When talking of advocacy to my professional colleagues I often hear, ‘I don’t have time’! This is true for most of us, however, advocacy does not have to be a march on parliament or petitions even, Amanda Holt, Director, Possum Place Child and Vacation Care Centres, writes.
Advocacy is something early childhood teachers do every day when they are providing quality early learning and care to children in their service and then talking about it with families and others.
Advocacy is not something that starts and stops. It has ebbs and flows, new organisations, tired committees, new professional requirements, advantages gained and lost. It goes on. Governance through participation in the National Quality Framework, including the Regulatory requirements, and funding arrangements, gives early childhood professionals enough to do especially, given the constant changes to early childhood funding and policy. We as a profession are required to change and adapt at the behest of every new government.
Why advocate
Just imagine if early childhood education and care was not available in Australia. Historically early childhood care and education started as a welfare project to have the poorest of children kept off the streets, fed and educated. This movement was initially enacted by The Kindergarten Union in the late 1800s. (Source: ku.com.au).
What if the Child Care Act 1972 was not accepted? It was provided for children from ‘poor and needy’ families, then extended beyond to the inclusion of all children and other services: preschool, family day care, out of school hours care and playgroups. (Source: aph.gov.au)
Long day care as we know it would not exist. What if Child Care Benefit was never introduced to provide much needed funding to families?
What about the number of children who will not be accessing preschool now that the funding is primarily aimed at four year olds?
Imperative for the future
As early childhood teachers we are well aware of the need to provide high quality experiences within our settings to every child. The continued discussion across many disciplines, education, health and social welfare, has identified the early years of a child’s life as having an impact on lifelong outcomes in terms of physical and mental health. Advocates for children’s rights to be cared for in a safe and supported environment are imperative to future outcomes of both the individual and society.
As a profession we currently have access to many support organisations who advocate for every child, families and early childhood professionals. These organisations include, but are not limited to, Early Childhood Australia, Independent Education Union, Community Child Care Co-operative, Network of Community Activities and Family Day Care Australia. See the ACECQA website for a comprehensive listing.
The following are ideas of how advocacy can be enacted, first without even trying then on to the bigger actions:
- communication – an everyday event with families/newsletters/children’s portfolios/emails/skyping
- networking – with early childhood colleagues and with professionals from other disciplines
- visual displays – children’s activities, developmental information, staff qualifications
- promoting the importance of early childhood through organisations such as Raising Children Network
- becoming a member of the union, and
- joining your service with advocacy organisations.
Bigger…
- Letters and emails to politicians
- Visit local politicians
- Submissions to public campaigns eg Regulation Impact Statement
- Petitions – starting or joining
- Protests (or even better a cake stall on the steps of parliament)
- Inviting local services into centre or visiting them
- Joining existing campaigns eg NSW Preschools Campaign
- Be on the committee as a volunteer of an early childhood advocacy organisation
A key to being an advocate is being able to articulate the meaning of our work. Being able to identify what are the most pertinent aspects of educating and caring for children then using the information to influence others. Make a plan by identifying what you or your service and colleagues are most committed to changing. Develop a vision to work towards, one with steps, celebrations and reflection. Be prepared to be knocked back, but not over. Choose your cause wisely, identifying what time and resources you can afford to sustain.
If we all had time to do all the tasks we have to complete every day then perhaps we would all be more committed to the actions of advocacy? We must honour those early childhood advocacy pioneers before us by doing our bit now. It can be a small contribution to a bigger picture or it can be big actions that lead to change, but it must be done purposefully with the intent to inform and inspire others to consider the child and their wellbeing in context to community.
Ultimately and most importantly it is for every child, those we work with and those who we don’t know and every child who will come after us. Something to consider about the meaning and purpose of advocacy are the words of businessman, Warren Buffett, (Source: www.brainyquote.com)
“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” As teachers we along with families plant the seeds of children’s learning.