The OECD has produced a number of reports examining and comparing the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector around the world, Bedrock Journalist Sue Osborne writes.
Just Google ‘OECD encouraging quality in early childhood education and care’ and they come up.
One in particular, Strategies to tackle challenges in improving workforce development and working conditions, compares professional development opportunities in different countries.
The report says:
“Many countries offer some form of professional development opportunities for ECEC staff. However, the take up rates are often found to be low. First and foremost, information about training opportunities may not be well known, or the benefits of participating may not be clearly articulated, especially among low-qualified ECEC workers.
“Second, continuous training and professional development might be disconnected from what they wish to learn, and, therefore, they may not be motivated to take training.
Even when staff are informed of such opportunities and are motivated to take up training, their manager may be reluctant to send them to professional development courses. It is often argued that, when the training leads to the possibility of a higher level of qualification, staff may subsequently wish for a pay raise or leave for a higher paying job elsewhere.
“Another challenge is observed in aligning the contents of professional development, those of initial education and the implementation of a curriculum.”
The report then goes on to look at what’s on offer in various OECD countries, such as Japan, Germany, Canada, UK, New Zealand and others.
It says that Norway, Belgium, Japan, the Netherlands, and Germany have programs that focus on professional development for quality enhancement.
Making continuous training a job requirement in the case in the UK and Finland.
Raising awareness of the importance of continuous training among staff and their employees has active projects in the UK and Germany.
Designing demand driven training is happening in Norway, Finland, Mexico, Portugal, Sweden and Korea.
Offering diversity training is listed for Belgium, Finland, Korea and Australia, where it says the Inclusion and Professional Support Program, funds professional support coordinators and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander professional support units in each state and territory.
Offering training for curriculum implementation is available in New Zealand, parts of Canada, Mexico, UK, Sweden, Korea and Finland.
Supporting employers for staff replacement during training happens in parts of Canada and Japan.
Government financing for training costs is available in Sweden, Slovenia. Finland, UK, parts of Canada and Spain.
Funding institutions that provide continuous training is available in parts of Canada, Japan, and New Zealand.
