Contextualising the early childhood workforce
Join this event to hear Pamela Oberhuemer present findings from the project 'Systems of early education and professionalisation in Europe (2021-2024)'.
Contextualising the early childhood workforce
17 Oct 2024, 12:00 – 13:00
It is widely acknowledged that staff working in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings are the key contributing factor towards ensuring sensitive interactions with young children, enhancing their individual and group wellbeing and providing a stimulating environment for exploration and learning.
The 'Systems of early education and professionalisation in Europe' study investigates core characteristics of the ECEC workforce in 33 European countries. Pamela will discuss its findings which focus on both system and staff-related issues – also briefly linking these to features of the ECEC system in England. In a current context of acute staff shortages across countries, workforce-related policy initiatives and challenges in Europe will also be highlighted.
This in-person event will be useful to researchers and educators in early childhood education, policymakers and those interested in aspects of care, gender, work, family and education.
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Pamela Oberhuemer
Honorary Senior Research Fellow
Thomas Coram Research Unit, University College London.
Pamela Oberhuemer moved from England to Germany in the mid-1970s and worked for 35 years as a researcher at the State Institute for Early Childhood Research and Media Literacy (IFP) in Munich, latterly leading projects on European ECEC systems and workforce professionalisation.
Together with Inge Schreyer, she completed the SEEPRO-3 study (2021-2024) on ECEC Workforce Profiles in European contexts with funding from the German Federal Ministry for Family and Youth Affairs, the fourth in a series of projects based at the IFP spanning multiple countries over a period of 30 years.