A pathway to enhancing professionalism: building a bridge between TAFE and university early childhood qualifications.(professional development of childcare and early childhood school staffs, and the Tertiary and Further Education program)(Report)

Introduction

IF DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATIONAL outcomes for early childhood-aged children in non-parental settings are to be optimised, it is essential to have well-qualified staff who are able to critically reflect on and inquire into their practice, constantly working towards quality improvement (McCain, Mustard & Shankar, 2007; OECD, 2001, 2006). Such staff could be expected to be professional in all elements of their role. Yet in Australia almost half of all childcare staff who work with children aged under five years are unqualified (OECD, 2006; Watson, 2006). In many states, qualified staff mostly hold two-year diplomas, while a few have early childhood or other degrees. In a country where it is not possible to begin work as a registered teacher without a four-year-degree level qualification, it is unsatisfactory that the youngest and most vulnerable children are being cared for by such a large number of low- and unqualified staff. It is increasingly being recognised that very young children need the care of qualified staff. As the OECD (2006) Starting Strong II report states in respect to Australia, 'The National Agenda highlights the need for development of a skilled and knowledgeable workforce as a key consideration for ensuring an effective and sustainable early childhood system' (p. 273). The development of such a workforce could be addressed in a number of ways. One critical way is to improve the level of staff qualifications.

Watson (2006) has argued that the paucity of smooth pathways is a major barrier to childcare staff gaining qualifications. There is, however, impetus in the early childhood education and care sector to map and improve pathways (Watson, 2006). Helpful to this process is a national policy agenda that acknowledges early childhood education and care as an important education sector with specific characteristics (Elliot, 1997). One established, but sometimes problematic, pathway is that between the specific early childhood qualifications offered by Vocational Education and Training (VET) and Higher Education Institutions (HEI), that is, universities. Impediments exist in two areas: first in existing institutional structures, and second in contextual and individual factors found in the cohort of students most likely to access the pathway.

Institutions that provide early childhood awards are very different pedagogically (Fuller & Chalmers, 1999). For example, VET programs normally use competency-based teaching methods which require 'the application of ideas to observable performance on pre-specified tasks' (Fuller & Chalmers, 1999, p. 130). In contrast, the conceptual approaches of universities use graded assessment, requiring an intellectual understanding of the discipline (Fuller & Chalmers, 1999), as well as implications for practice.

Any research concerning VET to HEI pathways needs to investigate the institutional structures, as well as student factors, if a credible understanding is to be found of the student experience at various points in the transition between the two institutions. Students involved in making this transition are well-placed to report on these factors. First, however, training and education issues within the field relevant to the capacity of long day childcare staff to provide higher quality of care to children under five, require examination.

There are indicators that current basic levels of care as provided by the Quality Improvement and Assurance System (National Childcare Accreditation Council, 2006) are insufficient for the achievement of optimal development in children (OECD, 2006). Cahir (2006) and Fenech, Sumsion and Goodfellow (2004) argue that achievement of higher levels of quality will require a more widespread and systematic employment of professional approaches to long day care. The distinction between a task performed at a basic skill level and the same task performed at a professional level is central to the offering of quality care. Critical reflection on practice and enquiry go hand-in-hand, and these are qualities more often found in a HEI teaching approach.

In South Australia, the desirability of a pathway between TAFE and university early childhood programs has been recognised since the early 1980s with the setting up of an exclusive and longstanding credit arrangement between the two institutions. This exclusive agreement does not extend to graduates of non-TAFE colleges. It allows one year of credit for a mixture of first and second year courses and is consistent with the Australian Qualification Framework Agreement (Keating, 2006).