5.3 Critical Implications For Practice And Provision

5.3 Critical Insights and Implications for Practice and Provision of Care for the Early Childhood Service

For the early childhood service, the perceived benefits to be gained by the mandatory accreditation of all untrained early childhood workers has not immediately become evident. As untrained early childhood workers have traditionally made up the majority of staff employed in the early childhood sector in Australia, the impact any formal training may have for those staff members who have been employed for a long period in the early childhood sector, has been minimal.

As experienced early childhood workers, untrained staff have ‘learned on the job’, with ‘hands on experience’, having been

As the majority of early childhood services have traditionally employed untrained early childhood staff to carry out both menial and primary carer duties, the majority of parents using these services have accepted these untrained care givers as ‘experienced’ and ‘qualified’ early childhood workers (Elliott, 2006), irrespective of

In order to ensure the future of early childhood education, the necessity to produce fully trained and accredited early childhood workers is paramount, and the first step in ensuring “high quality” service provision is the rule, rather than the exception.

Central to service provision is quality of care with key elements such as richness and appropriateness of staff interactions with children, in particular their understanding and knowledge of curriculum in addition to the child's developmental and emotional well-being (Almy, 1975, 1982; Jordan, 1999; Lamb, Sternberg, Hwang & Broberg, 1992; Mould, 1998; Pramling, 1996).

Through my research I hope to contribute a new perspective to the current beliefs and understanding regarding untrained early childhood workers and the added benefits that may be gained by their attaining a formal credential in the early childhood education field. The impact the introduction of mandatory accreditation has had on their personal and professional life and the ramifications for the early childhood service in which they are