Quality of preschool workforce matters

It makes a difference: Qualified teachers have resulted in improved outcomes as young children became more sociable, and exhibited a higher level of language and cognitive ability compared to children cared for by less qualified teachers.

BY the year 2020, all preschool teachers were required to have a minimum diploma in early childhood education, as stated in the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025.

Most of the public preschool teachers have gained the required qualification by now. Some have even gone on to pursue a bachelor’s or a master’s degree.

Unfortunately, for a large majority of private preschool teachers, this policy requirement remains a challenge due to various factors.

This has slowed down the attainment of the policy set to improve quality standards. The effort was further hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has badly affected the sector.

This should not be taken lightly as preschool teachers in the private sector comprise half of the teaching workforce in Malaysia who are serving our young children.

Many studies have indicated that a well-trained and professional workforce with sound knowledge of the policies and professional skills in early childcare and education is more capable of making informed decisions about quality and developmentally appropriate practices in the best interests of the children.

Although many of the early childhood and care education (ECCE) programmes have been in existence since the 1940s, this sector has been given serious attention only over the last two decades.

The National Preschool Curriculum was officially introduced in 2003, and the National Curriculum for Early Childcare and Education (Permata) was implemented in 2008.

As the government is moving towards universal preschool education, it is essential to note that the quality of the workforce does matter.

Qualified teachers in preschool programmes do make a difference.

They have resulted in improved outcomes as young children became more sociable, and exhibited a higher level of language and cognitive ability compared to children cared for by less qualified teachers.

In other words, to raise the quality of preschool education, qualified early childhood educators with a good understanding of child development and proven teaching and learning methods are key.

In many countries such as Finland, Australia and the United Kingdom, teachers for the five- and six-year-olds possess a minimum of a bachelor’s degree qualification in early childhood.

Other quality indicators play a role, such as better work conditions, salary, remuneration, and professional status, which will impact teachers’ job satisfaction and work performance, thus setting the tone of professionalism.

Society’s expectations of the early childhood workforce to understand child development, programme planning, children’s health and safety, as well as relationships with families, have also driven many countries to adopt a longer-term vision for the early childhood workforce, advocating for a reformed system of qualifications.

Teachers need a good support system such as better pay incentives to motivate them to upgrade, as well as accessible and affordable training and education programmes through multiple pathways.

The Malaysian Qualifications Agency has recently introduced an innovative pathway to provide more access to in-service preschool teachers to achieve the required academic qualification through Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL).

This newly launched APEL.Q pathway is the award of academic qualifications through evaluating and assessing prior experiential learning towards a fully accredited programme of a diploma in early childhood education.

Preschool teachers with 10 years of relevant working experience and prior experiential learning could now apply to gain a qualification through assessments via a portfolio documenting evidence from their prior experiential learning in preschool settings, field and validation visit by assessors, challenge test, as well as capstone course or courses which amalgamate the key learning outcomes of the programme and demonstrate that the learners have mastered the core discipline of their studies.

Experienced preschool teachers could use APEL.Q as a platform to reflect on their own teaching experience to enhance practice.

Putting the national target of policy implementation aside, it is important to look at the workforce’s behavioural and attitudinal change plus enhanced intellectual capacity which is even more critical to raising early childhood quality and professionalism.

The transformation will not happen if the wish to change does not come from the teachers themselves and the circumstances in which they have been working.

Hence, APEL.Q serves only as a valuable starting point, a useful platform to build on their invaluable existing expertise.

Going back to college does not discredit their experience. The process adds to their expertise, integrates with and grows from what is already there.

The motivation to embrace policy changes needs to work hand in hand with the teachers’ will to develop from where they are to where they want to be in the future.

The teachers’ well-being should be recognised to be as necessary as the transformation agenda. The teachers’ ability to understand and adapt to change indicates its viability.

It is evident from the pandemic that many preschool teachers struggle to deliver effective online teaching, and many preschools could not sustain their businesses due to their lack of ability to adapt to change. The comfort zone is a detrimental phenomenon.

When the “shove” of discomfort pushes for change, individual and collective efforts are needed to ensure that the workforce can upgrade themselves professionally.

History has taught us that pandemics have forced human beings to create a new vision for the world.

Let us opt for change, imagine a new and better profession for early childhood education, and collectively strive to achieve it.

Assoc Prof Dr Lydia Foong is the dean of the Faculty of Education, Languages and Psychology, and the director of Confucius Institute – both at SEGi University.

She is also the secretary of the Professional Development Board, ECCE Council Malaysia, and an executive committee member of the National Association of Early Childhood Education Malaysia.

She has 30 years of experience in education settings locally and in the UK.

She has been invited as a panel member for various early childcare and education programme development projects, curriculum standards development, and various initiatives by the Malaysian government, including the Government Transformation Programme under the Prime Minister’s department.

She is actively involved in research and publications, and is a regular presenter at local and international conferences.

Her research interests are in teacher education, reflective practice, and early childhood care and education policies and practice.

The views expressed here are the writer’s own.