This
week I continued to view the NQS PLP websites from Australia. A website
named The Age National, links to http://www.theage.com.au/, brought me
attention. I have never been there. When the NQS PLP shared
an article of The Age National. I decided to explore the site. This site
commits always independent. There are the sections relate the education,
investigations, and environment and boards of blog, photo galleries, and
clique. Sounds like an independent news report similar as CNN, but more focus
on education and environment.
The
article attracted me was “Early childhood education under qualifications threat”
written by an early childhood education associate professor Kay Margetts on Feb. 10, 2014. the
author reports the quality of education for children in care and pre-school is
under threat by changes to the qualification requirements of staff. All
children in the year before school will have 15 hours of preschool per week
with an early childhood teacher. This is aimed at higher staff qualifications
and lower staff to child ratios. “Particularly as the new ratios and 15 hours
preschool per week mean that more educators are now required to work with
children over the age of three.” (The Age Nation, 2014, pp. 7), the requirement
of qualified changes to a Certificate III or a Diploma. A Primary teaching
degrees and TAFE/RTO diplomas are equivalent to a university early childhood
teaching degree. Therefore, a person who holds a primary teaching qualification
that includes at least a focus on children aged 5 to 8 years old will be recognized
as equivalent to an early childhood teacher. The author concerns the early
childhood teacher will not have to have early childhood degree, which relates
educating children age birth to 5 year old, to teacher young children.
One NQS PLP newsletter of the week, the Newsletter 56: Assessment
against the National Quality Standard (NQS) addressed the excellent of early
childcare program. The newsletter gave the example of the process of rating a
childcare program. It gave the example from three childcare centers that
applied for rating their program. This is similar with NAEYC credential
process. Australia has
the four ratings: exceeding National Quality Standard (NQS), Meeting NQS,
Working towards NQA, and significant improvement required. NAEYC has two
rating, accredited, not accredited.
The Age National
and the NQS PLP newsletter come up together
reveals the issue relates to excellent and equality in early childhood
education. The Age Nation argued with
the change of the standard for staff would change the qualification of program.
The newsletter gave the example how to approach the excellent with one
standard. I do not have any new insight from learning the issues of this week
from Australia.
References
The
Age Nation, (2014). Early childhood education under qualifications threat,
Retrieved from http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/voice/early-childhood-education-under-qualifications-threat-20140206-323f3.html
NQS
PLP,
(2014). Newsletter 56: Assessment against the National Quality Standard (NQS),
Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/nqsplp/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/NQS_PLP_E-Newsletter_No56.pdf