Retention and recruitment in the early years is not a new phenomenon. The Early Years Alliance, LEYF, and Bradbury and Meechan (2024) points out the need to recruit and retain our early childhood professionals as an issue that will continue into the future by continuing with policies which are working against the profession.
As a result, we have seen a number of government recruitment drives, even though this has had some positive outcomes and it is pleasing to see the adverts on social media, I am concerned that these recruitment drives are sending the wrong message. The continual tinkering of the level 3 qualification and the changes in maths qualifications as a way to attract more into the sector is not going to help the professionalisation of the workforce in the longer term. The need to recruit more workers to just do the care of our youngest children is understandable on the back of the free childcare plans moving forwards. However, I would use the word educate, but sadly, the current government is not changing the wording of childcare to early education and this means we are becoming increasingly hardened to seeing it what it is ‘childcare’. There is, however, a looming crisis on top of the recruitment crisis on the horizon. As a result, we are losing experience and knowledge from our settings. I'll explain.
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A BTEC National Diploma I completed when I became a nursery nurse at age 18 allowed me to learn child development and I learned how to interact and educate young children. During my BA studies at university, I worked at a nursery in North Solihull. It was different every day, but something was missing. It was important for me to know that what I was doing was the right thing to do. Luckily, Julie and Karen came into the picture, they had been working at the nursery for 12 years and knew everything there was to know. It was through the discussions and questions I was able to ask them that I was able to affirm my approach with the children. Even down to giving me the confidence to speak to parents and plan learning for children. No matter how much of the text book tells you or limited placement opportunities, nothing gives more opportunity than being and learning in the early years workplace.
As we fast forward to the present, Julie and Karen have both left the profession. There was no way they could afford to stay. Not long ago, I met one of them at my local Boots and she explained that she was disheartened and that she could not continue to work in the nursery and works in a shop earning more money. When I was a new early childhood professional, the support both of them gave to me was invaluable. I thanked her for it and said she gave me the confidence needed to be a new member of the team. Although it is sad to see them no longer working in the early years, this is a common occurrence within our early years landscape. Last week I was in Devon, an early years professional told me that I am close to quitting. They had been doing the job for 15 years. At the moment, this is the sad reality of the sector. In the context of the recruitment and retention crisis in the sector, I am gravely concerned that we are focusing on recruitment, which is a positive move forwards. But at the same time, we must maintain a further dialogue about what we are doing for the workforce to help retain them too.
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My research on work-based learning highlights many aspects of the above issues. The decision on whether an 18-year-old is ready to be an early years professional is not as straightforward as it might seem. 18-year-olds are good at their jobs, but learning your craft takes time and experience. With every new day comes new challenges. Without experienced and knowledgeable people to provide affirmation to each other, our profession will become deskilled without a robust sense of the ‘why’ and ‘how’. The third teacher is the subject of my research. I investigated the concept of 'third teachers', colleagues who assist early childhood practitioners in developing their knowledge, skills, and competencies without necessarily serving as mentors. As a result of this research, a novel concept has been developed that refers to the organic sharing of knowledge among informal relationships within the early years setting. As a source of learning, colleagues at work were mentioned. This has resulted in close relationships, discussions, and learning for newly qualified professionals, mirroring the experience I had when I was a nursery professional too.
Professionals with extensive experience leaving the early years sector highlights a gap in the development of knowledgeable early childhood professionals and could be a longer- term issue in recruiting further professionals. I believe we aren't addressing the real problem in the early years, which is retention. In the absence of this, we must consider what we can do as a sector. I don’t have the answers, I feel that we need to listen and learn from others. It is encouraging to see nurseries like LEYF and Bright Horizons valuing professional development programmes and developing how graduates can support their organisations and recognise the journey to retain colleagues.
My dream is to see us honour the value of a qualification and value early education more than giving the message that if you can breathe you can work with children. Rather than just bootcamps to recruit, we need retention and development camps that work with professionals to become high-quality mentors for new employees. Can we ask Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs to widen their scope and work with Local Authorities to play a huge role in developing early years colleagues as they are best placed to know the needs of their community. Despite the government's continued implementation of a plan that has been widely criticised by many, our children deserve better than just the basic childcare narrative and we need to work together to bring an understanding of early childhood, by moving towards a recruitment and retention plan which holds value for a sector with an impending crisis of losing those experienced members of the early years community.
I also feel that the early years needs a full review of the workforce. We need this now more than ever. I keep on saying it until I am blue in the face. We actually need to listen to those on the ground. Fact!
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