Trident Early Learning Childcare Centres

Finding the Answers

Written by Alyssa Wright – Media and Marketing Manager at Trident Early Learning.

Back when I started studying early childhood education and care, you had to go to TAFE to earn your qualification. It took 3 years of attending one class per week before I finally gained my Diploma of Children's Services.

However, over these 3 years, I was exposed to an abundance of resources, as well as many different educators who had lots of knowledge to pass on and a range of ideas to share with me.

In recent times, the opportunity to study online or via distance has become the norm, with many educators only being exposed to the knowledge of their own team and what is practiced within their own childcare centre's four walls.

Due to this, many educators new to the sector are unsure of different practices or approaches to topics like behaviour management and routines because they have never been exposed to other viewpoints or philosophies. They are also unaware of where to locate the answers to support their practice.

On many occasions, these new staff members want to try something new or challenge a practice that seems dated, but are met with statements such as "but that's what the regulations say" or my personal favourite (not really ðŸ˜), "but we've always done it this way".

Often the educator disagreeing with the new staff member has come into early childhood education and care in the same way, so is also misinformed. This then causes a continuous cycle of misunderstanding of the regulations, centre policies and procedures, and what you can or cannot do at a centre.

As a centre director, I prided myself on challenging the thinking of my team, encouraging them to think outside the box and to move away from dated practices. I provided them with the resources they needed to learn more and allowed them to ask questions and give feedback during the process.

All four of our childcare centres have a great culture of continuous improvement, but our new educators may not have had those opportunities at their previous services. So, I have compiled a list of links for you all to refer to whenever you need answers, want to challenge your own thinking, or just want to read up on why childcare and kindergarten services do what they do.

Regulations and Frameworks

Often you will hear educators mention that a routine or activity needs to be done a certain way because it's in the regulations, but more often than not - it doesn't actually say anything like that at all! Reading up on the regulations may seem like an arduous task, but it is so worthwhile when forming your own beliefs and professional philosophy. It expands your horizons to what's possible and gets you thinking outside the box.

Websites that Challenge Thinking

Many early childhood organisations and associations have free resources and webinars to support practice and extend on the knowledge of educators. They also usually have newsletters that educators can sign up for, which could be forwarded to your personal email address or sent directly to the email addresses of your centre or particular room.

Facebook Accounts that Challenge Thinking

It is a great idea to follow early childhood consultants, organisations, educators and services on social media because their content will show up in your news feed, prompting critical reflection and providing you with inspiration every single day. You could follow it personally or do so from your centre's social media account.

Early Childhood Centres that Inspire

We follow hundreds of early childhood services through our social media accounts for inspiration, networking and to keep updated with changes in the sector. It is ok to engage with other services, whether they are in another state or just down the road. We are all part of the early childhood community, and we all have the same goal in mind - to provide the best early childhood education and care that we can.