The scenario

In the past 12 months, I have been appointed as the EL in a 40-place community Long Day Care (LDC) setting. I am proud of this role and passionate about providing the best early childhood learning environment to the children in your care.

Often in my own time and at your own expense, I engage in professional development such as attending webinars and conferences, to develop a good understanding of your EL role and to source the latest research into programming and planning in early childhood education.

12 months on, you have noticed a few issues in terms of programming and planning in your LDC such as:

• the use of outdated approaches. Educators use developmental approaches in both the observation of, and planning for, activities for the children;
• the educators do not have a good understanding of the planning cycle. Therefore, the experiences that the educators prepare for children focus on 'fixing' particular skills, such as fine motor skills and language skills, rather than extending on the children's interests and strengths;
• children's sociocultural contexts are seldom considered in educators' planning; and,
• there is limited collaboration among educators in terms of programming.

I have shared the vision with other educators who are supportive and ready to learn more about the sociocultural approach in programming, and how to align their program to address the National Quality Framework (NQF) (ACECQA, 2018). The educators have also requested more mentoring support from you, support that has not been offered for a while.

However, you don't feel supported by centre management, particularly the Centre Manager/Director. You only have 2 hours per fortnight to act in the EL role, which is not quite enough considering your responsibilities. You have raised your concerns with management and asked for more support in the past few months. Your concerns, however, have not been addressed.

I have been told that the LDC does not have additional funding for extra EL hours, and that there is "nothing wrong with the programs as they are". Furthermore, the educators have "been planning activities for children for many years in the same way and parents are happy with the programs".

Requirements

The rationale will need to identify the issue/s you have pinpointed and explain what is at stake. For example:

• Why it is important to have high quality programs?
• Who will benefit from high quality programs?
• What are your roles and responsibilities in the development of high quality programs at the centre?

Your rationale will include current literature and the ECEC policy framework in Australia; the NQF (ACECQA, 2018) and the EYLF (DEEWR, 2009).

Additional questions

In the Rationale, I need to use various literature sources to justify the recommended changes.

I am looking at exploring:

the role of the educational leader

creating and implementing high-quality programmes that adhere to the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and the National Quality Framework (NQF) (EYLF)

Importance of parent and colleague partnerships

Please tell me if I am on the right track and provide additional information on other areas I should focus on. I would appreciate all the information you could provide on these topics.

Can you explain monetary assistance and how I would detail all costs as I would need to show the board where the money will be spent?

Regarding justifying the additional time allocation for implementing the changes, non-contact time for educational leaders is under the Children's Service award, which is only 2 hours per week, but I am trying to find additional information about what the research says about this topic. Can you please guide me in locating this information?

Based on the scenario, please provide any other information or topics you feel are relevant to completing these tasks.