and main issues surrounding the above-mentioned characteristics and their implications for access and quality?

Research suggests that, when it comes to early childhood education and care, quality matters most. A growing number of countries are establishing monitoring systems to ensure quality and accountability in these programmes.

This new publication explores how countries can develop and use these systems to enhance service and staff quality for the benefit of child development. It offers an international perspective and concrete examples to help policy makers, monitoring experts and practitioners in the field develop their own monitoring policies and practices.

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.

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.

This study consolidates the evidence base across the EU28 regarding the diversity of the teaching workforce with regard to migrant and/or minority background. Increasing diversity within the teaching profession is one potential response to the evolving needs of an increasingly multicultural learner population. In particular, the study has: identified and analysed the existing statistical data on the current diversity of the teaching workforce; explored the prevalence of the different barriers to teacher diversity; mapped the policies and initiatives implemented; and, examined the evidence on the effectiveness of the policies. To do so, the study methodology comprised: a literature review drawing on both European and international research; primary research with national experts for the compilation of 28 country profiles; ten in-depth cases studies of policies/initiatives promoting teacher diversity; a comparative analysis of findings; a virtual Policy Delphi; and, two high-level diversity expert seminars. In this executive summary, we set out the main findings and recommendations emerging from the research.

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.