NATIONAL SAFE WORK MONTH – “ A MOMENT IS ALL IT TAKES ” OCTOBER 2018
Safe Work Australia was established in 2008 to develop national policy and guidance for WHS and workers ’ compensation . Since then , they have been running national campaigns to raise awareness about WHS in the Australian working community .
During October each year , they ask workers and employers across Australia to commit to building safe and healthy workplaces . The theme for this October ’ s National Safe Work Month is “ A moment is all it takes ”. While a safety incident can happen in a moment and in any workplace , a moment ’ s forethought can prevent harm .
For more information visit https :// www . safeworkaustralia . gov . au / news-and-events / national-safe-work-month
EDUCATOR WELLBEING = QUALITY EARLY LEARNING . YOU DON ’ T GET ONE WITHOUT THE OTHER ! BY KAREN HOPE
In addition to being curriculum designers and pedagogues , early childhood educators need to be strong and active advocates for children and families , responsible for demonstrating to the broader community the importance of quality early learning . Some might argue that the role of advocacy for our profession is as important as the learning and development programs we design and deliver . Advocacy at a practice level improves child and family outcomes . In a profession that is historically built on care , and often places the welfare and needs of others ahead their own , it is difficult to be an advocate when your own wellbeing is compromised or neglected .
The Early Years Learning Framework ( EYLF ) includes an outcome that states that children have a strong sense of wellbeing and become strong in their own social and emotional wellbeing . For early childhood educators to be able to support and promote this , they need to be first well themselves .
There is a lot of talk at the moment about educator wellbeing , and how to stay well in an early learning environment is worth some consideration . Educator wellbeing should be a career long focus . This requires you to be alert and constantly ‘ checking in ’ to ensure that you are taking care of your own needs first . To ensure that we have a workforce that reflects wellbeing it requires each early childhood educator to have his or her own wellbeing strategic plan . What ’ s yours ? When you are asked how is work going what is your first thought or response ? Do you approach each work day with a medium to high level of enthusiasm for the challenges and opportunities each day presents or is it another day , one of many , that is to be tolerated and ‘ got through ’?
The issue of educator wellbeing is an important one . We cannot have a workforce to whom we entrust the care and education of young children who are not a model of wellbeing . Early childhood educators are influential in the lives of young children and as such need to be positive , powerful and well . Employers and employees both have roles to play in enacting this model . Employers need to regularly undertake organisational ‘ health checks ’ within their staff teams . These types of health checks can include , but are not limited to , ensuring that staff have safe , supportive and productive spaces to work and think , and that staff have the appropriate resources to do this . Employers that ensure staff are remunerated appropriately both financially and emotionally . Employers that create a culture of shared understandings and open honest dialogues about the challenges that working within the early childhood care and education sector presents , and seek to support these challenges .
Such employers recognise that an investment in staff wellbeing is integral to the overall quality of the early learning environment and places educator wellbeing as a priority .
Employees also have a responsibility to participate in their own internal wellbeing audit . Incorporating the following eight approaches in your daily practice can often provide iterative and long-term changes in educator wellbeing .
www . ku . com . au OCTOBER 2018 Page 3