Early Childhood Education In Australia Case Study

Historically the early childhood sector within Australia, including childcare services such as family day care, kindergarten and pre-school services, has been fragmented, with little consistency across the various states and territories (Elliott, 2006). Due to the lack of a clear federal or state based framework regulating staff qualifications, and the lack of consistency in approaches to curricula and programming (Elliott, 2006), each state became responsible for the development of its own curricula framework (Lee, 2007).

Stimulated by a new generation of policy makers and educators interested in the development of standardised national policies and regulations governing the early childhood sector in Australia, the focus of early

Legislation introduced compels all early childhood workers to undertake formal training in early childhood education, which includes existing and new early child-hood workers entering the early childhood sector. Through the implementation of this ini-tiative and its linking with the National Quality Standards introduced in 2009, the early childhood sector can now be formally incorporated into Australia’s education system and thereby recognized as an integral part of our educational

Examining whether obtaining a credential in the early sector will change the untrained early childhood workers status, the work they perform, their level of remunera-tion and their standing within the early childhood sector and the community in general.

This research addresses the gap in existing literature on early childhood workers’ educa-tion and training, which in the main, has concentrated on the trained teacher’s role in the early childhood service, their education and training. With limited research or literature examining the untrained early childhood worker, their role in the education and care of children, and their contribution to the children’s overall development and well-being. It highlights the need for early childhood worker accreditation, with standardised, transport-able credentials recognized nationally.

1.2 Research