Who are early childhood education and care staff?
A diversity of backgrounds
According to the OECD’s TALIS Starting Strong 2018 data collection, there are seven categories of staff making up the different team compositions:
- leaders
- teachers
- assistants
- staff for individual children
- staff for special tasks
- interns
- other ECEC staff
As education and training profiles vary depending on the staff role, so does the way each category of staff shapes children’s experience. The characteristics of ECEC centres and the diversity of the children enrolled were also found to impact the composition of ECEC centres.
ECEC composition in pre-primary centres in Germany and Denmark
The OECD report on ECEC staff teams shows that the majority of the countries surveyed have separate teacher and assistant roles. Furthermore, teachers generally have a higher level of initial education compared to assistants and other ECEC staff.
In Germany, large ECEC centres have a higher percentage of teachers than small centres, but a lower percentage of specialised staff. There is a similar trend in Denmark, large centres for children under three have a higher percentage of assistants, but a lower percentage of specialised staff compared to small centres.
This composition is also influenced by the percentage of children with special needs, which tends to correspond with a higher percentage of specialised staff and a lower percentage of teachers and assistants.
Image: OECD report, page 7
The report concluded that developing policies to ensure access to training opportunities for all staff is crucial for enhancing quality in ECEC settings.