Fighting for recognition

I have been spending the last few days in Perth with my partner who is a senior official of the Transport Workers Union. We are over here for the federal meetings.

As a result, I have been having lots of interesting conversations about politics and workers' rights (my previous life in HR sometimes helps and sometimes hinders these conversations).

The discussion of worker conditions in the early childhood field has come up a number of times. But the main theme has been that the wages and conditions for the industry are, to put it politely, abysmal.

One of the officials revealed to me that he was thinking of retraining and working in the field but he worked out as he was single and had rent and child maintenance to pay the income would not to be enough.

There has been a lot of talk recently about the workers in early childhood needing to stop being 'nice' (see the work of Sandra Cheeseman) and be honest about what we need in terms of a livable wage and a realistic measure of the work we do (so we are not doing everything at home on our own time).

One of the possible directions for my phd studies is a comparative study between what the nurses have achieved (and where they are going) and what we need to do to achieve a similar recognition of our skills. The Nurses have run a strong campaign to increase society's awareness of their skills, training and role within hospitals which has led to measurable improvements in wages and conditions and overall respect for the profession.

A key part of this is making the industry attractive and viable as a career choice for males (and single females) as well as the 'secondary' breadwinner.

Early Childhood Teachers study for 4 years at university only to come out and be paid very low wages. We need stand up and say this is not fair and our role is very important in society and should be recognized as such.



Posted by Wendy

"the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy" -Martin Luther King

Celebrating Easter - Do I do it?

I wanted to do a post on the celebration of Easter in a Long Day Care setting because it seems to be an issue that a lot of people are concerned about.

There has been a extreme trend (and often the only version seen in the papers) to ban all celebrations in the understanding that that is how you recognise diversity and difference within the centre.

However, recognition of diversity and difference is not about pretending things don't exist - it is acknowledging that other people may hold different views to you and each other and talking about that at the same time.

This including providing families with a choice and ability to ask their child not to be involved in a certain celebration.

I, personally, do not hold any strong religious beliefs - I do strongly recognise with the principles of Buddhism and try to implement them but often fail - but my boss and my Diploma staff member are both strong Christians and as I explained to them - it is OK to celebrate something at work that they believe in.

Part of being a good teacher and role model is having conviction of your beliefs but not to the exclusion of others.

What do you do for Easter? Do you celebrate it at your centre?

Getting promoted from "kinda sorta family" to "gaining a son"

My recent engagement to my partner of seven years has got me thinking about families and what makes a family again. Especially when both our parents started congratulating each other about gaining a son/daughter.

• What were we to them before?
• What did this mean my stepdaughter was to them before?
• Surely the last seven years (almost six living together) had some significance?

It reminded me of my brother's wedding (this year) when he made his speech and referred to my partner and stepdaughter as "kinda sorta family"!

One of the most thought provoking and challenge subjects that I completed as part of my masters degree was Families in Context by the lovely and brilliant Emma Pearson ( http://www.iec.mq.edu.au/staff_bio.aspx?sid=303) - the aim of her subject was to get us to challenge traditional notions of the family and reflect on its impact on early childhood practices. When I return home I will post a complete of discussions related to this issue that I completed for the subject.

How do you ensure that you recognise ALL families in your practice?