The Early Learning Work Matters Project: Understanding Educators’ Work and Working Conditions in Early Childhood Education and Care

Abstract

Quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) in the first five years of life contributes to significant benefits for children, families, and society. Despite the critical role educators play in the provisioning of quality ECEC, educators’ work demands are high across many international contexts and are associated with excessive turnover rates and educator shortages. While there is long-standing evidence that work in ECEC entails heavy demands, inconsistent resources, and minimal benefits, there is a need for foundational data on educators’ work and conditions, particularly workload. The Early Learning Work Matters project is a sequential mixed methods study that contributes towards addressing this gap.

First, a systematic review mapped recent international research on educators’ work and working conditions, with detailed mapping of the current literature. Second, interviews with nine university-trained early childhood teachers in New South Wales, Australia, aimed to give voice to teachers on the nature and quantity of their workload. Third, a national survey of Australian ECEC educators (N=570) collected foundational data on educators’ work hours and workload demands. This final phase introduces a novel and interdisciplinary theoretical perspective on work in ECEC, combining theories and concepts from occupational stress models, ecology, and ECEC quality.

As a whole, this exploratory thesis highlights the complexity of work in ECEC, which is both challenging and highly varied. Educators reported heavy non-contact workloads and regular unpaid hours, with indications of a possible tension between workload and quality, which requires additional research. While educators reported predominantly negative working conditions, experiences were notably polarised, with some reporting exceptionally positive working conditions. Nevertheless, this thesis lends weight to prior calls for more educator-focused policy in Australian ECEC.