I write because I like to write, I write because I find it cathartic. I write because once upon a time, my dad told me that I should write a blog to help and inspire others. Over the years, I have started writing numeous blogs on so many different topics. Back in the day I started one on learning about photography, I started one about parenting, about weightless, about Thermomix etc. But I have never felt that I could achieve anything until last night. Before you keep going, if you haven't read the post, Embracing the Challenges, go and do that.
I wrote the post Embracing the Challenges for my benefit as a healing task. I never expected it to be anything more than that! However it seems to have highlighted a gap in our sector and I am absolutely horrified and disgusted that this situation is not isolated, It is not isolated to either or!
I am a strong believer that as educators we want to be seen as professionals in our chosen field within the early childhood sector, but I am calling out myself along with every other educator now, this is on all of us as a community! If we want to be seen as professional we need to act professional, this can be hard to do, but this is where I am going to come in and say that Family Day Care Australia is our peak body, they are here to help us navigate the challenges of family day care. They are there to offer support and guidance to the best of their ability. Family Day Care Australia is confidential and are there for the family day care sector!
Calling out Educators!
As educators, we often don't see the work that is going on behind the scenes, As the operators of approved family day care (FDC) services, it is their responsibility to manage all aspects of the operations of the service, including the services provided by the educators. They need to:
Ensure the service’s business model complies with Family Assistance Law:
Ensure that the educators and the service are compliant with National Law and Child Care Benefit Approval
Insurance: ensure that the service and the educators have the prescribed insurance cover required by the National Law.
Suitability of Individuals
Employment or contractor arrangements
Suitability of Care Environment
Quality of Care
Quality Improvement Plans
Number of children in care
Making care arrangement with families
Privacy
Reporting and Notification to CCMS (enrolments, attendances, absences etc)
Payments types, charging fees and providing statements (charging fees, fee reductions, statements etc)
informing Department of Social Services about service and educator
Reporting suspicious or fraudulent behaviour operations
Consequences of non-compliance
And thats only a starting point and to be perfectly honest and I don't know what 1/2 this stuff is. Having an understanding of all these things is not part of our job and as an educator if you are happy to just do for the sake of doing then thats great, but I am not one of them so will definitely be doing more research in this department.
I am bringing all this to your attention because we forget sometimes that we all have a job to do and their are some services out there that want educators to just be educators and others who see educators as partners within their service. And it goes the other way too, there are educators out there who just want to be educators and don't want to know about the behind the scenes stuff and others that do. And neither of these ways as an educator or as a service is wrong.
Educators need to remember that the staff working in the service are all people, they are not perfect and neither are we as educators! We need to remember to treat them as such and grow the mutual respect between stakeholders.
Now we all know there is 3 sides to every story!
So time to call out services now!
Services are just that, from an educator perspective, there is a crucial sentiment felt by many educators—the need for services to acknowledge and respect the essential role that educators play in the educational ecosystem! Educators are the backbone of any educational service or platform, and their dedication and hard work are fundamental to its success. And over this past week I have heard and read story after story of educators feeling intimidated, scared and belittled when speaking to their services. When we sign up to a service educators have expectations and those expectations are often not reality and that because of this thing called COMMUNICATION.
It's understandable that when educators sign up for a service, they have certain expectations regarding support, resources, communication, and a conducive environment to facilitate their education and care efforts. Sometimes, these expectations might not align with the reality of the service provided, leading to frustration and stress. As services, educators have an expectation for clear and transparent communication between the service and educators! This communication improvement can bridge gaps in understanding, manage expectations, and create an environment where both parties work collaboratively towards a common goal—the betterment of education.
Ultimately, fostering a culture of mutual respect, effective communication, and appreciation for educators' contributions within educational services is essential. This can lead to a more fulfilling and supportive environment where educators can continue to excel and positively impact the learning experiences of their students.
As educators we are aware of the fees that services charge and its not really something that much thought is given to when signing up to a service, it's one of those it is what is situations and we all know we have to pay for the services we receive as educators, we get registered under a service so that we can work and do what we love, but services need to be reminded that without educators they have no service. When we sign up to a service educators have expectations and those expectations are often not reality and that because of this thing called COMMUNICATION.
The dedication to our role as an educator is truly commendable. Educators carry out an array of responsibilities beyond just education and care, and it's often an under appreciated aspect of our work. The effort put into creating a positive and nurturing learning environment involves not just delivering an in depth educational program but also managing various tasks like planning, documentation, and ensuring the health and well-being of the children in our care.
The pressure to excel and constantly meet high standards in our individual education and care setting is stressful. It is essential to acknowledge the emotional labor and the weight of expectations that us educators bear often agents our will feeling like we can't say no and we can't have our personal time. Despite feeling this way the commitment and love we bring to our work to positively impact the lives of those who become part of our services and often an extension of our own families.
The Crux of the issue
Everyone is aware that we all want to do our job regardless of if service or educators, we all are working towards a common goal. We all (services and educators) need to pull our heads up and out and build each other up and stop ripping each other down.
A few years ago I learnt about this thing called edification, to edify someone or something (ie a service) is to build them constantly. We need to edify each other we need to build each other up on a daily basis! We need to look for positives in the interactions we have and the actions we demonstrate! After to talking to so many people this past week, I have established that outside of the general national and state regulations and laws, there is one common thread; the lack of trust between educators and services.
The thing with trust though like respect, it need to be earned and when a service says they are there to support you and we always welcome your open and honest feedback, they need to be prepared to receive that feedback and act on the feedback in a positive way. And when a service requests the feedback educators need to be willing to provide that feedback with out fear of having their contracts terminated and with out negative repercussions that may occur!
To build up the trust and respect needs to be mutual. Trust in the workplace means your employees or in our case educators need a culture of honesty, psychological safety, and mutual respect. Trust in the workplace matters because it:
Helps employees feel secure in their jobs, which reduces turnover
Builds employee engagement, which often leads to higher quality work and better results for your company
Promotes an environment of psychological safety where people feel comfortable asking questions, sharing ideas, and expressing thought
The unfortunate side of all my recent conversations is that educators are scared, they are scared to put a foot out of line, they are scared to speak up when something isn't working, they feel threatened and belittled in their own homes and feel the need for everything to be absolutely perfect all of the time.
And this is not how it should be!
So how can we start the conversation?
In a nutshell this needs to change, this is not an appropriate culture to have in any work environment! This is not appropriate way for any of us to be working. And while I realise this is not how every educator is feeling and how every service operates, the fact of the matter is that its more than 1, more than 2, in fact more than 15 educators from more than 8 service across Australia who feel this way. And given that my previous blog has reached less than 100 people (out of which some are probably double ups of the same people) it's not good enough and we need all need to do better!
So I am starting this conversation! I am starting something new! Something to work with the state associations, the Early Childhood Education Union, Family Day Care Australia and most importantly services and educators! I have no idea at all what this looks like yet, but I would like your help to find it!
I am solution focused, focused on an outcome to make Family Day Care better, a solution to re establish trust between educators and services. But I need suggestions on how to do this! So send me an email rachelsmithfdc@gmail.com or give me a call 0459492799, or find me on Facebook or send a message through my Facebook page! Any tips, advice, stories, I want to hear it. I want the most honest stories, knowing that every story has 3 sides, I want to gather the most reliable stories to start working towards a solution!
In Family Day Care, we are one team and Creating a cohesive and supportive team environment is vital for a positive and productive workplace and we need to remember this! We need to stop working against each other and remember to edify! We need to stop stirring the drama pot and stop dishing out the so called goss! Stop breaching the trust between friends and start allowing the friendships to blossom, building genuine friendships based on trust and respect to significantly enhance the quality of work and the overall experience for all stakeholders! As colleagues we need to work together as a team, focusing on mutual support and encouragement rather than discord and gossip, creating a more harmonious and conducive atmosphere for everyone involved.
Some Quick tips to implement as Services:
Here are some steps that can help in promoting a more collaborative and positive environment within the Family Day Care team:
Open Communication: Encourage open and transparent communication among team members. Clear and honest communication helps prevent misunderstandings and fosters a sense of trust.
Conflict Resolution: Establish constructive ways to address conflicts or differences of opinion. Encourage a culture where conflicts are resolved respectfully and without escalating into negativity or gossip.
Focus on Collaboration: Emphasize the importance of teamwork and collaboration toward shared goals. When everyone works together, it benefits the entire team and the children under your care.
Lead by Example: Set a positive example by promoting unity and respect. Show appreciation for your colleagues' efforts and contributions.
Promote Trust and Respect: Emphasize the significance of trust and respect within the team. Encourage behaviors that build trust and discourage any actions that undermine it.
Regular Team Building Activities: Organize team-building activities or meetings that help in strengthening relationships and fostering a sense of unity among team members.
Remember, creating a supportive and collaborative team environment takes effort from everyone involved. By promoting a culture of unity, respect, and trust, you can contribute to a more harmonious and enjoyable work atmosphere within our Family Day Care community.
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