Education Assignment: Early Childhood Policies, Issues, and Identity

This essay analyzes early childhood education in Australia, focusing on national and state-level policies, contemporary and historical issues impacting the sector, and the development of professional identities. The essay examines the structure of early childhood education in Australia, highlighting initiatives aimed at improving quality and equity. It explores the influence of national policies like the National Early Childhood Investment Strategies and the OECD's recommendations for sector growth. The essay also discusses the impact of historical changes, such as the rise of private childcare centers, and the evolution of professional identities among educators. The author references key literature, including the Early Years Learning Framework and research on teacher characteristics. It concludes by emphasizing the importance of government structures and broad-scale management in enhancing the quality and well-being of children in early childhood education and care.

Running Head: SOCIOLOGY 0
EDUCATION AND TEACHING IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
Australia

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In this essay, the analysis will be focusing on the current knowledge and the policies
relating to early childhood at the national and the state level. It will further stress upon the
understanding of contemporary and the historical issues that will give an impact on early
childhood education and the care sector. Lastly, the key features of the emerging professional
identities will be discussed along with its relevant examples regarding the impacts on the
policies of environment, contemporary or that of historical.
Early childhood in Australia has developed an appreciable organization that functions
and supports the young children along with their families. These types of organizations take
the initiative in providing sufficient early childhood education and dealing with the care
sectors for all the children (Cloney, Cleveland, & Hattie, 2015). In Australia, early childhood
promotes all the issues such as public, excellence, fairness and equity in respect to giving
care and education to the children from birth till the age of eight years.
When explaining the structure of the early childhood in Australia that consists of the
separate divisions in each state and territory that exercises in order to assist every family. The
members in such divisions are the ultimate authority including the state and the territory.
Therefore, the non-profit organization is deemed to be known as the early childhood in
Australia. This initiative has been precisely undertaken by the government of Australia in
connection with an aim to identify such effective cost and quality of the education of the
early childhood and their care (Blossfeld, Buchholz, Skopek, & Triventi, 2016).
At the national level, the early childhood policies are established with the motivation
of the National Early Childhood Investment Strategies Investing in the year 2009 with the
help and encouragement of the Council of Australian Governments. It has a purpose which
seeks to progress successfully by the year of 2020, where they perceive to give a better
opportunity to all the children of this age group in relevance to their bright future and for the

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country (Esdaile, et al., 2019). The establishment of the recent Organization for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD) that aims to spread the quality and the policy in the
early childhood education and regarding the investments that can raise the early childhood.
It has suggested various reforms for the growth in the early childhood sectors that are
as follows: firstly, to boost the health services related to the child and the family well-being.
Then, contributing mainly towards the unprotected children and work for their safety. Such
participation involves the community and parents stating the importance of early childhood in
the contemporary period. They have a motive for the betterment of the infrastructure in the
aspect of early childhood (Colmer & Field, 2015).
The Robust regulatory Framework is the national level framework that is enacted for
the necessary education and to provide the transparency accountability mechanism. It has
three functioning bodies that include the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency,
the Australian Skills Quality Authority and the Australian Children’s Education and Care
Quality Authority.
The National and the State structure of Australia intend to upgrade the staff that can
provide more attention and care to the child. It has created the advance qualification for the
current staff to adapt those skills that can be beneficial for children to learn and progress. The
areas of the enhancement are being emphasized by the territory and the state government. A
good quality early education reflects the setting up of a child for life and evolving in their
potential (Jones, 2016). Therefore, the increasing gap between the most advantaged and the
minimum number of disadvantaged are establishing the changes in the education system with
impacting the learning and the well-being with an intention to diminish the gap.
This is an example where the Early Years Learning Framework which is taking the
initiative towards the reforming of the early childhood education and their care. It is

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discussing such principles that are implemented towards the learning of young children’s
from birth to the age of five years.
The main impacts dealing with the contemporary and the historical concerns in
relation to the early childhood education and the care sector which are of particular interest
since 1991 towards the increase in the number of private-profit childcare centres for
Australia’s children. The growth in the education sector has led to a significant impact on the
commercial operators that have created to establish policies which are in the favour of the
opening many care centres and education hubs for the early childhood. It is stated that the
statistical data has expressed the variations in showing the use of childcare ranging from 0 to
5 years old.
This strongly seems that early childhood services and the demand for understanding
their education have increased to the actual number of 58%. But in contrast to Australia, it is
having only15% which is the less than average percentage for the enrolment of the three-
year-old children in the pre-school. However, this is reflecting the number and the limitations
on the present data gathering where the large number of three-year-old is not attending the
programs that are being assisted by the early childhood teacher. This has become a highly
broad issue for affecting the value, affordability, and availability in early childhood education
and the emerging of the care sectors comparatively from the last years.
The major characteristics dealing with the emerging professional identities to
emphasize its effects on the environment, historical and contemporary policies (O' Connor &
McGunnigle, 2014). The professional identity forms the contribution that affects the
functioning of the early childhood education and the processing of the change that is
constituted and shaping the education system and the care sectors.

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The research has stated the identification and the formation relating to the
characteristics of the teachers have evolved from the past years. Such a change in
professional identity has impacted more of understanding the value of education and its
impact on the children. It has also analyzed more demand in the childcare sectors by
including many different perceptions and expectations from the professional teachers. An
example stating the effects of lecturer known as Tracy Treasure who is assisting in the early
childhood and care program by showing influential interest towards the children’s social and
emotional conditions with the overall development.
The implementation of such policies is to effectively monitor and acknowledge the
education system by eventually redefining by its new policies. The history of education is
based on such plans and reforms that will impact the relationship of the teacher and the
parents towards considering the implications of financial and human resources.
It is further concluded that the kind of structure of the government becomes the
ultimate successful tool in raising the quality and knowledge for early childhood services like
the teaching and the care sectors. The early childhood education system and the care sectors
must be managed on a broader scale as this will positively impact amounting towards the
growth and well-being of the children. Therefore, the early childhood education and its care
sectors are governed to strengthen the child’s learning strategies for the future perspectives.

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References
Blossfeld, H.-P., Buchholz, S., Skopek, J., & Triventi, M. (2016). Models of Secondary
Education and Social Inequality: An International Comparison. Cheltenham, United
Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016.
Cloney, D., Cleveland, G., & Hattie, J. (2015). Variations in the Availability and Quality of
Early Childhood Education and Care by Socioeconomic Status of Neighborhoods.
Early Education and Development , 384-401.
Colmer, K., & Field, L. (2015). Implementing curriculum reform: insights into how
Australian early childhood directors view professional development and learning.
Professional Development in Education , 203-221.
Esdaile, E., Thow, A. M., Gill, T., Sacks, G., Golley, R., & Love, P. (2019). National policies
to prevent obesity in early childhood: Using policy mapping to compare policy
lessons for Australia with six developed countries. Obesity Reviews .

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Jones, T. (2016). Education policies: Potential impacts and implications in Australia and
beyond. International perspectives on homophobic and transphobic bullying in
schools, 141-160.
O' Connor, D., & McGunnigle, C. (2014). Educator identities. Emerging issues within
personal and professional identities: changes experienced by Australian pre-service
teachers following professional exposure to educational practice within childcare
settings. Early Child Development and Care, 1331-1342.