Inherent requirements – Early childhood (bachelor & postgraduate degrees)
Find the abilities, attributes, skills and behaviours needed to meet the learning outcomes of the:
Inherent requirements
You should carefully consider the following inherent requirement statements for the Bachelor of Early Childhood Education and Leadership (EBCL), Bachelor of Early Childhood Education (EBEC), Bachelor of Early Childhood Teaching (EBEI), Graduate Diploma in Early Childhood Education (EGEC) as a:
- guide for your learning during the course
- way to identify challenges you may have in meeting the requirements.
This relates to the understanding and ability to comply with Australian and Victorian law and professional accreditation regulations. Examples include:
- child protection and safety legislation (including the ability to pass a Working with Children Check)
- criminal history/police checks
- occupational health and safety
- anti-discrimination legislation.
Rationale
Knowledge, understanding, and compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements are necessary in order to reduce the risk of harm to self and others in early childhood education and care settings; compliance with these professional regulations and the Australian Law ensures students are both responsible and accountable for their practice.
Examples
- The ability to obtain a Working with Children Check before commencing placement;
- Willingness and ability to comply with relevant legislation including child protection, work health and safety, and anti-discrimination legislation, food safety requirements. i.e. ACECQA, National Regulations and National Quality Standards.
This relates to the student's ability to understand and adhere to standards, codes, guidelines and policies that facilitates safe, competent interactions and relationships for students and the people they engage with. Examples include:
- complying with academic and non-academic conduct codes and policies, including academic integrity policies
- understanding and complying with professional standards, codes of practice, and guidelines.
Rationale
Compliance with standards, codes, guidelines and policies that facilitates safe, competent interactions and relationships for students and the people they engage with in the many environments of practice is required for the physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of all.
Examples
Willingness and ability to comply with:
- VU conduct codes and policies;
- Australian Professional Standards for Teachers;
- Codes of Conduct and Ethics for Teachers;
- Early Childhood Australia Code of Ethics.
Identify and enact relevant applications of these codes and standards, including those relating to plagiarism, informed consent, privacy, confidentiality, and equitable and respectful behaviour in university and early childhood education and care settings
Where relevant, this relates to considerations of current scope of practice, workplace health and safety, and any other matter related to safety. Examples include:
- ability to understand and comply with all relevant workplace health and safety policies and practices
- ability to identify and respond to alarm systems
- ability to understand and demonstrate compliance with current scope of practice
- ability to manage one's own health in a manner that promotes the ability to fulfil the requirements of study, placements, and the role/s for which the study typically equips the graduate.
Rationale
Compliance with current scope of practice, workplace health and safety and mandatory reporting are required to provide safe environments for staff, children, families and relevant stakeholders. Early childhood work is demanding on mind, body and spirit. Self-management of health, mental health and quality of life is essential.
Examples
Ability to:
- Follow all health and safety regulations
- Work under pressure
- Continually self-improve and self-manage to better understand own regulation needs
- Communicate safety standards to others
- Identify instances of need for help or support
- Provide immunisation certificate
- Undertake compulsory training.
This relates to the student's capacity for knowledge acquisition, utilisation and retention. It also includes metacognitive capacity such as awareness of one's own thinking, and the ability to reflect, evaluate, adapt and implement new cognitive strategies. Examples include:
- focus, memory, attention to detail, theoretical deliberation, and practical functioning sufficient to meet the course objectives
- ability to reflect and take personal responsibility
- ability to apply knowledge in practical and theoretical assessment settings.
Knowledge & cognitive
Knowledge acquisition, utilisation and retention spanning and drawing together all coursework subjects. Cognitive skills for focus, memory, attention to detail, theoretical deliberation, and practical functioning.
Rationale
Understanding and retention of coursework information and the effective processing of this information is required for appropriate, safe and effective delivery of care/practice.
Examples
Ability to:
- Problem solve, concentrate, remember, focus and function
- Apply knowledge and experience in unfamiliar settings
- Make safe and appropriate duty of care decisions from retained knowledge
- Apply theory in practice.
Metacognition
Awareness of own thinking, and skills to reflect, evaluate, adapt and implement new cognitive strategies for improved learning.
Rationale
Understanding the importance of ongoing learning about oneself as a safe, effective and professional early childhood teacher.
Examples
Ability to:
- Critically reflect, evaluate and think logically
- Engage in self-evaluation to improve practice
- Reflect on own actions, behaviour and practice
- Respond to constructive feedback positively and respectfully.
This includes both writing and reading, and is also linked to English language proficiency (literacy requirements are always established in terms of English). NB: For VE, literacy requirements are based on the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF). Examples include:
- capacity to comprehend, summarise and reference a range of literature in accordance with appropriate academic conventions in written assignments
- producing clear, accurate documentation relating to practical tasks.
Rationale
Information relating to the care and education of children can be delivered by many different modes and competent literacy skills for these are essential to provide appropriate, safe and effective delivery of care/practice.
Examples
- Comprehend, summarise and reference a range of literature in accordance with appropriate academic conventions in written assignments and while on placement
- Interpret written and spoken language to enact directions
- Produce accurate, concise and clear documentation for a range of stakeholders which meets legal requirement.
This includes any form of numeracy required to complete the course successfully. For many courses, this will be basic functional numeracy. NB: For VE, numeracy requirements are based on the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF).
Examples include:
- competent reasoning and reliable accuracy with numerical concepts
- ability to perform basic mathematical tasks.
Rationale
Competent reasoning and accuracy with numerical concepts are essential for safe, effective and informed care/practice to meet regulatory requirements.
Examples
- Calculate and monitor child/educator ratios;
- Calculate and measure correct medication doses, food quantities and formula dilutions for children;
- Calculate and monitor space requirements in early childhood settings.
Verbal
Verbal communication in English to a standard that allows fluid, clear, and comprehensible two-way discussions, tailored to the local English-speaking audiences.
Rationale
Effective verbal communication, in English, with families, children and University and early childhood staff/mentors is required for effective learning and to provide safe and effective delivery of care/practice.
Examples
- Understand and respond to spoken messages accurately and effectively in different situations using a range of communication styles
- Engage in conversation with a child to support learning and development in a safe and nurturing learning environment
- Present information and engage in discussions, including academic and professional/early childhood stakeholder presentations.
Non-verbal
Non-verbal communication skills that enable respectful communication with others.
Rationale
The ability to recognise, interpret and respond to non-verbal cues, to communicate with congruent and respectful non-verbal behaviour, and to be sensitive to individual and/or cultural variations in non-verbal communication is essential for effective teaching practices.
Examples
- Recognise cues in a child’s facial expression, appearance, behaviour, posture, or movement;
- Provide support to a distressed child incorporating non-verbal behaviour that matches the nature of the situation;
- Willingness to learn about being responsive to a distressed child.
Written
Ability to produce English text to a standard that provides clear and professional-level communication, with language usage and style tailored to the targeted recipients.
Rationale
Effective communication in English text is required to demonstrate applied skills in academic writing conventions and in sustained and organised academic argument and provide safe and effective delivery of care/practice.
Examples
- Ability to present knowledge and understanding logically in an academic writing style;
- Willingness to learn and adhere to academic requirements;
- Produce written documentation in early childhood settings for a range of audiences, and to meet legal requirements.
This includes visual, auditory and tactile capacity. NB: Care must be taken to not prescribe any sensory ability as an inherent requirement if the student might be able to achieve the desired result with the use of one or more adjustments.
Examples include:
- ability to interact with visual inputs sufficiently to manage learning environments
- ability to interact with auditory inputs sufficiently to manage learning environments
- ability to respond to tactile input and provide appropriate tactile interaction.
Visual
Ability to interact with visual inputs sufficiently to manage learning environments.
Rationale
Ability to interact with visual inputs sufficiently to manage learning environments. Elements in the working and learning environment are delivered by visual means, and the ability to learn from or respond to these inputs is required to provide safe and effective practice.
Examples
Adequate visual acuity is required to provide safe and effective supervision of children in a range of educational and community settings.
Auditory
Ability to interact with auditory inputs sufficiently to manage learning environments.
Rationale
Elements in the learning and working environments are delivered by auditory means, and the ability to learn from and be comfortable to respond to these inputs is required to provide safe and effective practice.
Examples
Ability to:
- Function and self-regulate in loud environments;
- Respond to verbal information from colleagues, children and families;
- Listen attentively and responsively to the needs of children, families and colleagues for informed teaching practice.
Tactile
Ability to respond to tactile input and provide tactile interaction.
Rationale
Elements in the learning and working environment are detected and measured by tactile means, and the ability to learn from or respond to these inputs is required to provide safe and effective practice. The appropriate use of touch as a part of effective care is also required.
Examples
Ability to fulfill duty of care in physical care routine-based activities to ensure children's health, wellbeing and safety such as providing safe reassuring touch, changing a nappy, and safely clean up bodily fluids.
This includes both gross and fine motor ability. NB: Care must be taken to not prescribe any motor ability as an inherent requirement if the student might be able to achieve the desired result with the use of one or more adjustments. Examples include:
- Strength, range of motion, coordination and mobility sufficient to meet the requirements of the study, including placements included in the course
- Manual dexterity and fine motor skills sufficient to meet the requirements of the study, including placements included in the course
Gross
Strength, range of motion, coordination and mobility.
Rationale
A wide range of physical client care actions in a time-constrained environment is required to provide safe and effective practice.
Examples
Physically engage with children such as:
- Lifting, holding or assisting infants, toddlers and young children
- Being at eye level with a child
- Participate in excursions
- Navigate safely within environments where children, furniture, and materials are frequently moving
- Safely move equipment.
Fine
Manual dexterity and fine motor skills.
Rationale
A wide range of fine-motor manual tasks in a time-constrained environment are required to provide safe and effective practice.
Examples
- Dressing infants and children
- Completing handwritten forms
- Demonstrating fine motor activities to children, e.g. using scissors.
This includes a person's ability to sustain their performance in a given activity or series of activities over time. Care must be taken to not prescribe sustained performance in a way that allows no room for temporary changes to performance levels due to illness or other factors.
Examples include:
- ability to sustain a working posture, associated manual tasks, cognitive engagement, performance level and emotional control for the full duration of any task required as part of the course or any placement.
Rationale
A range of complex, multi-component or extended early childhood tasks carried out over a period of time and in busy environments is required to provide safe and effective practice. This includes waiting until ratio is met to take a break or going to the bathroom.
Examples
- Sustain study practices to sufficiently engage with the learning workload for the duration of the course;
- Sustain cognitive engagement, performance level and emotional control for the full duration of the placement with minimal breaks;
- Be physically capable of engaging with children, families and colleagues for 6-7 hours per day, up to 5 day per week.
This includes the personal flexibility and resilience required to adapt behaviour to different situations, even when they are stressful or difficult. NB: Care must be taken to allow room in the inherent requirements for the individual to demonstrate behavioural adaptability through withdrawing from activities for a time to undertake medical interventions and self-care measures. Examples include:
- ability to adjust ways of working to work within teams of varied personal and professional backgrounds
- being receptive and responding appropriately to constructive feedback
- maintaining respectful communication practices in times of increased stressors or workloads
- adjusting to changing circumstances in a way that allows self-care.
Rationale
Behavioural adaptation is required to manage personal emotional responses as an individual and within teams in changing and unpredictable early childhood environments and practice self-care.
Examples
- Adjust ways of working within teams of varied personal and professional backgrounds to facilitate effective education and care;
- Cope with own emotions and behaviour effectively when dealing with changing responses of individuals and families in the education and care setting;
- Be receptive and respond appropriately to constructive feedback;
- Maintain respectful communication practices in times of increased stressors or workloads;
- Adjust to changing circumstances in a way that allows self-care while maintaining a professional-level focus on the child and family.
If you have challenges related to a disability or health condition, contact Accessibility Services to discuss possible strategies and reasonable adjustments.