Supporting our Educators to be job ready: Setting them up for success

RTO and PD Manager Nicky Lewis believes that initial professional development and training for Early Childhood Educators and Teachers needs improvement, and shares her thoughts in the piece below, written from a dual perspective of having worked in both the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector and the Vocational Education and Training (VET) industry. 

Returning to VET to make a difference

“I’ve returned to the Vocational Education and Training (VET) industry after a stint back in the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector,” Ms Lewis began. 

“I’m always driven to look for positions/jobs/ways to support the sector I love and have been a part of for over 30 years, which is why I’ve returned. The past seven years provided insight into just how challenging it is out there in ECEC for our Teachers and Educators in EC, something which was especially apparent when my colleagues and myself were supporting teams through the Quality Support Program (QSP) at ACECQA or as mentors at Guardian Childcare and Education.”

It was in these roles that she became more aware that quality outcomes for children begin with quality professional development and tertiary education. 

“Whether they embark on a Certificate 111, Diploma, Graduate Diploma, Masters or Bachelor of Education the reality is that if these courses aren’t as robust as they should be, we are letting our Educators and Teachers down.” 

“When we let them down, we are letting our children, families and sector down. Instead, it’s the responsibility of those that work in tertiary education to support them to be job ready, setting them up for success in their professional journey. 

Pathways to success

In pursuit of this goal Ms Lewis recommends putting the student and quality of training and training products before the bottom dollar or student numbers. 

Essentially, she believes this shift centres on following the Revised Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) by developing quality resources, assessments, training and delivering them with integrity and ethically and in response to student’s needs. 

“Quality support is just that – quality.”

“It’s vital that Trainers and Assessors know their students well and can support them in ways that may be different to other students so they too can meet the competencies of the accredited training package. Does this mean we pass all students regardless? No, this would have the same outcome mentioned earlier as well as render the RTO non-compliant.”

Instead, she would like to see RTOs look for innovative ways and opportunities for students to demonstrate their competence through assessments, conversations, further PD, observations of practice and by building a community of practice between students.  

“As always though, it starts with relationships,” she continued. 

“Relationships between the trainer/assessor and the student, between the trainer/assessor and the service team and between the student and the service team. It also means RTO’s implementing a robust support system that enables support to be tailored to each individual student.”

Ms Lewis leads PEAK Training (RTO 90869), a small boutique RTO sitting within a not-for-profit peak body and specialising in early childhood qualifications and professional development. PEAK has a dedicated team committed to delivering quality education, training and support for people currently in or entering the sector.