Marg Rogers

Here are five ways the government could demolish barriers to early learning

September 24, 2024Early Childhood, Early childhood education and careAARE blog, Early childhood, early learning, Marg Rogers, University of New England

The Final Report from the Productivity Commission (PC) into Early Childhood Education and Care was released last week. This is the second in our two-part series unpacking the Commission’s proposed road map for universal access to early learning.

Yesterday: Early learning – Every child deserves access now. Here’s how we can make that happen

Today, we look at the barriers.

To implement Productivity Commission recommendations for early learning, the Government needs to attract, support, and retain educators to ensure the workability of these reforms. In this article, I outline the barriers facing educators, including poor job design, the high cost of higher education, low status and wages, and the burden of regulatory requirements as shown in the figure below.

Figure 1: Barriers to opportunity for early learning in Australia

For each of these barriers, I provide information from reports, government departments,
agencies, and organisations. To illustrate this, I also provide either data from our mixed
methods online survey study involving 82 Australian educators or, where indicated, publicly
available data. A summary of what the PC said is in the final column.

Barriers to early learning	Information	Data	Productivity Commission Recommendation
Poor job design	It is puzzling to understand why schools in Australia are equipped with administrative officers, grounds people and cleaners, but early learning services are not. Educators study child development, philosophies of learning, ways to support children’s learning, curriculum assessment, planning and evaluation and how to best support families. Then they enter the workforce and are expected to spend inordinate amounts of time cleaning and filling in forms. It is a waste of their time and talents. Additionally, the time allocated to filling out all the forms would be adequate if they were in a private office rather than while they are educating a room full of children. The amount of time doesn’t take into consideration if they are short staffed.	“Washing and folding laundry is NOT something you learn in an education qualification … educators spend a lot of time (and constantly hounded by management) to do tasks that in other workplaces would require [a] cleaner”. (Educator) “Most adults would struggle to fill in legal paperwork while also supervising children attempting risky climbing, playing games, drinking a bottle, putting small parts in their mouth.” (Educator)	The PC states further award increases must improve their pay and conditions to align with school teachers.
High cost of higher education	Gaining the qualifications required to be an early childhood educator takes a toll on educators’ time, energy, and budget. While the Government is now funding practicums, and some state and territory governments are offering fee-free places, the educator must provide the time and energy to study. This can mean fewer days working or sacrifices to their health, social life, and relationships.	“Educators are being rushed through traineeships to meet DoE requirements, so are ECT[s]!” (Educator) “I would love to do more but don’t have the hours in the day. I exercise each morning at 6am before I start work.” (Educator)	The PC asks for more support for student educators in general terms.
Low status	Due to their links to motherhood, another underappreciated role, early childhood educators are less respected than school teachers in Australian society, even though they may be just as qualified. Those teaching younger age groups can be more affected. Studies link low status with educator burnout.	“I was in a centre where staff weren’t valued. Relationships were for show”. (Educator) “Cleaners can earn more than I do, and yet I studied for 2 years for a diploma to earn just $32hr. We are sacrificed so that other women can go to work and earn a high wage.” (Educator)	The PC recommends standardising school teacher and early childhood educator registration to improve recognition.
Low wages	Low wages mean educators struggle to pay their bills and enjoy a reasonable quality of life. This impacts their health and wellbeing and their feelings of burnout. The increase of 15% helps, but does not mean their pay is in line with school teacher salaries for early childhood teachers with the same qualifications.	“I earn $30 per hour as a qualified ECT with a degree – my 17-year- old daughter is in high school and gets the same amount of money, as a swimming instructor”. (Educator)	The PC states further award increases must improve their pay to align with school teachers.
Burdensome regulatory requirements	Educators spend much of their day filling in forms to prove they are providing high quality education and care. Administrative overload was one of the three reasons given by educators who reported they wanted to leave the sector early.	“Yes, we need paperwork but we also need to be there for the children, staff get overwhelmed with all the paperwork required and training that needs to be done during a work day and there is never enough time to do everything so a lot of staff do things at home”. (Educator)	The PC calls for reducing the administrative burden for applying for inclusion support funding but disappointingly, not for other aspects of their work.

What governments must do

The Government will need to consider the PC’s recommendations carefully and it could also heed the advice of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP). Professor Nitin Kapur, President of the RACP’s Paediatric and Child Health Division, said the RACP was pleased to see the PC recognise the importance of access to high-quality learning and care in the early years of a child’s life.

“As experts in children’s health and wellbeing, we have long advocated for universal access to early childhood education and care because we recognise the profound positive impact it can have on children’s lives.

“Access to high-quality learning and care in the early years can help boost health, social andcognitive development outcomes for children, and ensure that they start school ready.

To stem the flow of educators out of the sector, entice educators back, and attract more, they need a range of measures to improve educators’ working conditions. Our educators deserve much better.

Marg Rogers is a senior lecturer in early childhood education at UNE and a postdoctoral fellow at the Manna Institute.

Early learning: Every child deserves access now. Here’s how we can make that happen

September 23, 2024Early Childhood, Early childhood education and careAARE blog, early learning, Marg Rogers, Productivity Commission, universal access, University of New England

The Final Report from the Productivity Commission (PC) into Early Childhood Education
and Care was released last week. This two-part series unpacks the Commission’s proposed road map that involves many stages over the next 12 years to achieve universal access to early learning.

This is where all children can attend three days a week, regardless of location, ethnicity,
special educational needs, family income, or parent’s work or study schedules.
Universal access is critical because research shows access to early learning improves
children’s chances of a good start to school and increases their ability to flourish into
adulthood.

The PC said the recent improvements in wages through the Fair Work Commission will assist
with the attraction and retention of educators. The Commission states these recent rises are
only one step and that future awards need to consider the 20 per cent pay difference and poorer
conditions between the school and early learning sectors, even for educators with the same
qualifications. It also recommends registration be the same to improve status for early
childhood educators.

These are all excellent recommendations, but many educators continue to leave a sector in
crisis before the recommendations are implemented.

Why is the sector in crisis?

At its heart, the early childhood education and care sector is supposed to provide
opportunities for early learning. This is one of the key components of the internationally
accepted Nurturing Care Framework by the World Health Organisation, World Bank Group, and UNICEF. This framework is designed to show how children’s health and wellbeing is best supported to ensure children reach their potential.

Figure 1: Nurturing Care Framework

In Australia, children and their families face many barriers to these opportunities, as shown in
the table below. These include affordability, high levels of privatisation, a lack of services and educators, complex funding and access to funding, extra challenges in regional, rural and remote (RRR) communities, and access to inclusion support.

In the table below, I provide information from reports, government departments, agencies,
and organisations on these eight barriers. To illustrate this, I also provide either data from
our mixed-methods online survey study involving 82 Australian educators or, where
indicated, publicly available data. In the final column, I summarise what the PC states or
recommends the Government to do.

Barriers to early learning and how to overcome them

Barriers to early learning	Information	Data	Productivity Commission (PC) responses
1. Affordability	Australia is second only to Switzerland in its high costs of early childhood education and care fees.	“It’s very sad and hard for me to share this story. We have no support and can’t afford daycare for my 11- month-old boy. I work casually and I’m 8 weeks pregnant. We have to get an abortion because we don’t get any support.” (The Parenthood, p. 33).	The PC recommends free services for low- income families, with fees rising for those with higher incomes.
2. High levels of privatisation	Australia has some of the highest levels of privatisation of early learning services in the world. In 2020, 49% of providers were private for- profit, and about a third of these were large providers with 25 or more services.	Early childhood education and care (ECEC) is big business. The sector turns over $14 billion annually across 16,000 centres providing long day care (LDC), preschool and out of school care. The importance of giving young Australians the best start in life and encouraging workforce participation is recognised in the public funding that sustains the sector, currently around $11 billion per annum. This is distributed to providers ranging from council-run kindergartens to stock market-listed early learning chains. Among The PC recommends incentives for local parent, community groups and councils to start services. LDC provision, where the bulk of government subsidies flow, private for-profit (PFP) providers dominate.” (United Workers Union, p. 3).	The PC recommends incentives for local parent, community groups and councils to start services.
3. Lack of services	Due to the market supply model, all regional, rural, remote, and low-income metropolitan suburbs are part of a ‘childcare desert’.	“Childcare shouldn’t be a postcode lottery. Improving the affordability and accessibility of childcare is once in a generation economic policy.” (Former NSW Treasurer, Matt Kean)	The PC says Government stewardship is needed to ensure universal access.
4.Lack of educators	In 2024, vacancies for educators reached 8000 setting a new record. This impacts staff fatigue and morale, the quality of education and care, and the amount of support available for families. PC says the ‘workforce is fundamental to reform’ and calls for ‘improve measures to support the ECEC workforce’ from 2025.	“Management [were] very stressed about assessment and rating and low staff numbers, so took it out on the employees”. (Educator) Q: What does quality ECEC mean to you? “Having more than enough staff to ensure educators are consistent for children in care and to ensure quality care can occur even when educators are sick and require a day off to recover”. (Educator)
5. Complex funding model	‘The ECEC system is complex and continues to evolve in response to the changing needs of children, families and society. … a range of current system challenges and opportunities have been identified.’ (The Front Project, p. 6)	The PC recommends a new national agreement to simplify roles and funding.	The PC recommends a new national agreement to simplify roles and funding.
6. Complex access to funding	Accessing subsidies is a complex process for parents to navigate. Strict rules about eligibility and long wait times for processing claims can add to family stress during a cost-of-living crisis.	“I’m struggling to navigate the website to figure out if we qualify and if so how much. I get that there’s a bunch of circumstances, but maybe someone will know if it’s worth trying to navigate the multiple questions and pages that require lots of effort from me, to have it say ‘no go away’ at the end.” (Reddit forum).	The PC roadmap includes a recommendation for welfare and tax reform for parents and reduce the complexity of the CCS and abolish the activity test.
7. Choiceless in regional, rural and remote communities	While a lack of choice and availability affects those who live in metropolitan areas, for those in many regional, rural and remote locations, there are no services close by. This means families are choiceless.	“When the kids are on the farm you can question whether you’re exposing them to things you shouldn’t necessarily expose them to. Should they be on a sprayer? Maybe not. But you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.” (The Parenthood. p. 91)	PC recommends grants and low interest loans to encourage services to start in these locations.
8. Lack of access for inclusion support	Children with special educational needs can have difficulty accessing early learning or finding the level of support they need. Many have to wait until school to engage in education services.	‘Children with disability are often woefully under supported in early childcare settings. My complex kid can’t access childcare.’ ( Sourcekids )	The PC recommends major reforms to ensure all children have access to early education.

Tomorrow:

In the second article, I explore some of the challenges facing educators and what the PC
recommends the Government does to improve the sector.

The Government will need to consider the PC’s recommendations carefully. Families are
struggling to access early learning for their children, which has enormous consequences for
their future and their ability to work. Our families and children deserve much better.

Marg Rogers is a senior lecturer in early childhood education at UNE and a postdoctoral fellow at the Manna Institute.

How research-based news articles (like this one) accelerate research impact

July 22, 2024Research impactAARE blog, Marg Rogers, Research impact, University of New England

Translating research findings into practice or policy change is notoriously slow despite the time, effort and funding invested in research. In my peer reviewed journal article and presentation about research-based news articles, I give a step-by-step guide on how to write effectively for these research news sites to create impact and accelerate knowledge translation (also called research translation).

I also argue that while our institutions benefit and encourage us to engage in such research translation, they should recognise the time it takes to write and publish for these sites in our workloads. Further, institutions need to ensure their employment and promotion systems reward the efforts required for this type of research translation and stakeholder engagement. If these systems do not keep up, institutions risk reducing the potential impact of their research as researchers juggle their time.

Why bother with news articles?

Researchers have many demands within their institutions. Any investment in time to write research-based news articles (RBNAs) needs to be justified with important reasons. Firstly, in education, the translation of research into practice has been debated for a long time, with a large lag in uptake due to poor access to research findings and the high workloads of our target educators.

Secondly, many of our stakeholders do not necessarily have access to peer-reviewed papers. They are often exhausted from supporting children’s and student’s learning. For example, in my area of wellbeing research, my stakeholders are regional, rural and remote educators, support workers and parents. They are all busy groups of people.

Thirdly, although policymakers might have access to research libraries, they are also time-poor, wading through an increasing number of peer-reviewed publications.

Fourthly, in an information-rich environment, it is difficult for researchers to cut through the noise and have their research read, understood and put into practice.

Fifthly, RBNAs allow researchers to link their peer-reviewed publications. That ensures stakeholders who want more information are able to easily access their work.

Lastly, excellent research occurs in our universities and research institutes. But it is often only partially used because it is only accessed by other academics. Translating knowledge through RBNAs is one way to reduce such waste.

Research impact: benefits of RBNAs

There are many benefits of publishing RBNAs. This format allows researchers to summarise their research into snack-sized, easily digestible articles of around 600-1200 words available to the general public. Also, professionals working in the field might use the findings to inform their practice and decisions or increase their understanding and awareness of issues impacting their work. Researchers benefit by having a wider audience engage with their research, either by reading the RBNA or clicking on hyperlinks to their other research outputs. These metrics can be tracked using Altmetrics.which can be reported in funding, job and promotion applications as proof of stakeholder engagement and community service. Additionally, the researcher’s work is more likely to be noticed by media outlets, which might request further articles or interviews. This engagement further increases stakeholder and public engagement.

Understanding how RBNAs work

In my journal article, I use a new framework. It shows how RBNAs work and how researchers adapt their skills to write them using news values. Using a fishing analogy, shown in Figure 1, I explain the differences between RBNAs and writing opinion pieces in a newspaper.

Figure 1: Framework to explore RBNAs (Source: Rogers, 2024)

RBNAs are based on your research, using the platform of your institution as an authority and vantage point. Your academic knowledge, experience and passion are used as a fisherperson uses their knowledge to hunt fish.

Your research data and project become the fishing rod, skilfully moved and positioned to create impact. Importantly, the fishing line is stretched and adapted to accommodate the fish and conditions, just as you need to expand and adapt your writing style for different news sites. These articles are not mini essays, so this requires a definite shift in your style, language and tone.

The fishing hook is the engaging and practical part of your research. This can be tricky for researchers to identify because they might find all parts of their research interesting. Most readers will not share your fascination with theories and methodology. Working with your institution’s media and communication officers can be a big help here.

The most important part of your article is the bait. How will you lure your readers to your article? The easiest way to do this is to use news values that journalists use as shown in Figure 2 .

Figure 2: News values (adapted from Harcup & O’Neill [2017], and Parks [2019]).

How to write, publish and disseminate RBNAs

Work with your media and communication team in a professional way. Let them know about your research and identify stakeholders. They are skilful at finding news sites for your particular area. For my early childhood education and family wellbeing research, these news sites include EduResearch Matters, The Sector, EducationHQ, The Conversation, Partyline, Women’s Agenda, The Spoke, and my own institution’s UNE School of Education Research Newsletter.

When drafting an RBNA or pitching an idea to an editor, frontload a one-sentence summary of your findings and place it in the first paragraph. (As an example, scroll up to look at the second sentence of this current RBNA). The first paragraph, headline and lead image need to work together to grab the audience’s attention.

This technique differs

This writing technique is quite different to an academic article or a mystery novel. The reader does not have to wade through to the end to find the punchline. Your style will need to change depending on the news site, so read some articles from your targeted site.

Use simple, everyday English without jargon and clearly explain technical terms. Use sub-headings and images to guide the reader. Your media and communications officers can read through drafts, and offer suggested edits.

Ensure you work with these colleagues and the news site editor collaboratively. Respect their journalism skills, and remember they are knowledgeable in their field. They are experts in style, tone, images, and importantly, what readers will (and will not) engage with. They know how to adapt your research to fit with news values.

Your content knowledge, combined with their journalistic expertise, can be a match made in heaven, provided you are willing to learn from them. When this happens, your stakeholders win.

To disseminate your RBNA widely, work with your media and communications team to do this through social media. Republish your article to other relevant news sites when this option is available. Learn from colleagues who have large social media followings by watching and imitating what they do. Be sure to tag your research colleagues, partners and funders when posting a link to your article.

Research impact – Challenges for academics

The Australian Universities Accord Final Report says there is a need to expand ‘government support for research translation’. But academics work in an increasingly time-pressured environment. They face increasing administrative pressures due to managerial-inspired systems and software that encourage research record keeping and compliance over innovation, creativity, stakeholder engagement and actual research.

Recognising the challenges, early career researchers, Granek and Nakash, explain:

As junior academics in vulnerable (i.e., pre-tenure) positions, we are well aware of the fact that it is easier to answer the question of why do [knowledge translation] KT than how to do KT given the very real academic constraints … the reality of a neoliberal academic climate that rewards publications and grants at the expense of the time and energy spent on the other kinds of KT initiatives … cannot be ignored. We work in a particular sociopolitical context that values some kinds of knowledge over others.

While institutions are often good at listing these activities in organisational narratives, they need to support this work in a practical way. Such activities must be valued and acknowledged in academic systems and workload agreements.

It’s time to value all the work researchers do to ensure our whole society benefits from our research.

Dr Marg Rogers is a senior lecturer in early childhood education at UNE and a postdoctoral fellow at the Manna Institute.

Budget 2024: These early childhood educators love kids. But love won’t pay the bills

May 17, 2024Early childhood education and careAARE blog, Budget 2024, early childhood education, Marg Rogers, University of New England

This is the second in a series of posts on the 2024 Budget. Today: early childhood care and education by the University of New England’s Marg Rogers, postdoctoral fellow at the Manna Institute. Yesterday: school funding by Curtin University’s Matthew P. Sinclair, a lecturer in education policy. Monday: higher education by the University of Melbourne’s Abigail Payne, director of the Melbourne Institute.

The 2024 Federal Budget has included new and continuing early childhood initiatives to support educators and relieve the workforce crisis. That said, there are no rainbows or new pots of gold in easy reach for educators. Here’s what is new, and what remains the same.

New: Paid practicum placements (from July 2024)

Educators are eligible for a payment of $319.50 a week for practicum placements outside of their own workplace. Educators have to do many practicums as they work through certificate, diploma and degree qualifications. In this past this has led to educators taking annual leave from their job to do their placement, or worse, unpaid hours creating ‘prac poverty’.

New: Lower indexation rates for HECS-HELP student debts (retrospective adjustment from 2023)

Rather than rely on the rate of inflation to set the indexation amount on student loans, the Government will now rely on lower and more predictable figures. The indexation rate, (similar to interest), will be either the Wage Price Index or the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower on any given year.

This initiative will bring relief to early childhood educators who are trained, or training to be degree qualified and have a HECS-HELP student loan. Educators are often especially affected as they generally take longer to pay these debts off because:

they have low wages, so the rate of compulsory repayments is lower;
as 92% of the workforce are women, they are often taking career breaks to be the primary carers of children and relatives; and
they often work part time due to their caring responsibilities, meaning there are often years where they pay little to none of the debt.

These debts often fester for years, increasing educators’ levels of poverty, and reducing their ability to apply for a home loan. Thus, HECS-HELP schemes are an outdated and very sexist policy designed in the 1980s, largely by men who had little understanding of the impact it would have on women.

Continuation: Wage increases (when the Fair Work Commission completes its processes)

Probably the most disappointing part of the budget for educators is there is no increase in wages until the Fair Work Commission has completed its Annual Wage Review and Gender Pay Equity Research exercise.

While this is important work, it will not help educators in the middle of a cost of living crisis who are leaving their jobs because they can’t afford to stay. It is important to note here that degree qualified early childhood educators receive about 20% less than school teachers with the same qualifications.

That said, the Government has committed $30 million over 2024-25 to the processes of paying educators more once the decision is finalised.

Continuation: Incentive System payments (2024-25)

Apprentices, trainees and employees benefit from Phase II of the Incentive System for priority skill areas, such as early education. In the second phase, educators on a traineeship could receive between $3000-5000 as a bonus over the two years. Additionally, sign on incentives payments of $4000-5000 are available for early childhood services to attract staff.

This might help to attract some new educators in a time of high employment. This bonus is especially needed in regional, rural and remote regions, and low-income metropolitan suburbs who live in ‘childcare deserts’. This is where three or more families are competing for one space within a service. In some areas, it is 20 or more families, with parents waiting for many years to access early learning for their child.

General initiatives: New supports impacting early childhood educators

As part of the general taxpaying population, educators will benefit from the stage 3 tax reforms. It will improve their take-home pay as they earn less than $146,000. Additionally, because 92% of the workforce in early education are women, some will be eligible for these new measures, depending on their circumstances. These include:

domestic violence payment of $5000 for those fleeing an abusive relationship (continuation of a pre-existing scheme);
improved funding in crisis and transitional accommodation (new funding); and
superannuation added to Commonwealth paid parent leave (from 2025).

The verdict

In some ways, this is a disappointing budget for educators. Their wages have been effectively reduced from low to unsustainable during a time of high inflation and a cost-of-living crisis. This will mean more educators will leave, if they cannot wait for the lengthy Fair Work Commission’s processes.

Many have already left. They are enjoying higher wages in other sectors, such as the Aged Care Sector, whose wages were adjusted previously.

This high level of attrition negatively impacts:

children (who need secure, caring relationships to support their learning, and access to important developmental screening);
parents (especially women, who cannot work when they have no access to early learning);
family wellbeing (reduced family income increases household stress);
communities (who are losing young families when they cannot access early learning, and who cannot attract workers from other sectors to the area), and
the economy (as there are less taxpayers when parents cannot access early education for their children).

Unfortunately, passion for children’s education does not pay the bills and provide a sustainable economic wage. We need real reform in early childhood education so our children, parents, families, communities and country thrive.

Dr Marg Rogers is a senior lecturer in early childhood education at UNE and a postdoctoral fellow at the Manna Institute.

What happens now to children and families after these horrors?

April 22, 2024mental healthAARE blog, Marg Rogers, mental health, moral injury, University of New England

In the aftermath of the horrors of the attacks in Bondi and Wakeley, many community members have been involved in or witnessed traumatic events. These can impact mental health and family life, what we call events which cause moral injury.

Our team has co-created resources to support children who grow up in families where a parent has a moral injury. As Anzac Day approaches, it is also relevant to consider defence, veteran and first responder (service) families.

What is moral injury?

Moral injury (MI) is a deep wounding of the soul. It is the social, psychological and spiritual response when something or someone has gone beyond the limits of an individual’s deeply held values and beliefs. This can include events where vulnerable members of society are affected.

In countries like Australia, members of the public seldom witness such extreme events. That’s in contrast to service members who are more frequently exposed to trauma. As such, they are more likely to have a moral injury than the general population.

Moral injury can also be caused by abuse or betrayal by individuals and organisations. For example, a child might be abused by an adult who should be protecting them. Similarly, an organisation might say they will support staff members who injure themselves at work but fail to do so.

Sometimes injuries can be compounded. For example, a police officer might experience an injury when they witness the mistreatment of a community member. When they report it, however, they might be betrayed, demoted or ostracised by management or colleagues.

Interestingly, moral injury is not yet considered a psychological condition. However, it can lead to mental health conditions such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression. It should be noted that all of us feel upset or shaken at times by what we experience or see in everyday life. This does not mean we will develop a moral injury, because it is caused by a deep wound, generally from very traumatic events.

What does moral injury feel like?

Those with a moral injury feel a deep sense of shame and betrayal and experience feelings of unworthiness or dirtiness after seeing or being part of such events. They might think they could have done more, despite the impossible choices they might have faced in an emergency.

Those with a moral injury can withdraw from their family members and friends because of these feelings. They might think they are unworthy of loving relationships. They may even fear contaminating their loved ones because they feel guilty for what they have done or failed to do.

How does moral injury impact family life?

Despite their best efforts to shield them, a parent’s moral injury can negatively impact children’s and teenager’s family life and mental health. Children generally misinterpret their parent’s withdrawal as rejection. They can blame themselves for their parent’s behaviour and even the moral injury.

Also, children might be exposed to their parent’s aggressive risk-taking behaviours. The parent can be over protective because of the danger they themselves have been exposed to. Children’s world view is often impacted by their parent’s. Children and teenagers might also start to see the world as a dangerous place, or that those in authority, or government departments and organisations cannot be trusted.

Adding to these challenges is the availability of mental health services for all family members, especially for those in regional, rural and remote communities. The Australian Bureau of Statistics found 30% of defence members and 50% of veterans live in these communities. So do many first responders. Therefore, there is a need for online resources and support for these families.

Our research and resources

Research showed a lack of resources to support this group of children and their families. Our Child and Family Resilience team worked with Australian and international research partners from Canada and the UK to address this need. We gathered the voices of adult children and spouses of veterans and first responders with a moral injury. And we also collected stories from support workers and clinicians who support those with a moral injury.

We used these narratives to co-create free, online research-based resources to support children with a parent who has a moral injury. This includes a research-based storybook to support children’s understanding of their parent’s behaviour and develop coping strategies. The storybook has research-based information in the prologue and epilogue to assist educators, parents and support workers to understand what these children experience.

Accompanying the storybook is a research-based module for parents to build their capacity to assist these children. We are also co-creating a module for support workers and educators.

Who is the storybook for?

It should be noted that the book is not suitable for group or classroom readings; rather it is only for children who are already experiencing these issues at home. It is designed for one-to-one reading with a child and their parent, school counsellor, support worker, or educator.

Bibliotherapy provides a non-pharmaceutical intervention to improve an individual’s mental health through reading, reflecting and discussing books to improve understanding. In this way, storybooks provide children with an opportunity to empathise with the characters and practice their emotional responses safely. The book is designed as a springboard for discussing the story and what the child is experiencing at home.

Stakeholder feedback

Our online survey provided feedback on the suitability of the resource. The participants were stakeholders, including service personnel, their families, and those supporting them. They provided helpful feedback to help us improve the book, along with comments such as these:

“…I am currently still processing the injuries… I have share[d] it with …my children…(now adults) … they hurt from my actions or inactions, they become wounded children”.

”My children are grown, however, this would have been a very helpful resource for us”.

“Real words to start the conversation”.

“So sad this book wasn’t around when [my partner’s] kids and granddaughter were younger, realising what a difference it may have made if they could have understood what was happening with him.”

“This wee book provides the clearest explanation yet of the origins and initial steps toward explaining and solving a highly complex problem that (as veterans) my husband and I have been grappling with for the past 62 years”.

What next?

The book is also being piloted with UK families through the Kings College of Military Health Research. Our team will adapt resources from feedback by July’s end to create a final copy that will be released online.

We wish we lived in a world where moral injury and mental health disorders are non-existent. In the meantime, our team needs further funding to co-create more free research-based bibliotherapy resources for children impacted by their parent’s occupations.

Marg Rogers is a senior lecturer in early childhood education at UNE. She is a postdoctoral fellow within the Manna Institute, building place-based research capacity to improve the mental health of regional, rural and remote Australia. She researches marginalised voices within families and education, especially in regional, rural and remote communities. Specifically, she researches ways to support the wellbeing of defence, veteran, first responder and remote worker families and early childhood educators.

Part two: A new way forward for toddlers, teens, educators, parents

January 30, 2024Early childhood education and care, social and emotional competenceAARE blog, Early childhood, identity, Macquarie University, Marg Rogers, Margaret Sims

Educators and parents often complain about toddlers and teenagers. In the first article of this two-part series, we explained similarities in their physical, social and emotional development. In this second article, we explore the cognitive similarities, share tips on building positive relationships, and provide ways to address their mental health and wellbeing.

What are the similarities?

Cognitive

Both age groups are still learning how to assess risk, yet they think they are invincible. This, combined with the rapid physical development, can lead to high rates of hospital emergency department admissions.

Additionally, teenage hormone surges interrupt concentration, which is frustrating for educators and parents as they sometimes think messages are not going through. Teenagers are often off task and can spend considerable amounts of time day dreaming.

Communication can also be a struggle. While toddlers might struggle to find the right words to say (even if they understand the words), teenagers might find it challenging to express what they really feel. This can lead to grunting, then either tantrums (toddlers), or slammed doors, rolled eyes and sighs (teenagers). There is often a lot of dissatisfied whining and grumbling. Often children just cannot name the emotions they are feeling so they fall back onto the perennial grunt of “nothing” despite clear evidence that they are feeling something. It is useful to use descriptive language, labelling the feelings their behaviour indicates. For younger children, reading books that improve emotional literacy can help. Many of these are available in libraries.

Tips for positive relationships

It is important to maintain a positive relationship with both age groups despite the challenges.

Remembering that it is a frustrating age for children as well as educators and parents. They are not trying to be painful, rather, they are trying to grow up and learn about who they are and how the world works. When they are grumpy, teaching them to be civil is important.

Using humour can make a world of difference when they are sullen, sulky or recalcitrant. Letting them know their efforts are appreciated (whether they succeed or not), and that you understand that life is frustrating at times.

It is important they know they belong, they are important, they are a valued part of the family or learning environment, not a burden and that you appreciate them being here. It can help to identify what you see as their strengths, particularly at times when they are overwhelmed by frustration at what they see as their failures. Using a strengths-based approach and listening to them can make a big difference to the outcomes.

Boundaries

Both age groups will push against and even throw tantrums about any boundaries you put in place. For a toddler, a boundary might be that they can only play with the blocks when they have helped pack up the train set. For a teenager, it might mean they need to finish their work before they can do something fun, or their behaviour needs to be at a certain level before they can be trusted to go on an excursion.

It is their job to push boundaries and tell you the rules are not fair. It is your job to clearly set limits and stick to them, reinforcing consequences and gradually easing the limits as they mature and show their ability to follow them, and self-regulate. Those without boundaries feel lost and uncared for, so they try riskier activities and poorer behaviour to get attention.

Friends

It is not an educator or parent’s job to be friends with a child or teenager. They have their own friends. There will be moments of friendship, and these are wonderful, and likely to increase as the child matures. However, it is the adult’s job to be a coach and mentor. Their friends are not coaches, so you need to take on that role.

Opinions

Teenagers are learning how to express their opinions and they need support to know how to do this appropriately. This means learning how to:

calmly state their opinion,
spot the difference between opinion and fact,
value a range of opinions,
agree to disagree respectfully, and
appreciate that you approve of those with different opinions than your own.

Mental health

Not every child, despite all your best efforts, is going to be able to grow up without help being

provided to the family and to those carrying the responsibility for their welfare. There are a range of family support services available upon which families can call. Educators can recommend the mental health resources available at the service, school or community.

Mental health challenges, particularly in the teenage years, are not uncommon and there are a range of supports available (see Teens mental health: services and links and Teenage mental health – treatments and causes. However, understanding the similarities in these age groups and looking after yourself can support educators’ and parents’ efforts and reduce their stress levels.

Marg Rogers is a senior lecturer in early childhood education. She researches marginalised voices within families and education especially in regional, rural and remote communities. Marg is a postdoctoral fellow within the Commonwealth Funded Manna Institute.

Margaret Sims is a professor in early childhood education and care and has worked in the areas of family support and disabilities for many years. She researches in the areas of professionalism in early childhood and higher education, families, disabilities, social justice and families from CaLD backgrounds. She is an honorary professor at Macquarie University.

Toddlers and teens: the news educators and parents need right now

January 29, 2024Early childhood education and care, social and emotional competenceAARE blog, Early childhood, identity, Macquarie University, Marg Rogers, Margaret Sims, University of New England

Among educators and parents, the most often complained about age groups are toddlers and teens. Physically, socially, emotionally and cognitively there are many similarities in these developmental ages. Understanding these similarities can reduce frustrations and help us better connect with them.

In this two-part series, we explore the physical, social and emotional similarities. In the second article (published tomorrow), we will explore the cognitive similarities, share tips on building positive relationships, and provide ways to address their mental health and wellbeing.

What are the similarities?

Physical

This is a time of rapid physical growth for both age groups. Brains are struggling to keep up, causing what might seem like clumsiness and frequent accidents as they learn how to move and be in their rapidly changing bodies. They might not know their own strength and accidently break something or hurt someone as they test shifting limits. It is important to avoid overreacting and attaching a purpose behind these actions as there may be none. Letting them know you are upset and that you do not want them doing that again is okay, but try to leave it there.

This rapid growth means both toddlers and teenagers need loads of sleep. This can be tricky for teenagers who like to stay up late, then struggle with morning routines and learning activities. Additionally, gaming, streaming and social media means there is more to occupy them in the evenings. Parents are often unpopular if they take devices off children at bedtime, but it might mean a big difference enabling them to get the physical rest they need.

Emotional

Both ages are times of opposites. One minute children seem to be clingy and wanting attention and support, then the next they are pushing you away, expressing their opinions, and saying ‘No! I can do it’, snarling or grunting. They are still very needy at all times, despite the bravado.

Learning to step back and allowing them some freedom is important, but letting them know you are there whenever they need you is vital. The saying ‘Children need your love when they least deserve it’ is very true. Teach them that if they want to do something themselves, or have time to themselves that it is okay, but that they need to express this wish in a way that is not hurtful. Providing example sentences can help them choose appropriate words.

Socially, children are still learning what is acceptable, what will elicit a response, and how to navigate relationships. Emotionally, they are more likely to find rejection heartbreaking because they are forging their identity. Feeling rejected for toddlers might look like someone not sharing their toys, or pushing them over. For teens it is far more complex, and involves feeling liked and belonging within friendship or sub cultural groups.

To be mentally healthy all humans need to feel a sense of belonging. We need an identity that locates us safely in groups of others. For toddlers those groups include the family and possibly the educators and peer group in their early childhood setting. For teenagers the importance of the family group declines (but doesn’t disappear) as they seek their place in a range of different peer groups in both the face-to-face and virtual worlds they inhabit. Learning who we are in these groups is often a function of how the group reacts to us, and children need a secure base of caring relationships. This supports them to manage the turbulent emotions that come with learning that not everyone in the world will like them or want to be with them.

Regarding identity

In regards to identity, toddlers are realising they are separate to their primary caregiver, and teenagers are forging their identity as a young person separate from their parents. At both ages, egos are very fragile, so it is important parents provide a place where they can feel safe and secure within their own home, away from the hurdy gurdy of friendships. Ideally, the family environment creates a safe basis from which children can reach out into the world and develop their own identities within their own groups. If there is not a safe environment at home, other spaces might help provide some support, such as libraries, extra-curricular groups and clubs.

Teenagers are now old enough to realise what people say and what they mean can be different. This new skill means they often believe people are thinking the worst of them, despite the reality that people are not thinking about them at all. It is important to point out to teenagers that it is a time where they are more likely to be self-conscious, but the reality is most people are not thinking about anything but themselves or the task at hand.

For both age groups, having time alone at home is important as this time gives them the space to process their experiences and reinforce for themselves just who they are. For teens, this means times where they are not on social media. They might complain, but it is good for them to relax and not always be socially available. Time in the family unit is also important as it reinforces the relationships that make home a safe place.

Looking after yourself

Overall, it is challenging educating and parenting these age groups, so finding another trusted and experienced educator or parent to chat to is vital for your own wellbeing. It is normal for educators and parents of toddlers and teenagers to feel exhausted, challenged and exasperated at times. It is essential to recognise your own limits. It is not selfish to desire time alone to recharge batteries to enable you to cope with the next challenge thrown your way. Nor is it selfish to reach out for help when those difficulties feel overwhelming. Looking after yourself is vital for the long haul.

Flowers, chocolates, promises: now too late for early childhood educators

November 24, 2023Early Childhood, Early childhood education and careAARE blog, early childhood education, early childhood educators, Marg Rogers, Margaret Sims

The newest Productivity Commission report: A path to universal early childhood education and care glosses over or ignores many fundamental problems within the early childhood education sector .

Scarcely mentioned, or tactfully ignored, are the:
* systemic issues relating to educator burnout,
* poor wellbeing and morale of educators,
* increasing burden of quality assurance,
* emotional cost of caring, and the
* increasingly complex needs of families.

These are crucial challenges creating chaos in the sector as educators head for the door in droves since before the pandemic. This alone is impacting families and the ability of Australian parents to work.

Neglect and abuse

After successive government neglect (poor pay and status) and abuse (overwork, underpay and unpaid hours) of educators over the years, suddenly the sector is getting attention. However, as this report shows, the Commission’s attention is on the wellbeing of the children and families.

While families need attention and are very deserving, there still seems to be a reluctance to talk about educator wellbeing. When educators are mentioned, it is about how to attract more, rather than real solutions on how to nurture and retain those who have had enough.

An early childhood sector in chaos

The Commission does report on the vacancy rate which is over 5000 (over 4.5%), but this does not
show the number of services that have given up advertising. Many have simply closed down or
reduced the number of rooms they have open.

Many are operating under waivers, meaning they are being staffed by those who are currently
studying to meet the mandated requirements of the service. Studying can be difficult when an
educator’s service is short staffed.

The report does explain that in ‘childcare desert’ areas, that is, where the need for early learning is
greatest, children and families are spending years on waiting lists to access any care they can find.

The Parenthood’s ‘Choiceless’ report about effect of a lack of early learning in regional, rural and remote (RRR) communities shows, this is impacting the:
* mental health and wellbeing of parents
* access to screening services for children
* economic stability of households
* safety of children as they are taken to work with parents,
* viability of rural businesses and communities, and
* viability of families living in RRR communities.
In these communities, educators’ role in providing a link to services and supporting parents in their
role is vital because access to other services is severely limited. Educators in these areas need more support, because they are often providing more than early learning. They often undertake family support and mental health support roles with the families.

Supporting early childhood educator wellbeing

Educators need an investment in their wellbeing. They need access to funded wellbeing programs,
peer support and/or counselling programs. These should be conducted during work hours, otherwise it is only increasing their unpaid hours.

Pandemic stresses

The draft skims over the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sector, which fared poorly compared to the school sector. The services were: told to stay open, roll out wave after wave of new health care policies, enforce new rules about attendance, required to do additional cleaning with no extra funds or hours. It was as though educators were on a ghost train ride to ‘burnout central’.

Additionally, they were labelled as essential workers, but were not given priority for vaccinations, nor given any recognition. The educational leaders showed great innovation in implementing a range of new ways of working, many which have remained in a post-COVID era.

The report also highlights the benefits of investing in the sector to free up parents to work and
increase the access children have to early learning. The report also highlights the overwhelming amount of data available on the sector. They fail to mention how this is collected, often by overworked educators who are trying to collect government data whilst educating and caring for children.

This has led to a ‘datification’ of the sector. It is a constant source of complaints as educators want to work with the children and families. Ironically, the report says there are gaps in the data! Many educators give up trying to complete data collection done while they are on the floor and do the work for free when they are at home. This is appalling given they are the 13 th lowest paid workers in Australia. So, in other industries where no qualifications are needed, workers can earn far more (e.g. in shops, manufacturing, farming and construction).

What the report gets right

The draft report outlines the dire need to remove unpaid practicums for educators because this leads to higher levels of attrition and poverty among educators. Many state governments are offering scholarships to remove university fees, which is encouraging. The report also discusses a range of improvements to assist families to access childcare three days per week, by removing the activity test.

Too little! Too late!

Whilst the politicians are quick to report on their moves in the right direction, the flowers, chocolates and promises have come far too late for many educators who cannot afford to stay in the industry any longer. Many educators can only afford to do the job they love if their partner earns far more, or their parents provide support. In the era of the #MeToo movement, the feminised workforce has had enough of neglect, poverty, being ignored, undervalued, demoralised and abused. They are saying ‘too little, too late’!

Dr Marg Rogers is a Senior Lecturer in the Early Childhood Education. Marg researches marginalised voices within families and education especially in regional, rural and remote communities. Specifically, she researches ways to support the wellbeing of military, first responder and remote worker families and early childhood educators. Marg is a Postdoctoral Fellow within the Commonwealth Funded Manna Institute.

Margaret Sims is a Professor in Early Childhood Education and Care and has worked in the areas of family support and disabilities for many years. She researches in the areas of professionalism in early childhood and higher education, families, disabilities, social justice and families from CaLD backgrounds. She is an Honorary Professor at Macquarie University.

The government must fix the childcare desert now

May 4, 2023Early Childhood, Early childhood education and careAARE blog, Anne Aly, Early childhood, early childhood education, Laura K Doan, Marg Rogers, Navjot Bhullar, professional development

Marg Rogers, Navjot Bhullar and Laura K Doan ask: How far will the Budget’s funds stretch to fix educator professional development and ‘childcare desert’ communities?

The Federal Government’s Budget announcement of $18 million of funding to be available as grants for providers is welcome. Providers will be able to apply for up to $900,000 to build more services in ‘childcare desert’ areas. These are normally in regional, rural and remote areas, and exacerbate disadvantage because children in the area miss out on early learning, and their parents miss out on working. However, this is not going to go very far since the problem is so great.

The Government has promised to support 6000 existing educators to upskill and support them to backfill positions that are vacant. It has also pledged $72.4 million over 5 years to support up to 75,000 educators’ professional development for those in regional and remote communities is welcome.

Educators in these areas often act as more than educators, and face increased pressures. They often plug the gaps for other services that are missing in these communities, such as mental health services, family support and early intervention. Sometimes they are unable to attend further professional development because they do not have the casual staff to cover their teaching load.

Throughout the sector, many early childhood services are scrambling to run effectively. The sector has chronic staff shortages and high levels of burnout.

This has led to alarming rates of staff absenteeism due to increased workload and stress. The impact of this level of disruption and stress on children’s wellbeing and learning is still unfolding.

Despite welcome reforms to reduce the cost of early childhood education for families, staff shortages have increased during COVID as educator burnout has increased. Currently, there are over 6800 advertised positions for educators in Australia, double since the pandemic began. So, how did we get into such a mess?

To find out more about the challenges educators face, our international study explored educators’ work in five different countries. We also wanted to learn from other countries to improve policies and practices.

Australian educators’ experiences

In Australia, 51 surveyed educators told us about their experiences working in a sector in crisis. Additional data were collected from publicly available forums related to the publication of these findings. Predictably, most roads lead to gender.

Women make up 92% of this workforce. As part of the feminised care sector, it features:

–financial abuse

“Educators were pushed to provide high quality … with minimal budget. I spent over $4,000 of my own money – not one cent reimbursed”.

“Book week, pirate day, Halloween – …centres force this onto staff. They want photo ops to market themselves on Facebook but expect staff to pay for …costumes. Unpaid overtime setting the rooms up”.

–extremely low pay

“One day I found one of them (educators) crying in the other room… she told me …she works double shifts and so tired but gets paid #%!@ all”.

–low status

“Traditionally ‘women’s work’ so it’s undervalued”.

“Quality education begins with quality educators…(who) are valued”.

–invisibility

“There is a lot of pressure on educators to meet the needs of others resulting in their own health being overlooked”.

-never being good enough

“Early childhood teacher’s and educator’s… qualifications are far less valued”.

–unpaid hours

“Too much work ‘from the love of your heart’”.

-chronic overwork

“So stressful due to the admin and recording”.

“Obscene documentation requirement from the government”.

-high stress

“It can be stressful to try and achieve all the goals and outcomes … in these frameworks”.

“All of us have stressful days… managing behavioural issues, parent’s demands and a lot of routine tasks”.

-poor staff morale

“Very low, strained and tired”.

-forced to conform to others’ ideals

“Educators … are … pressured to conform early education to one box”.

What could we learn from Canada?

Clearly, our highly privatised Australian system needs urgent reform. In the meantime, to support educators’ wellbeing, we might be able to learn from other countries.

Up to 50% of educators in British Columbia were leaving the sector in their first five years. To address this, an evaluated, funded peer support program is nurturing the wellbeing of educators. Unsurprisingly, this is reducing attrition.

Potentially, this research-based Peer Mentoring Program (PMP) could be adapted for Australia. It involves peer-mentoring within Community of Practice (CoP) groups.

Why is it so effective?

The program works because it:

-Gives educators a voice

The groups create a safe space for educators to discuss their professional and private lives without judgement or recrimination. An educator in the program said:

“It’s creating a safe place for vulnerability”.

-Supports educator health and wellbeing (self-care)

This is a major focus for the individual groups as educators explore ways to sustain their practice.

“Our time together ‘filled my cup’, each sip of tea warming my insides … I felt refreshed mentally”.

-Creates a nurturing, connected community

The groups build a sense of belonging with like minded individuals, with mentoring from experienced educators.

“I would describe the PMP program as going home, being with a group of people who … allow you to be the best version of yourself…”.

-Addresses invisibility

The program focuses on educators’ needs, not the needs of children and families.

“I’m educated … experienced … fulltime … as a woman, why is it okay that I’m at poverty level”?

“We have nothing to give if our OWN cups are empty”.

Post-pandemic bread and butter budget

So, how do we convince governments to fund such a program?

Now, Australian governments and early childhood services are spending a lot to attract, train and induct educators. Some of this money could be better spent supporting the wellbeing of educators in our existing workforce so we can retain them.

What Australia needs to change to keep educators

To reform the sector, Australians and our Government need to take a long hard look at the following:

Do we value young children’s education and care during the critical first five years? Do we value those in the feminised care sectors enough to give them a fair go? If so, let’s address this crisis by making the necessary policy reforms to nurture, value and keep our educators. The 2023 Budget only partially addresses this.

Dr Marg Rogers is a senior lecturer in early childhood education at the University of New England. Professor Navjot Bhullar is a research-focused professor of Psychology (wellbeing focus) at Edith Cowan University. She is in the top 250 most cited researchers in Australia. Associate Professor Laura K. Doan is an associate professor of early childhood at Thompson Rivers University in Canada.

Header image from Anne Aly’s Facebook page

Top of the pops: AARE’s Hottest Ten 2022

December 15, 202221st century teaching, academic workforceAARE blog, Alison Bedford, Babak Dadvand, Bree Hurn, Debra Hayes, Helen Cozmescu, higher education, Inger Mewburn, Jacinta Conway, Kate de Bruin, Linda Gawne, Linda Graham, Marg Rogers, Martina Tassone, Naomi Barnes, Pamela Snow, Rachel Wilson, Simon Crook, Tanya Serry

Thank you to all our contributors in 2022. We published over 100 blog posts this year from academics all over Australia, from research students to DECRA fellows, to deans and professors. Thank you all for being part of our community and many thanks to the AARE executive, especially newly-minted Professor Nicole Mockler.

Didn’t get to write this year? Want to contribute? Here are notes for contributors. Pitch to me at jenna@aare.edu.au.

The 2022 AARE EduResearch Matters blog of the year, announced at the AARE conference in Adelaide: “Why restoring trust in teaching now could fix the teacher shortage”. La Trobe’s Babak Dadvand wrote a compelling account of one way to address the teacher shortage.

It is genuinely hard to choose the best because every single blog reveals new ideas and new thinking about education but I’ll just list our ten most read for 2022 (and of course, some of our older posts have racked up thousands and thousands of views). So many others were excellent and please look at our comprehensive archive.

Here we go! 2022 top ten.

Babak Dadvand on the teacher shortage.

Why restoring trust in teaching now could fix the teacher shortage

Inger Mewburn: Is this now the Federal government’s most bone-headed idea ever?

Is this now the Federal government’s most bone-headed idea ever?

Debra Hayes: Here’s what a brave new minister for education could do right away to fix the horrific teacher shortage

Here’s what a brave new minister for education could do right away to fix the horrific teacher shortage

Kate de Bruin, Pamela Snow, Linda Graham, Tanya Serry and Jacinta Conway: There are definitely better ways to teach reading

There are definitely better ways to teach reading

Marg Rogers: Time, money, exhaustion: why early childhood educators will join the Great Resignation

Time, money, exhaustion: why early childhood educators will join the Great Resignation

Rachel Wilson: What do you think we’ve got now? Dud teachers or a dud minister? Here are the facts

What do you think we’ve got now? Dud teachers or a dud minister? Here are the facts

Simon Crook: More Amazing Secrets of Band Six (part two ongoing until they fix the wretched thing)

(And part one is now one of our most read posts of all-time)

More Amazing Secrets of Band Six (part two ongoing until they fix the wretched thing)

Alison Bedford and Naomi Barnes: The education minister’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea*

The education minister’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea*

Martina Tassone, Helen Cozmescu, Bree Hurn and Linda Gawne: No. There isn’t one perfect way to teach reading

No. There isn’t one perfect way to teach reading

Thank you to all of you for making this such a lovely community, looking forward to hearing from you and a special thank you to Maralyn Parker who has now been retired from the blog for two years but is still a fantastically supportive human when I need urgent help.

Jenna Price