The forgotten ECEC staff working with birth-to-3-year-olds: The imbalances between the workforce policies and ECEC staff employment conditions in Spain

Anabel Corral-Granados,Fredrik Kruse,Chrissie Rogers

doi:10.1177/08920206211057979

Anabel Corral-Granados, Fredrik Kruse + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1177/08920206211057979

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Abstract

In response to an international focus on Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), Spanish scholars have recently started to explore the participation of early years practitioners in their educational organisations and their views on working conditions. However, a comprehensive review of the current challenges experienced by the Under 3 s early years educators and the examination of the imbalances in workforce policy and working conditions on literature, has thus far not been conducted. Three themes are identified related to the professional developmental path within the school settings that the Spanish ECEC educators follow. The first relates to the educators’ initial ECEC education and training, who the staff caring for this age group are, and how prepared they are. The second is linked to the ECEC programs available for children from birth until they reach three years, and how and where the inclusive programs are delivered to this age group, as well as the early years educators’ working conditions and the impact of the professional roles. Whereas the third relates to in-service professional development derived from interaction and collective learning. The article concludes with suggestions on how the practitioners’ professional development could operationalise policy requirements in order to achieve more inclusive and child-centred learning.

Highlights

The quality of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) is championed both by international organisations (Adema and Clarke, 2019; UNESCO, 2019), such as through the Global Education Agenda 2030 (UNESCO, 2015) and the Salamanca Statement (UNESCO, 1994; 2020), as well as in EU policies
There is an historical lack of research on early years workforce, while recent studies highlight that added training for ECEC professionals is needed (Ingleby, 2018; Silva et al, 2020)
Previous analysis of ECEC settings indicated that working conditions and professional development in educational policies could directly influence the dynamics in the early years setting

Summary

Introduction

The quality of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) is championed both by international organisations (Adema and Clarke, 2019; UNESCO, 2019), such as through the Global Education Agenda 2030 (UNESCO, 2015) and the Salamanca Statement (UNESCO, 1994; 2020), as well as in EU policies. The quality framework for ECEC (European Commission, 2019) highlights that Europe has improved the education offered for children under three (Motiejunaite-Schulmeister et al, 2019). One statement argues that the EU countries should promote professional development and learning opportunities to ECEC practitioners, by well qualified staff through initial and continuing training and by supportive working conditions (European Commission, 2014a; 2021a; Peleman et al, 2018). Previous analysis of ECEC settings indicated that working conditions and professional development in educational policies could directly influence the dynamics in the early years setting. Lera (1996), León et al (2019) and Sandstrom (2012) are among the few international researchers who have explored the characteristics of the ECEC workforce for children under three years in Spain, while highlighting a significant need for future research. This article provides concrete illustrations of what teaching in the early years in the Spanish contexts entails

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