WEEK 2-SHARING WEB RESOURCE

EARLY CHILDHOOD AUSTRALIA

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

The organization I decided to explore their website in order to learn about issues affecting children and their family and the early childhood field is early childhood Australia. The organization is a non-profit, non-government organization that acts in the interests of young children aged from birth to eight years of age, it advocates to ensure quality, social justice and equity in all issues relating to the education and care of children from birth to eight years. Last week I subscribed to their newsletter but I am yet to receive any mail. So I decided to read through the latest news development from their website

This September 2012, was for the first time the publication of  Early years workforce strategy. The Strategy is an important document which sets out for the first time how all governments will support the early childhood education and care workforce to gain the skills they need to continue to provide Australian children with the best start to life. It reflects a commitment by governments to address the immediate priorities for the early childhood education and care workforce, while at the same time working towards a broader long-term strategy with a focus on supporting more integrated ways of working across the early childhood development sector.The Strategy supports the workforce for all early childhood education and care services including long day care, family day care, in home care, occasional care and preschools whether stand alone or operating within schools. It is also relevant to outside school hour’s care and vacation care.(Early childhood Australia,2012)

The Australian and each state and territory government have committed to developing implementation plans which outlines the steps that will be undertaken to support people to join the early education and care workforce and to get the qualifications and skills they need to support children from diverse backgrounds and with differing needs.The Strategy builds on Investing in the Early Years—A National Early Childhood Development Strategy, which was endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in July 2009. The vision of the ECD Strategy captured the aspirations of governments that by 2020 all children will have the best start in life to create a better future for them and for the nation.(Early childhood Australia,2012)

This Early Years Workforce Strategy reflects a commitment by governments to address the immediate priorities for the ECEC workforce, and at the same time work towards a long-term broader strategy for the workforce with a focus on supporting more integrated ways of working across the ECD sector. The ECEC workforce comprises educators working in education and care services including long day care services, family day care services and outside school hours care as well as in preschools and kindergartens.The Strategy will help build a highly-skilled and capable workforce, which is essential in fostering high-quality services and achieving the best outcomes for children. There is increasing recognition that the work of caring for and educating young children is complex and requires enhanced qualifications and ongoing professional development. Programs delivered by qualified educators are particularly effective in improving outcomes for vulnerable children. The Strategy provides the first commitment by all governments to an agreed vision and long-term framework for the early childhood education and child care workforce. It will be used to develop immediate areas of action and longer term policy options.Responsibility for developing a sustainable ECEC workforce is shared between service providers; early childhood educators; the peak bodies for the sector, including unions; the Australian, state, territory and local governments; training providers; families; and communities. All of these stakeholders contribute to workforce development for the sector and can drive change by working together.(Early childhood Australia,2012)

Read the Strategy

·         Early Years Workforce Strategy ( PDF 454KB |  DOCX 418KB)

Another information I noted while going through the website from the early childhood Australia web watch which seems to be related to the topic this week is the issue 146, August 2012, which addresses the issue of racism. In 2011, the Australian Government committed to develop and implement a National Anti-Racism Strategy for Australia.the Australian Race Discrimination Commissioner, Helen Szoke, launched the new strategy (the full document is available here). ‘This Strategy aims to raise awareness of racism and the harm it causes, and empower individuals and communities to take action against it,’ said Dr Szoke.

Australia is a multicultural country, with people of different cultures Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, as well as Australians who identify with more than 270 ancestries, Racism becomes an issue of concern.