Education versus care for infants and toddlers: the Australian early childhood challenge

Feasibility and Potential Benefits of the Observe, Reflect, Improve Children’s Learning (ORICL) Tool: Perspectives of Infant–Toddler Educators

“…A gap exists in Australia as well as other countries for tools that support infant-toddler educators in their teaching practice (Chu, 2016;Redman et al, 2021). Based on the stages of IS, ORICL was co-designed as a tool to support educators' practice with infants and toddlers.…”

“…Despite overwhelming evidence that the first 1000 days of life is a critical period for children 's learning, development. and wellbeing (Centre for Community Child Health, 2018), that high-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) is beneficial for language, cognitive, and social outcomes (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2015), and that higher educator qualifications are correlated with improved child outcomes (Degotardi, 2010), infant-toddler educators in Australia only require a certificate-level qualification (Redman et al, 2021). Educators also report receiving insufficient training on the developmental and pedagogical needs of children from birth to two years (Chu, 2016) and having limited access to professional development to support their capacity to provide quality experiences for children from birth to two years (Egert et al, 2020).…”

Professional occupational activities and functions of Greek infant-toddler educators: Roles and responsibilities

“…Care, routines, and interaction are central to curricula and pedagogical practices for infants and toddlers (Quiñones et al, 2018) and are increasingly acknowledged as key element of the professional identity and professional practice of infant/toddler educators (Davis & Degotardi, 2015;McDowall Clark & Baylis, 2012). On the other hand, the educational aspects of infant/toddler programs are less well understood and appreciated (Redman et al, 2022).…”

“…Of course, this does not imply that the importance of care and routines is underscored, as we acknowledge that that those practices are a central tenet of the infant/toddler practice and that they are instrumental in establishing and strengthening the relationship between children and the educators and in providing teaching opportunities to children (Quiñones et al, 2018;Redman et al, 2022;Shin, 2015). On the contrary, the results highlight the multifaceted dimensions of care, which moves beyond the simplistic image of care which involves "custodial caregiving routines and practices" (Davis & Degotardi, 2015) to an image of care which involves a "highly professional and educational" (Shin, 2015, p. 496) classroom.…”

“…During the last years, the number of infants and toddlers attending ECEC programs is increasing (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2023) and according to the new 2022 Barcelona targets at least 45% of children below the age of three should participate in early childhood education and care (hereafter referred to as ECEC) (European Commission, 2022). This attention to infants and toddlers, at the policy level, draws on research which has proved the critical importance of the first three years of life (World Health Organization, United Nations Children's Fund, World Bank Group, 2018) as well as the significance of providing infants and toddlers with rich and high-quality learning experiences (Chu, 2016;Davis & Dunn, 2019;Quiñones et al, 2018;Redman et al, 2022). Literature review highlights that high-quality ECEC for children under the age of three is related, among others, to educators' qualifications (Cadima et al, 2020;Davis & Dunn, 2019;Quiñones et al, 2018;Redman et al, 2022;Rockel, 2009), their theoretical understandings and perspectives (Cadima et al, 2020;Davis & Dunn, 2019), their professional identity (Davis & Dunn, 2019;Molla & Nolan, 2019) as well as the warm and responsive interaction among professionals and children, their parents and other stakeholders (Cadima et al, 2020;Quiñones et al, 2018;Shin, 2015;Shpancer et al, 2008).…”