TY - JOUR
T1 - Attracting, retaining and sustaining early childhood teachers
T2 - an ecological conceptualisation of workforce issues and future research directions
AU - Fenech, Marianne
AU - Wong, Sandie
AU - Boyd, Wendy
AU - Gibson, Megan
AU - Watt, Helen
AU - Richardson, Paul
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - A well-qualified, well-paid, stable workforce with high psychological and emotional wellbeing is critical to the provision of quality early childhood education and care, yet workforce shortages and high turnover persist in Australia and internationally. This paper uses ecological theory to conceptualise and make sense of findings from research that has investigated the recruitment, retention and wellbeing of early childhood teachers in Australia. The theoretical framing of early childhood teacher workforce issues proffered in the paper highlights the utility of considering these issues from a holistic ecological perspective. Analysis of Australian early childhood workforce studies draws attention to the need for large-scale, longitudinal research that holistically investigates influences on the attracting, retaining and sustaining of early childhood teachers, and the impact of these influences on teacher quality.
AB - A well-qualified, well-paid, stable workforce with high psychological and emotional wellbeing is critical to the provision of quality early childhood education and care, yet workforce shortages and high turnover persist in Australia and internationally. This paper uses ecological theory to conceptualise and make sense of findings from research that has investigated the recruitment, retention and wellbeing of early childhood teachers in Australia. The theoretical framing of early childhood teacher workforce issues proffered in the paper highlights the utility of considering these issues from a holistic ecological perspective. Analysis of Australian early childhood workforce studies draws attention to the need for large-scale, longitudinal research that holistically investigates influences on the attracting, retaining and sustaining of early childhood teachers, and the impact of these influences on teacher quality.
KW - Attrition
KW - Early childhood education
KW - Early childhood teachers
KW - Recruitment
KW - Retention
KW - Wellbeing
KW - Workforce
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85099377978&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s13384-020-00424-6
DO - 10.1007/s13384-020-00424-6
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85099377978
JO - The Australian Educational Researcher
JF - The Australian Educational Researcher
SN - 0311-6999
ER -