Feedback on the Workforce Development Plan
Name: Denise McCormilla CEO, Michelle Hart, Early Education Advisor,
Maureen McDermott Training Development Officer, members of the BCCN Board
Organisation: Border Counties Childcare Network Limited
Location: Unit 10D M-Tek Building, Knockaconny, Count Monaghan
Please indicate your current role/interest in the ECCE sector
Parent/guardian o
Service provider (owner/manager) o
Practitioner/childminder o
Education and training provider o√
Researcher o
Student o
Policy maker o
Other: In addition to being an education and training provider the BCCN collaborates with a range of agencies at local, regional, national, Cross Border and international level to increase the level of information and support available to the sector and to inform policy development.
We consent that our feedback on the development of the Workforce Development Plan for
the ECCE sector may be published as part of the public consultation process.
Signed: Denise Mc Cormilla, CEO on behalf of the BCCN
Changing practice environments
Do you agree/disagree?
Agree √o Disagree o
Additional comments
In developing the workforce there is a need to raise awareness and ensure a shared understanding and commitment across all stakeholder groups to the development of ‘whole child approach’ so as to more effectively promote best outcomes for children. Practitioners need the necessary knowledge, skills and dispositions for this to happen as do all others involved in supporting and training the ECCE workforce. The three pillars of quality reinforce the need to develop the workforce to a much higher level. The sector has waited a long time for these pillars of quality to be outlined and drawn together. The development of a comprehensive plan needs to ensure that the specific steps required for a complete transformation of the ECCE workforce are outlined so as to bring us to a level of service delivery that will match the best ECCE services in the world .
The transformation of the current workforce needs to begin with the articulation of a new vision not just for the sector but for what we as a nation want for our children and society.
Future policy commitments need to take account of the specific requirements deemed essential to ensure the up-skilling of the workforce and its cost to the ECCE community.
Given the low rates of pay within the sector, many staff and employers be they private or community cannot afford to pay the full cost of up skilling to the level required. The new ECCE scheme has been a very positive development but the amount available will not cover all the costs associated with training. Funding to subsidise the cost of ongoing training for the workforce, as well as those who train, support and inspect the workforce will be required if real changes in practice environments are to take place. In addition Childminders cannot attend and Daycare Services cannot release staff during work time for the necessary training that will be required while at the same time ensuring services are in compliance with legislative requirements. Requiring daycare staff to train at night to the level children need after completing a full day’s work presents many difficulties encroaching in turn on their family life. Improving Professional practice needs to be built into the working day/week.
The demand for education and training
Do you agree/disagree?
Agree √o Disagree o
Additional comments
In relation to allowing new entrants into the ECCE work force, appropriate pre-requisites beginning with the articulation of a real desire to work in this area should be agreed to ensure new entrants are suitable for working in this area. In conjunction with Training Providers, CCC staff and service providers should engage in a mapping exercise of their existing workers to gauge current levels of training accessed. The mapping system could then be used to work out an individual and group training plan for each particular service. The mapping system could identify what knowledge practitioners have at level 4/5 and the supports needed to be put in place to ensure progression
For those progressing beyond Level 5, access, affordability and flexibility are key components in moving forward. People should have access to good quality training in the various areas required which is subsidized and available on a flexible i.e. part-time basis. They should be able to follow a diverse pathway which will facilitate them to specialize in areas connected to ECCE, up to and beyond degree level. As well as nationally certified training and in service training delivered locally to cluster groups an onsite mentoring support system should be in place which would offer increased knowledge on the spot to practitioners and ensure it is context bound. Appropriately training trainers and mentors on an ongoing basis will be essential for this to take place
Sectoral standards for awards in ECCE
Is plan.
Do you agree/disagree?
Agree √ o Disagree o
Additional comments
The setting of Sectoral standards is very necessary especially in terms of supporting services to meet high quality standards. Putting these in place should ensure that the training provided by all Trainers agencies/groups to the sector is of the highest standard possible.
In addition there are other questions that we feel that need to be asked.
What do we mean by education?
What do we want for children?
How to we improve the status and image of the child in Ireland?
What type of professional are we asking for and do we need to work with children and families?
What are the additional skills required for working with children and families who have additional needs?
How do we raise the status and profile of the ECCE profession?
How do we raise societal awareness of early education from birth and ensure the care of children is better understood and valued?
How do we best up skill the entire ECCE workforce to ensure that education and care of children is promoted in all settings?
How do we best upskill those who support, train and inspect the sector?
These questions need to be addressed and answers agreed in order to better inform what is required for the development of the workforce.
A number of regional round table discussions might facilitate discussion and agreement in relation to these matters and facilitate our moving forward.
A focus on upbringing also needs to be considered alongside all of this. We need not to forget that the child is a member of a family and community and that professionals working with children must always be working in harmony with the child’s family and be mindful of the community within which the child lives and its impact on children
We believe there is a need for a national debate on what developing a new ECCE profession should entail; a civil dialogue across all organizations interested in children, education and care and Irelands future development as a society. The child as a protagonist needs to understood and always be at the centre of our thinking in relation to the workforce.
Access and effective participation in education and training programmes
nation of learners.
Do you agree/disagree?
Agree √ o Disagree o
Additional comments
Some students find training delivered through the FETAC system is out of their reach financially and delivered at times impossible to avail of because of work and family demands. A flexible delivery system will also mean developing a blended learning approach to the provision of training as exists in other fields. There are very few part time degree courses available in early childhood studies and this is a critical problem for those who cannot afford to take time out of work to pay for this on a full time basis.
We have a split workforce – those who go straight into early childhood settings through Third Level Colleges and those who have worked within the sector for many years and who have availed of various training opportunities and qualifications. Many still within the sector have no formal nor nationally certified training. In addition some training programmes delivered through the FETAC system have been and are still questionable in terms of quality. Even with the introduction of the FETAC QA system there is much variation in terms of both content quality and delivery. Poor training delivered by poor trainers does little to up skill the workforce and leaves the sector and other bodies promoting the attainment of quality standards with additional burdens to carry. Because of poor pay and conditions within the sector and the low status of ‘childcare’ as a profession many completing Degree Programmes have no desire to work with Pre-school children, especially in infants and toddlers settings, preferring to seek additional training opportunities to facilitate entry into the primary school system. In moving forward we need to ensure greater commonality between both groups.
In moving forward we also need to increase societal awareness of how children develop in their early years, the impact early experiences have on their future development and learning, the inseparability of care and education and the importance of having a skilled and knowledgeable ECCE workforce to enhance the learning children benefit from in their own homes, families and communities.
Engaging Learners requires tutors/trainers/lecturers to be appropriately skilled to deliver training of the highest standard and the courses to be relevant to where the sector is and needs to go. Tutors needs to continue their own professional development and be supported and directed to do this.
It may also be prudent to look at how developing an understanding of how qualifications and skill levels in early year’s services relates to relieving levels of poverty and social exclusion. Some staff may be early school leavers themselves and are looking for a second chance. Enhancing their confidence and self esteem is vital in order to enhance their own live chances and those of the children in their care.
Supply of education and training places
met.
Do you agree/disagree with this statement?
Agree √ o Disagree o
Additional comments
The split of the workforce makes it difficult to continue to expand the supply of training.|Only one University (Stranmillis, NI) is currently offering part time places in the border region. This is a crucial element of developing any workforce plan. More part time degree courses should be available and their costs to the sector should be reasonable so as not be out of reach financially. Varied support systems are needed and should be connected to employment
Retention of qualified staff
future development of the ecce sector.
Do you agree/disagree?
Agree √ o Disagree o
Additional comments
Many students argue that it does not pay them to work with children. Women in particular who have gained at least a 3rd Level honors degree are unwilling or unable to accept the low wage status that is characteristic of the early years sector. Working within the sector at this level should mean a reasonable salary, with pathways available to progress professionalism in whatever area people wish to specialize in. Work within the sector should be linked to a national salary scale connected to varying levels of skills, knowledge, experience and responsibilities. . The sector therefore has been loosing staff as well as failing to attract new graduates as many seek other positions that provides a better pay scale that reflects their knowledge, skills and development and that they know will improve depending on how far they go on in their training. For many young graduates to the Early Childhood Degree there is a huge reluctance to work in ‘childcare’ settings feeling this is a waste of their expertise and knowledge. While some have reluctantly taken up positions in the childcare area, their reluctance to work in this area is often compounded by bad provision and bad practice within settings.
Any additional comments
Many positive developments in relation to training and up skilling the workforce have taken place in recent years. These include the development of a nationally accredited modular training system through FETAC, the FETAC QA System, the development of many relevant modules for the sector accredited through this system, the National Qualifications Framework and the development of several Early Childhood Degree programmes. However there is a need to take stock of all these developments to ensure they are connected with and supporting the implementation of all regulatory, Siolta and Aistear frameworks. The issue of ensuring the delivery of high quality training that ensures the delivery of high quality services cannot be underestimated. Children, families, communities and society need and deserve high quality services.
The National Framework of Qualifications is a vehicle by which students can reflect the level they are able to undertake. Level 5 is not suitable for all students but in the largest of the training organisations, the VEC, many students are being recruited onto childcare courses, particularly through Back to Education and Out Reach initiatives but too frequently they are not academically able to cope with the learning outcomes of Level 5 in the early childhood modules. This not only sets students up to fail but places a burden on ECCE services who accept students with FETAC qualifications on the basis that they have gained the underpinning knowledge and skills required for this level. The problem is further exacerbated if the raining delivered within the VEC has been delivered by Trainers who do not have the necessary experience, underpinning, knowledge and skills themselves to deliver high quality training that has a lasting positive impact on practice.