College of Education, United Arab Emirates University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Maynooth University, Maynooth, Ireland.
Child Care Health Dev. 2024 Jan;50(1):e13180. doi: 10.1111/cch.13180. Epub 2023 Oct 9.
Services to support nurturing care through early childhood development (ECD) in low- and middle-income countries are hampered by significant workforce challenges. The global early childhood workforce is both diverse and complex, and it supports the delivery of a wide range of services in extremely diverse geographical and social settings. In the context of contemporary global goals for the universal provision of quality early childhood provision, there is an urgent need to build appropriate platforms for strengthening and supporting this workforce. However, the evidence base to support this work is severely limited.
To contribute to evidence on how to strengthen the ECD workforce in low- and middle-income countries, this study used a Delphi methodology involving three rounds of data collection with 14 global experts, to reach consensus on the most critical training needs of three key early childhood workforce groups: (i) health; (ii) community-based paraprofessionals, and (iii) educational professionals working across ECD programmes.
The study identified a comprehensive set of shared, as well as distinct, training needs across the three groups. Shared training needs include the following: (i) nurturing dispositions that facilitate work with children and families in complex settings; (ii) knowledge and skills to support responsive, adaptable delivery of ECD programmes; and (iii) systems for ECD training and professional pathways that prioritise ongoing mentoring and support.
The study's detailed findings help to address a critical gap in the evidence on training needs for ECD workers in low-resource contexts. They provide insights into how to strengthen content, systems, and methods of training to support intersectoral ECD work in resource-constrained contexts.
在中低收入国家，支持通过儿童早期发展（ECD）进行养育关怀的服务受到重大劳动力挑战的阻碍。全球幼儿劳动力多样化且复杂，它支持在极其多样化的地理和社会环境中提供广泛的服务。在当代全球目标为普及优质幼儿教育的背景下，迫切需要建立适当的平台来加强和支持这一劳动力。然而，支持这项工作的证据基础严重不足。
为了为如何加强中低收入国家的 ECD 劳动力提供证据，本研究使用德尔菲法，通过三轮数据收集，涉及 14 名全球专家，就三个关键幼儿劳动力群体的最关键培训需求达成共识：（i）卫生；（ii）社区准专业人员，以及（iii）在 ECD 计划中跨部门工作的教育专业人员。
该研究确定了三组人员共同存在的以及独特的一系列培训需求。共同的培训需求包括以下内容：（i）培养在复杂环境中与儿童和家庭合作的能力；（ii）支持 ECD 计划的响应性和适应性提供的知识和技能；以及（iii）优先考虑持续指导和支持的 ECD 培训和专业途径系统。
该研究的详细发现有助于解决有关资源匮乏背景下 ECD 工作者培训需求的证据中的一个关键差距。它们提供了有关如何加强培训内容、系统和方法以支持资源有限环境中的跨部门 ECD 工作的见解。
