Good Practice for Good Jobs in Early Childhood Education and Care

Recruiting and retaining skilled staff is a long-standing challenge for the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. OECD countries are increasingly demanding that ECEC staff be highly skilled and highly qualified, but a combination of low wages, a lack of status and public recognition, poor working conditions, and limited opportunities for professional development mean that recruitment and retention are frequently difficult. What can countries do to build a highly qualified and well-trained ECEC workforce? What is the best route to increasing staff skills without exacerbating staff shortages? How can countries boost pay and working conditions in the context of limited resources? Building on past OECD work on early childhood education and care, and drawing on the experience of OECD countries, this report outlines good practice policy measures for improving jobs in ECEC and for constructing a high-quality workforce. Acknowledgements 5 Executive summary 6 Attracting and recruiting highly-skilled staff 6 Retaining and developing highly-skilled staff 7 1 Introduction and overview 10 1.1. The ECEC workforce challenge 10 1.1.1. ECEC careers are too often seen as unappealing 12 1.2. Good policies for good jobs in early childhood education and care 13 2 Attracting and recruiting highly-skilled staff 16 2.1. Main findings 16 2.2. Improving the attractiveness of ECEC as a career 17 2.2.1. Promoting the status of ECEC jobs 18 2.2.2. Improving wages and rewards 19 2.2.3. Reducing barriers to entry 22 2.3. Improving pre-service training and ‘job-readiness’ 23 2.3.1. Raising minimum qualification requirements 24 2.3.2. Including practical experience in pre-service training 26 2.3.3. Providing alternative pathways into the sector 27 2.4. Bringing men into the ECEC workforce 29 2.4.1. Using campaigns to attract male workers 31 2.4.2. Improving male worker support and networking initiatives 32 2.4.3. Implementing affirmative action policies favouring male candidates 32 3 Retaining and developing highly-skilled staff 34 3.1. Main findings 34 3.2. Improving pay and recognition 35 3.3. Improving working conditions 37 3.4. Encouraging in-service training and professional development 40 Annex A. Summary of pre-service training and minimum qualification requirements 44 References 45 Notes 51