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Table Conversation 1   Thinking about long day care, what does the term 'professional practice' mean to you? 

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Table Conversation 1   Thinking about long day care, what does the term 'professional practice' mean to you? 

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Taking time before responding and working through a problem - don't rush and research your responses

More experienced staff mentoring other

Managing frustrations of staff
LDC - ensuring feel they are recognised as a profession as this will influence practice

Build shared vernacular to discuss what professional practice is - this is a big problem

Ethics

Legislation

Respectful - treating all people you encounter in an inclusive manner

Striving for best practice

Head (legislation) heart (core values) hand (how to mentor team) Sergiovani

Use of knowledge - how it is used/maximised

Managing expectations with standards

Attitudes and passion

Importance of educators fulfilling/supporting professional practice - ground up approach

Code of ethics

Rights of the child

Reflection

Framework that articulates your values

Shared understanding of meaning

Commitment

What is a professional - knowing the Why

Values based

Critical reflections

Excellence in growth - educators empowered to grow and supported in growth; growth mindset

Continuous learning - leading by example

Teamwork

Informed by current knowledge

Its the culture that supports professional practice

Accountability for self and others

Ethical

Legislation

Treating people respectfully

Inclusive frame of mind - understanding of where people are coming with

Conducting the way you work along evidence based research

Informed current knowledge

Collaboration

Enjoy and enjoyment

Do your best and brings out the best in people

Driven and want to do better - major part of this

Attitude and passion

Child centric

Philosophy around your service and what guides you

Head/ heart knowledge

Families- building professional relationships

Sound understanding of professional boundaries

Not be fearful of new ideas

Professional identity

Dislocation historically and contextually between educators and professional body

Ethical teamwork

Each educators having leadership at all levels

Don't always see their work as professional practice

Code of ethics

Rights of the child

Relationships

Shared understanding

Commitment

Knowledge and understanding of the challenges

Discovery

Professional practice - how you conduct yourself - what it in your head and what is in the wider profession

Where does professional practice come into the economics of long day care? - balance

A culture where all voices are heard - doesn't matter where you sit within the hierarchy

Team culture

Critical reflection

Its about the culture

Allow people to take risks and for that to be ok

Learn and grow from mistakes

Celebrate the synergies

Empowering people - lead from that

Professional conversations - how can I support you to develop you to grow?

Thinking about team conversations

Thinking about team connections

Supporting team and having each other's back

Passion

Ongoing learning

Openness to learning

Bravery of staff

Be willing to change/ be willing to grow and get it wrong

Respect

Confidentiality

Support

Establishing formal centre leadership team

Enable leadership though process and structural quality by establishing formal leadership teams - distributed leadership

Provide examples of road map for professionalism

Impact by modelling and confirming professionalism

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Table Conversation 2         First impressions: How do these findings resonate with your views and experiences of leadership and professional practice in long day care?

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Table Conversation 2         First impressions: How do these findings resonate with your views and experiences of leadership and professional practice in long day care?

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Child driven expectations

Deeply understand and reflect

What you do as a professional should be driven by how you are responding to the child

Centre managers are proactive, positive, passionate

Stable environment

You could almost feel the vibe of the centre - and equally you could feel the opposite

Does the study actually reflect leadership - comes back to personal leadership

Does leadership impact professional practice - or are they growing in their leadership to lead in other ways - status/entrepreneurial

How does further study impact professional practice?

Agree - not all turnover is bad but the percentages are too high

Surprised that educators didn't hold regulations (A&R) more held to account

The amount of people studying was surprising

Practicum placement - where these are taken for those studying is key - rural places they do the same placement at the place they work - problematic

Strength based approach for all

Having a good leadership model - everyone feels valued as a team member

Assistant educators didn't have planning role - planning was part of their role but they don't have time to do this

Not supporting potential leaders - assistants not getting time

Interesting that non-contact time was rated low - the time to come together to plan/collaborate needs to be valued

Being savvy with your daily time management

Sometimes you wonder as a leader if it would be easier if you didn't have to be so creative with  your daily time management

True critical practice and reflection doesn't happen in isolation

Non contact time used as catch up paper work time, to tie up loose ends - not as collaborative and critical reflection and planning

Need to show there is consistent  collaboration

Increased evidence and demonstration of reflection/collaboration

Its always time

Enculturation - mentoring and the way centres value varied expertise - builds skills and expertise

Reciprocal roles between educators and leaders - not necessarily hierarchical

Balance between accountability and a time for hierarchy but space to grow within that

Structural elements - provides rules of engagement

Role of leadership - ensure people comfortable with discomfort

Having courage and confidence - but at the same time having time to grow within structures

Structures and boundaries - whats the rules of engagement - what are the unsaids - what is the role of leadership within this?

The unsaid stuff is often the assumed knowledge - difference in unsaid views - need to have structures in place to address these dislocations in practice

Leaders setting expectations for advocacy - to support cultural change and influence broader sector

Needs to be more on child led expectations

What does a leadership team know about the professional expectations to provide an environment where children are transforming professional practice

Leaders facilitate debriefs/rebuilding - knowing when staff need this - don't squash conversations

Number of people studying interesting

Quality of support is important

Training organisations / study support is important in completing work

Number of people supporting - the need for 'good support' something very important in remote areas

Lost of good intentions to improve quality in regional and remote Aust but need resources

Funding is short lived -
bringing people into support PD can drain funding - can be a block to professional practice

Prac placements in remoe communities is problematic - students need to leave their town/community to do their required practicums

Professional growth and ongoing learning is more difficult in remote areas

Internet connections can also be problematic in supporting professional practice (including connection and abilities to use technology) - access to webinars can be low

Need to think 'bigger' in remote area

Interesting that 'non-contact' time was so 'low' because staff ask consistently about 'non-contact' time

Educators get support from directors

Directors do come in and motivate staff to do more or to do things they wouldn't normally do -ie clean the bathroom, change nappies

Sometimes the external viewpoint can introduce alternative views and strengths - teamwork, motivation

Working in alternate roles can build appreciation of others' value in the centre and what they give to the centre

Recognition and valuing the strengths and skills of individuals with the team - builds and drives motivation for job

Recognising how to draw the best out of staff - increased
sense of value

Important for CD to recognise the need for educators to talk to each other and not to stifle/ be present in those conversations (e.g. in playground)

Be comfortable with vulnerability and support educators to feel in similar way

Importance and value of directors and or mentor or coachers? and line managers?
should be embedded mentoring within collegiality of team

Safe space for risk, mistake, try

Set tone for accountability

Be present

View self as professional they can articulate professional practice - what I do and why I do it and what is opportune about it

Minimise cliques and favoured fews

What you do and how you are as a professional in relation to understanding and reflection on EYLF and NQF - agency of the child - informs professional practice

Responding to children and make decision from a leadership perspective

Courage

Discomfort

Confident

Tacit knowledge - how do you articulate that

Reciprocal roles between leaders and educator - two way streets - non hierarchical

Increase in strengths to critically reflect on pedagogy to respond to child for extension or support, growth, observation, intervene, scaffold etc

Assumed positons - values and beliefs

Families and communities having input into the program

Length of family contact - longer term relationships - strengths / opportunities

Educators have a role to pay - communicating expectations to director - ensure educators know this is important and empower them to do it

How we think about practice based on contact with families

Think about 'old view' assistant educator not talking with families

Centre leader needs to set expectations that everyone will contribute to this interaction

Particular focus on assistant educator

Non- contact time for assistant educators - surprised that non-contact time so low

Time to come together

Non-contact - focus on paperwork/planning

True reflection doesn't happen in isolation

Having professional conversations - part of professionalism

Question documentation needed to show this practice - perceived increased A & R focus on this documentation and evidence (around reflection)

Retention and longevity

Enculturation - mentoring of beginning educators; good practices enculturated
positive conditions - supporting retention - above award wages, ECT paid as teacher, lots of PD
expectant that educators bring PD learning back to centre; accountability

Valuing educators

When employing staff, not always most qualified - fit for service

Children setting expectations

We  forget - focus on adults/leadership

Children's agency

Look at how enable educators to think about child and family expectations on centre practice

Question - are these centres autonomous?

Centre managers are present, proactive, passionate

Those centres are stable, confident, comfortable 'vibe'

Does further study reflect leadership? if so what type?

Quals contribute to leadership but do not define

Leadership versus management - boss or leader?

These centre director understand their roles, strengths, personalities, team, how to lead

What is going well - how can we replicate it?

These centres are collaborating with families

Documentation - are those centres being purposeful?
Those centre directors are leaders who motivate
CDs are confident, trust educators and vice versa and offer a space to learn

Let's make a mistake and learn from it

To facilitate change - manager or leaders - impossible to find the balance

Pride in centre

Not surprised with:
director role being pivotal to service success in professional practice/ relationships with families
Importance of role- busy, go to position, juggling multiple responses
Professional growth - rated lower
Sometimes minimum is considered enough

Funding issue - cost of PD/balance with work/life balance

Disappointing
Lack of change in number of men working in child care
$$ factor compared to other industries

Surprising results:
Retention rates - changes when change all happens at once
retention rates - too high  33-35% high
Does director become educational leader due to turnover?
A&R not being the basis for benchmark - services holding themselves to higher standard
Services taking ownership for setting standards

Non- contact time
when offered (flexibility in model) some staff prefer PD, colleague  support

Funding (QKFS requirements)

Shift in moving away from providing a particular number of observations required - support Quality over quantity
Shift from number of observations
Parent expectations due to digital platforms e.g. story park - daily reports to parents

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Leaders could support educators to engage in professional practice by...

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Leaders could support educators to engage in professional practice by...