The Royal Commission's 3-year-old preschool roundtable came together again on 18 May to focus specifically on early childhood education and care workforce matters.

Stacey Fox of dandolopartners facilitated a discussion on sector workforce opportunities (PDF, 285.1 KB), challenges and levers, and all stakeholders participated in a productive discussion.

The Commission heard about:

• the importance of valuing the profession of early childhood education and care,
• the roles of government to structurally support the sector workforce
• how decision making and funding frameworks can support the autonomy of teachers and educators to deliver positive outcomes for children.

Members discussed the workforce pipeline, the challenges around attraction, development and retention and participants provided real insight into the core structural elements that are important to a quality workforce. These included:

• planning time
• team time
• embedded opportunities for learning and reflection
• building a community of learning in the workplace.

The importance of cultural diversity and the value and care that a culturally and linguistic diverse workforce can bring to all children was agreed, including the need to support new arrivals to Australia to enter the early childhood workforce.

Other fundamentals that support workforce quality included induction of teachers and educators, and continuity of relationships with children and families. Leadership qualities were discussed including the importance of building culture, genuinely consulting, forging community partnerships, succession planning and working alongside allied health professionals.

Members also noted the tangible actions that help and how services are tackling challenges of rostering complexity (such as crossing over shifts, increasing workplace flexibility), investing in crucial planning and professional development time and succession planning.

Members agreed that all parts of the sector workforce are vital and need investment and support  - this includes leaders, teachers, early childhood educators, allied health professional, and support staff including administration and cooking.

Members talked about innovative models that support workforce development (paid practicum, micro credentialling, 'soft entry' pilots, mentoring and scholarships) and the differences in workplace conditions in different settings.

The Royal Commission extends its thanks to all who have participated in the 3-year-old roundtables. The commitment of time, insight and genuine sharing of ideas has been invaluable to our inquiries.

The second meeting of the 3-year-old preschool roundtable received a detailed briefing of the ECEC sector mapping report.

Participants identified a number of areas for further examination, including:

• looking at variance in service utilisation
• differences in how much families travel by socio economic status
• other distinctions of the workforce data.

The roundtable also received a briefing on a draft Issues Paper being developed by Early Childhood Australia on behalf of the Royal Commission.

Based on conversations with a range of experts, the Issues Paper identifies and seeks feedback on what are termed ‘setting-specific factors’ for quality preschool. The Issues Paper seeks to identify those factors that are unique to a setting (such as long day care, or school-based preschool, or standalone preschool) and which have been identified as important by expert informants to ensuring the delivery of a quality preschool program in that setting.

The Issues Paper will also test the edges of what can reasonably be called ‘preschool’, with a view to thinking through what ensuring universal access to three-year-old preschool might look like, in a country like Australia where, for example, some families and communities live in very remote or isolated settings. The Issues Paper will be distributed to roundtable participants for further comment, prior to finalisation and publication on the Royal Commission website.

Key elements identified by roundtable members as essential for a quality preschool program included delivery by an Early Childhood Teacher, placing the child and their holistic needs at the centre of the program, the involvement of families and an inclusive, culturally responsive pedagogical approach.

There was some discussion about how to understand ‘preschool’ in the context of the broader early childhood education and care system. Some participants believed that preschool is only a small part of the system and that the design of quality preschool should have the broader system in mind, while others suggested that the different developmental needs of three-year-olds mean that we should imagine preschool for three-year-olds quite differently from four-year-old preschool.

Regardless of setting, participants agreed that high quality programs will be child centred.

On 1 February, stakeholders from across South Australia, representing early childhood services, unions, researchers, public health, sector peak bodies, government agencies, statutory functions and non-government support services all came together to provide their wisdom and insight to the Royal Commission.

On 3-year-old preschool, stakeholders agreed on the importance of universal delivery with access to supports and the value that preschool can bring to not only children but their families as well. Stakeholders also noted the importance of planning for implementation, and sequencing rollout at a pace that allows services and workforce to develop.

There was strong agreement about placing children at the centre of system design and delivery, ensuring that we don’t create barriers or systems that are hard to navigate or which block access. Stakeholders also the importance of community engagement with ECEC to connect with families and services and for ECEC to be part of a community.

Roundtable members reflected on the powerful role ECEC can play, particularly in the first 1000 days, to disrupt the impacts of disadvantage, poverty and other social determinants of health. Members also acknowledged that there was a need to directly address disadvantage and inequality.

Stakeholders also noted the challenges of delivering services in regional areas, where it is harder to maintain a workforce, the challenges of isolation and distance from supports.

Attracting, training and retaining a quality workforce was discussed as vital to success and this will be examined during 2023 by the Royal Commission.

Stakeholders will come together again in March 2023.