‘Workplace Wellbeing’ resources for the early childhood education sector

There has been growing concern about the wellbeing of frontline workers, such as early childhood educators, after the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to a shortfall of 21,000 educators and high attrition levels, the NSW Department of Education has created a useful suite of free, online, research-based Workplace Wellbeing resources. 

To create this suite, the Department’s Early Childhood Outcomes team partnered with affected communities and partners (stakeholders), including educators, directors, management, peak bodies, researchers, and mental health service providers. 

The resources

The suite includes webinars, toolkits, and other resources ‘tailored to promote the wellbeing of ECEC professionals’. These can be used as professional development resources and prompts for reflection and discussion at staff meetings. The Department describes the suite as:  designed to address challenges such as stress and burnout … during difficult times and in their everyday work.

The suite offers:

1. Information on the physical and psychological wellbeing risks in ECEC; and
2. Case studies on workplace wellbeing, resourcing regional services, and cultural load.

Additionally, the suite’s video series provides individual interviews and panel discussions featuring educators, researchers and agency representatives from a range of institutions. They offer practical support and tips proven to support educator wellbeing. The videos cover the following four subjects: 

1. Mentally healthy workplaces;
2. Building networks of support;
3. Wellbeing in the workplace; and
4. Presentation resources. 

One of the strengths of the resources is the inclusion of physical, mental, social, and environmental factors of wellbeing. Another strength is reporting on Australian longitudinal studies about educator well-being. Of particular note is the inclusion of stories from those who have successfully implemented a range of strategies to support educator wellbeing.

Importantly, the ‘The Wellbeing in the Workplace’ contains five videos presented by Be You, a ‘national initiative focused on promoting [the] mental health and wellbeing’ of the ECEC community. This set of videos is led by Beyond Blue, Early Childhood Australia, and Headspace. The suite links to various relevant health and mental health services. However, to effectively support the wellbeing of educators, services also need to understand attrition cycles. 

Attrition cycles

Educator attrition creates many challenges at different levels, potentially creating a cycle (Figure1). Attrition affects:

1. Educators – who have a right to be well in the workplace; 
2. Children – as it impacts their relationships and learning;
3. Families – who receive support, advocacy and advice from educators; 
4. Directors and management – who spend more time and budget recruiting and training educators; and
5. Other educators – who, in turn, have a higher burden of care and increased workloads and documentation. 

Additionally, there is an increased burden on taxpayers who fund pre-service educator courses.

Breaking the cycle

To help break cycles of attrition, the Department has taken the initiative to build this suite of resources. However, providing overworked and overwhelmed staff with resources will not be enough. The next step will be to fund services to provide relief from teaching so educators can engage in these materials and use them effectively. Investing in educators, paying them fairly, reducing their workload and providing paid time to support their wellbeing is the easiest and most cost-effective way to break this expensive cycle. 

Access the full suite of resources here.