Early childhood professionals and inter-professional work in integrated early childhood services in Australia

A growing body of literature argues that integrated services, where a range of professionals including early childhood professionals work together in teams, offer a potentially highly effective strategy for providing families with access to a range of services in a seamless 'joined-up' way...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Australasian journal of early childhood 2012-03, Vol.37 (1), p.81-88
Main Authors: Wong, Sandie, Sumsion, Jennifer, Press, Frances
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Australia
Case Studies
Child care services
Child care workers
Child caregivers
Early childhood
Early Childhood Education
Early childhood educators
Educational policy
Empirical research
Family programs
Foreign Countries
Integrated Services
Management
Marginalized people
Pedagogy
Practice
Preschool children
Preschool teachers
Public services
Surveys
Teacher attitudes
Young Children
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Summary:A growing body of literature argues that integrated services, where a range of professionals including early childhood professionals work together in teams, offer a potentially highly effective strategy for providing families with access to a range of services in a seamless 'joined-up' way. Some have cautioned, however, that early childhood pedagogy and professionals within such hybrid services are in danger of being marginalised. Despite the growing literature suggesting strategies for supporting inter-professional teamwork in integrated services, there are relatively few empirical studies of how such teams operate in practice in Australian contexts. This article reports on findings from a project funded by the Professional Support Coordinators Alliance (PSCA), that investigated, through a survey (n = 25) and case studies (n = 10), the experiences of professionals in integrated services across Australia and their perspectives on factors that contribute to the success of these services and to inter-professional working. The findings indicate that the early childhood professionals who participated in the study are generally optimistic about these services and about working in inter-professional teams. [Author abstract]
ISSN:1836-9391
DOI:10.1177/183693911203700110