ECE Workforce

Building an Effective Early Childhood Education Workforce | 153

Table 3.1 Summary of Strategies for Building an Effective ECE Workforce

Principles Principles for good practice Considerations for ECE workforce in low-resource settings

Attract • Enhance status of ECE and ECE workforce through public engagement and communication. • Emphasize recruitment of high-quality, committed candidates with appropriate entry requirements (including educational, experiential, and dispositional requirements). • Identify strong leaders in the field to enhance status and attract candidates (also see chapter 5). • Develop entry requirements to suit specific needs and contexts (that is, skills in linguistic diversity or working in emergency situations may be required in some contexts and not others) and then update or revise entry requirements as workforce becomes increasingly skilled.

Prepare • Implement a range of certified and recognized pathways for training in ECE. • Equip ECE educators with appropriate and relevant contextually responsive skills, knowledge, dispositions, and competencies for working specifically in communityoriented ECE settings. • Ensure ECE training is adequate for delivery of ECE curriculum.

Use hands-on approaches that provide opportunities for experiential learning. • Ensure widespread availability to educators through flexible modes of training and professional development that respond to unique needs (geographical access and transport; diverse training contexts, including ECE in hard-to-reach communities or emergency situations; linguistic diversity). • Ensure training includes content on inclusive practices that address unique diversity in LMIC contexts (that is, children in slum areas; children of migrant workers; children in remote, ethnically and linguistically diverse communities). • Emphasize dispositions and skills that enable ECE educators to cope and respond (creativity in developing materials; advocacy for ECE; building community and multisectoral partnerships). • Ensure that attendance at training is rewarded and recognized. continued next page

154 | Quality Early Learning

Table 3.1 (continued)

Principles Principles for good practice Considerations for ECE workforce in low-resource settings

Support Establish and maintain strategies for ongoing support and professional development to protect ECE worker well-being: • Coaching and instructional support • Mentoring through communities of practice • Regular national and regional ECE network and organization activities • Regulatory frameworks for remuneration, working conditions, and workers’ rights • Support curriculum development with ongoing revision and updates to materials. Ensure that materials are widely circulated and applied. • Build on and involve ECE networks that exist within the country in ECE workforce development initiatives. • Ensure a culture of mentoring and support that is focused on supporting educators to enhance delivery (not punitive). • Establish clear communication strategies (vertical and horizontal) across multiple relevant departments and sectors.

Retain Establish and maintain attractive working conditions: • Teacher-student ratios • Classroom facilities • Career progression and satisfaction • Remuneration • Provide ongoing contextualized, intensive training rather than generalized, theoretical training that may be ineffective for focused preparation, through which educators can see the positive impact of their practice on children. • Establish strong working teams at the district and local level to provide coaching and mentoring for ECE educators that signal value attached to their role and impact. • Establish and implement clear, transparent reward mechanisms that recognize ongoing training and career progression.

Source: Original table for this publication. Note: ECE = early childhood education; LMIC = low- and middle-income country.