Raising the Profile of Early Childhood Educators

Amie Coleman > St Michaels College

Raising the professional profile of Early Childhood Educators is something we take very seriously as a service here at St. Michael’s College Early Learning Centre, however it’s also something we’ve really struggled with how to approach in previous years.

We know that what we do matters and we know that the effects of high quality ECEC are far-reaching, but helping others to see and understand this has been on our “todo” list for so long and something we just keep putting off until ‘next week’ because it’s in the too hard basket a little. How do you even approach trying to make someone else see the value in what you do? Where do you begin?

However, after the long-reaching effects of managing COVID both within our sector as a whole and here within our ELC and the impact this has had on the wellbeing of our Educators we decided that this was the year that we finally find a way to achieve this goal – or at least make a start! After reflecting with our team, we identified that many people in the community, including our own families, don’t necessarily understand what’s actually involved in being a highly skilled and dedicated Early Childhood Professional. We decided this was the best place to start – let’s showcase the excellence that exists here in our own ELC and help our families to understand just how blessed we are to have the team that we do. Once our families understand what’s involved and why it’s important, those families can in turn become our allies in the wider community when we are fighting for the recognition we deserve.

So, our “Spotlight on Exceptional Practice” project was born! We wanted this to be a multi-faceted project that not only showcased the amazing work of our Educators but also highlighted the importance of that work and the expectations that are placed upon Educators in order to become the highly skilled and dedicated team that we are lucky enough to have here at SMC ELC. We began by introducing the project to families and sharing some tidbits of information with them in a “Did you Know?” type format to begin introducing them to the idea that there is so much more to being an Educator than meets the eye. We included things like the time that goes in to gaining the required qualifications, the sheer number of hours that go in to planning and programming every week and the extent of the regulations that we are governed by as a sector. This was well-received by our families who expressed their gratitude for the team we have here and the dedication they show.

We followed this up by capturing a variety of valuable moments between our Educators and the children with a specific focus on the importance of these moments and detailing how they make the difference between a ‘good’ Early Childhood Education and Care service and an ‘exceeding’ Early Childhood Education and Care service. This was far less about the learning for the child in these moments and much more focused on the role of the Educator in the moment, capturing and highlighting the importance of their role and the skill with which they do their jobs - often with what appears to be effortless actions but are really so meaningful and integral to every child! So far these have been met with fantastic feedback from our families, who are taking the opportunity to personally thank Educators for the moments and for their dedication.

Pleasingly, this has not only had the impact of building the Professional Profile of our Educators in the eyes of our families, but it’s also resulted in an increased sense of wellbeing for our Educators and made them feel a true sense of being valued, seen and acknowledged for the work that they do each and every day.

While we are still in the early stages of this project, the results so far have been promising and we are very much looking forward to seeing where this takes us over the course of the next 12 months! We strongly encourage other services to take the leap and begin sharing why what you do matters – its uncomfortable to sing our own praises but if we aren’t doing it then who will?