Building a sense of belonging within an early childhood education and care (ECEC) service is more than a “have to”. Educators know, after all, that one of the core components to the Early Years Learning Framework and the Framework for School Age Care is belonging – one of those three wonderful “b” words that outline the work we do with children and families every single day – but what does a sense of community look like, beyond being a requirement for meeting our obligations under the approved learning frameworks?

As we move into a new year The Sector has once again put out a call to prominent voices from across Australia’s early childhood education and care (ECEC) community, as we did in 2019, to ask what they were hoping the coming year would bring to our sector.

Have you ever had a conversation with your staff about why they turn up to work? If so, you’ve probably noticed that employees bring different motivations to work each day. Some are just going through the motions and are completely indifferent about their work.

Those working in education are amongst some of the most “time pressed” professions, and just when you think all the ducks are in a row, one of the ducks will lose a shoe, feel sick, or need to go to the bathroom.

Many early learning services operate with various leadership structures that are purposefully designed to help meet certain expectations and benchmarks set forth in quality area seven of the national quality standard. Whilst the process of a leadership structure supports educators to participate as members of a professional team, the realistic practices that are involved in the role of being a leader are often overlooked and are increasingly spoken about as assumptions attributed to the profession.