East Asia and Pacific

The 2018 Fostering Effective Early Learning (FEEL) study focuses on the importance of quality, and how to strengthen it in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings. Extensive research demonstrates that the benefits of ECEC for children are increased when the service provider and educators are highly skilled and participate in professional development (PD), and the service is of high quality. Upskilling the workforce, including in-service professional development, is considered to be a key to improving quality, and can produce substantial and practical improvements for staff and children alike.

Building on the existing body of international research, the findings of the Fostering Effective Early Learning (FEEL) study, address the need for quality improvement in ECEC by showing how a particular form of evidence-based in-service PD can produce substantial and practically meaningful improvements in both staff practices and child outcomes.

The FEEL study was conducted by the research team from Early Start, University of Wollongong, on behalf on the NSW Department of Education.

You may also find the The Fostering Effective Early Learning (FEEL) Study's Literature Review below. The Literature Review highlights the importance of quality teaching practice in early childhood education and outlining the key elements of the best practice professional development used in the Study.

More than half of the 70 million teachers (primary and secondary) in the world’s formal educational system are from the Asia-Pacific region – making it essential to document the current situation for teachers in the region. Teachers in Asia Pacific: Status and Rights (2015) examines the trends and policies affecting teachers’ status and their emerging needs and challenges. It provides a general picture of the current situation of teachers in Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Republic of Korea, Samoa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Indonesia.

Why is this report so important?

Raising the status of teachers and upholding their rights is a critical and global issue.

This study reviewed essential elements of the current status and working conditions of teachers, examined the rights and privileges of teachers and developed recommendations for policies and strategies to attract qualified teachers and motivate them to remain in the teaching profession. The key recommendations, which are based on this research, are aimed at improving the status and rights of teachers in each of the countries studies, and in the Asia-Pacific region as a whole.

Though country contexts are diverse, this report gives a snapshot of the region and highlights the importance of advancing teachers’ status and providing multiple career progression pathways to motivate them to remain in the profession.

What’s included in the recommendations?

The results and policy recommendations presented in this report provide insights that are valuable to governments in advancing the status of their teachers with the view of retaining them in the profession. These include recommendations on selection criteria, pre-service teacher education, professional development, career development, salaries, measuring teacher performance, school leadership, teachers’ voices, teachers’ working conditions and gender within the workforce.

National Guidelines - Best Practice in Early Childhood Intervention presents eight recommended best practices in Early Childhood Intervention. The document also offers rationale for each of these practices in the following quality areas: 

• Family
• Inclusion
• Teamwork
• Universal Principles 

This text draws upon extensive consultation with key stakeholders in the early childhood intervention sector.

Quality is key in Early Childhood Education in Australia highlights several key policy priorities for limiting quality across the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) system. These priorities address gaps in access by focusing on: 

• Pre-service teacher education, especially for Early Childhood Teachers (ECTs) and Diploma-qualified staff
• Pathways to grow pedagogical leaders
• Ongoing embedded and evidence -informed professional learning
• The use of data to track children's developmental, and design appropriate, personalized learning opportunities

This report also takes a look at the many elements of quality in ECEC and their importance.

The Skills Framework is a SkillsFuture initiative developed for the Singapore workforce to promote skills mastery and lifelong learning. Jointly developed by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG), Workforce Singapore (WSG) and the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA), and together with employers, industry associations, education and training providers and unions, the Skills Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) provides useful information on:

1. sector and employment opportunities
2. career pathways
3. occupations and job roles
4. existing and emerging skills
5. training programmes for skills upgrading and mastery

With the Skills Framework, individuals are equipped to make informed decisions about career choices, as well as take responsibility for skills upgrading and career planning.

The Framework provides an overview of the 5-must-knows for a fulfilling career in the ECCE sector. These are: 1) Why ECEC quality is important; 2) What it takes to be an inspiring ECEC professional; 3) What’s next for ECEC professionals; 4) Where the opportunities are; and 5) How the government supports ECEC professionals. The Framework also provides an overview of the career pathways in ECEC field and is accompanied by the ECCE Skills Map which details the skills for each of the ECCE occupations. The components within the Skills Map and brief descriptions are as follows: 1) ECCE occupations; 2) skills categories; 3) skills; and 4) training programmes

SkillsFuture

2017

Towards the Right Care for Children: Orientations for reforming alternative care systems - Africa, Asia, Latin America, commissioned by the European Commission Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development commissioned SOS Children’s Villages International to conduct a study on the possible issue of institutionalization in six South and Central American, Asian and African countries, in order to strengthen the knowledge of the European Commission on the nature, the extent and scope of institutionalization and feasibility of the de-institutionalization.
 
The objectives of this research was to:

• map and summarize the existing knowledge on (de-) institutionalization in the three continents concerned;
• increase the knowledge base on (de-) institutionalization in the six countries; and
• provide guidelines for future EU strategies on (de-)institutionalization in developing countries.

This synthesis report brings together desk reviews and country studies through which a large collection of documents from various sources have been consulted.

The Role of Social Service Workforce Development in Care Reform illustrates key issues by drawing on the experiences of Indonesia, Moldova and Rwanda – three countries are in the process of reform. Each country's reform takes place within their own context and history, social and political system, protection structure and services, and social services education system.

The case studies highlight each country’s reform processes and identifys learning in terms of the approach taken to strengthen and align the social service workforce given the needs of the system, the scope and actors involved, and the different care reform strategies and outcomes. The case studies are presented with recognition of the ongoing and dynamic process and are examples from different stages and contexts of reform.

The early childhood development sector plays an important role in fostering the education, health and care of young children. Early childhood education and care services are currently the subject of significant reforms nationally. These reforms have substantial implications for the associated workforce. This report, the second of three on education and training workforces, focuses on the early childhood development workforce. It follows the Vocational Education and Training workforce report released in May 2011. The third report, on the Schools workforce, is underway and will be completed in April next year.

The Commission’s recommendations and findings seek to support the future development of the early childhood workforce required to underpin the nationally agreed reforms. In particular, guidance is provided on the provision of quality early childhood education and care services to children with additional needs, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and children in rural and remote locations.

The Innovative Pedagogical Approaches in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE): A Resource Pack includes case studies from nine countries. Each is an example of an innovative pedagogy developed according to a specific context and with concern for sustainable learning.This resource pack discounts the idea that ECCE should solely rely on a “universalized ‘one size fits all’ model" and emphasizes the need for ‘real-life’ approaches that connect children with their communities. Innovations in ECCE in the Asia-Pacific region are often intended to improve not only the lives of children but also those of the entire community. These examples of transformational pedagogy are inspirational reads for practitioners, researchers, and policymakers.

This paper reports on a research program that investigates policy and practice relating to the building of a Chinese early childhood workforce in a context of changed government policy, improved standards regarding teacher qualifications and curriculum content, and changing parental expectations. The evolving context reflects the fact that recent economic development in China has witnessed enhanced need for a workforce that is suitable for jobs that require advanced skills and a high capacity to learn. This identified need has brought a renewed interest in early childhood education. Subsequently, policy makers have raised questions regarding what early childhood teachers should know and the skills they need to acquire to be competent practitioners.

The research findings draw on interviews conducted with 24 kindergarten directors from provinces across China. The interview explored opinions about skills and attributes teachers require, level and form of knowledge they need, and how teachers’ capacities might be enhanced.