Abstract:
Partnership-based approaches to quality improvement in early childhood education (ECE) and outside school hours care (OSHC) are essential for fostering inclusive and effective educational practices. Governments increasingly value and adopt engagement strategies to ensure democratic decision-making, building trust in the process and ownership of the outcome. This paper describes the methods used to engage stakeholders in updating Australia’s Approved Learning Frameworks (ALFs): Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia and My Time, Our Place: Framework for School Age Care.
Effective stakeholder engagement integrates context-responsive approaches and methods with a purposeful focus on shared interests, driving change, and addressing place-specific concerns. The theoretical underpinnings of a robust stakeholder engagement strategy ensured a range of methods were developed. To reflect ECE and OSHC contexts, the eight principles guiding the engagement approach were adapted from the International Finance Corporation and International Association for Public Participation models. These principles will be discussed in relation to how we communicated with and encouraged participation from the diverse stakeholders invested in ECE and OSHC in Australia.
Stakeholder feedback was collected through diverse methods to allow for a richer understanding of the perspectives and needs of different stakeholders. This paper reflects on the usefulness, benefits, limitations, and effectiveness of the participatory engagement approach in informing government policy development and decision-making. By embracing partnership-based approaches, researchers, governments, and policymakers can create educational environments that are responsive to the needs of all stakeholders are of the highest quality and benefit the communities they serve.
Effective stakeholder engagement integrates context-responsive approaches and methods with a purposeful focus on shared interests, driving change, and addressing place-specific concerns. The theoretical underpinnings of a robust stakeholder engagement strategy ensured a range of methods were developed. To reflect ECE and OSHC contexts, the eight principles guiding the engagement approach were adapted from the International Finance Corporation and International Association for Public Participation models. These principles will be discussed in relation to how we communicated with and encouraged participation from the diverse stakeholders invested in ECE and OSHC in Australia.
Stakeholder feedback was collected through diverse methods to allow for a richer understanding of the perspectives and needs of different stakeholders. This paper reflects on the usefulness, benefits, limitations, and effectiveness of the participatory engagement approach in informing government policy development and decision-making. By embracing partnership-based approaches, researchers, governments, and policymakers can create educational environments that are responsive to the needs of all stakeholders are of the highest quality and benefit the communities they serve.