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Section 4: Qualifications, Training and Development

To meet the diverse and changing needs ofchildren and families, we want to ensure all staff are equipped with the knowledge, skills, andexpertise of the best.

The Issue

4.1 Our starting point for qualifications, training and development was the Roles and Responsibilities Framework. We wanted to ensure that qualifications and training supported the principle that all workers in the sector have broadly common roles and responsibilities, although there will be differences in the emphasis on certain areas and how the responsibilities are carried out. Scotland has made significant steps over the past few years towards simplifying the qualifications structure in early years and childcare (Figure A). However, the current qualifications structure does not fully meet the needs of the sector. Some employers and candidates may find identifying the most appropriate qualification difficult. Looking to the future, workers may be working in more integrated settings, or choosing to work in different types of settings in the early years and childcare sector, or related areas e.g. in the wider social services sector. Our future qualifications structure will need to support this.

Figure A : Summary of Current Qualifications Framework

The Proposals

4.2 Some of the main themes emerging from this Review are leadership, development and flexibility.

4.3 The Roles and Responsibilities Framework creates a central leadership role for the lead practitioner/manager of a service. The lead practitioner/manager has a role in, for example: assisting their staff to appreciate how they as an individual and a service are contributing to the vision for children; facilitating partnership working with other occupational groups; and encouraging, advising and mentoring staff to develop their own skills and knowledge. We wanted to ensure that the importance and level of skill necessary to carry out this role was reflected in the qualifications framework.

4.4 We need to help each worker develop their skills, knowledge and potential throughout their career, to ensure that we have the workers with the right skills to deliver the quality services we need, and so each worker has the opportunity to pursue a rewarding career in early years and childcare.

4.5 Flexibility in career choice for workers and employers should create a flexible workforce to allow the delivery of services that meet the needs of children and families in local communities. A flexible workforce which is able to work in different settings and with different professionals will be essential to deliver integrated and changing services. Our qualifications and training system needs to support this.

Principles of a Future Qualifications Structure

4.6 Figure B shows our proposed qualification framework, based on these principles which would support career pathways.

Figure B: Proposed Future Qualification Framework

4.7 A key challenge was to ensure that the qualifications structure could meet the needs of the whole early years and childcare workforce. Childminders are an intrinsic and essential part of the workforce, but work in unique circumstances. They are usually the sole worker with children and their responsibilities can cover those of managers/
lead practitioners, practitioners and support workers in centre-based provision. We were clear that the qualifications structure should meet the needs of childminders in terms of content, delivery and supporting them to develop a career in the sector in the same way as any other worker.

4.8 Our model proposes that there should be a single qualifications framework for all workers in the sector. There should be a common, shared content to all qualifications for the sector. The levels of qualifications should be explicitly linked to SSSC registration categories and the level of qualification appropriate for each category of worker, determined by the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework ( SCQF) descriptors (Annex C). The qualifications framework would be benchmarked against a professional base that sets out the knowledge, skills and values that would allow workers to practice in any early years and childcare setting. There would still be scope for students and workers to specialise in particular areas (e.g. pre-school education or playwork) as part of the qualification, and through continuing professional development ( CPD).

4.9 As set out in the Executive Summary, we have a growing body of evidence that links the quality of the service to the level of qualification of staff. The EPPE research found that workers qualified at a degree level (e.g. in teaching or in childhood studies) working with children in settings for a substantial proportion of time, and most importantly as a "pedagogical leader" (a pedagogical leader uses their knowledge and information provided by researchers, academics and first-hand experience to work with their staff to bridge the gap between theory and practice), had the greatest impact on quality.

4.10 We propose that the lead practitioner/manager should be qualified at SCQF level 9 or above, either through an academic "degree" route or through a work-based route. This worker needs to be a reflective practitioner - one who evaluates incidents, draws on theory and other evidence in understanding them, makes decisions about how to proceed and reviews the results. They will work with other practitioners in early years and childcare and the wider children's services to improve their ability to question and improve their practice. They are also the reflexive practitioner - adapting to changing circumstances and the needs of different children. The relationships that the practitioner has with children is a reciprocal and mutual one, it is individualised. In other words, it is not simply being a "technician" applying the same practice in every set of circumstances.

4.11 Our model envisages that a worker should be able to enter the workforce at several levels. This means that a recruit with no relevant qualifications, but with the potential to achieve the minimum level of qualification while being supported on the job, has a route into the profession. Or, for recruits with the right knowledge and skills, the qualifications support opportunities to enter the workforce as practitioners and as lead practitioner/managers. This principle provides for increased flexibility and positive movement of workers within the sector and between related professional groups. We see it as a key element in the task of making the sector more attractive to a wider range of workers by enhancing opportunities for lateral as well as vertical career progression.

4.12 We are clear that there should be college, university and work-based routes to gaining qualifications at all levels. We are clear, too, that the routes should have equal status. This supports flexibility of routes into the sector and in career options within the sector. It means that there should be a work-based route that covers the full spectrum of posts - from the entry-level qualification right up to the qualifications for lead practitioners/managers. It also means that each of the routes has to be robust in terms of providing the knowledge and ensuring that workers obtain the skills and competence to become the reflective, intuitive and flexible practitioners of the future.

4.13 We want a well qualified workforce and a flexible workforce. We need qualifications to help ensure the quality of services, but we do not want them to be an unnecessary barrier to staff moving within the workforce. We need a flexible but robust system of recognition and accreditation of prior learning that allows staff to gain credit for learning and experience that might have been gained in a variety of ways, including experience of working in the sector, to allow them to continue to build up that expertise, without unnecessary repetition of learning.

4.14 Our model envisages that a worker with the potential to do so should be able to progress through a career structure that encourages increasing responsibility, and that process would be supported with qualifications. It builds on the principle established with SSSC registration, that continuous professional development ( CPD) is a fundamental part of working in the sector - a sector which will continue to evolve to meet the needs of children and families in the future. So, a support worker should be able to increase their skills and knowledge through CPD and build on their existing qualifications to allow them to take on increasing responsibility and progress to being a practitioner, or beyond.

4.15 The professions of teaching, social work and nursing, all of which can be seen to relate in some way to the work of the early years and childcare sector, have each developed a set of principles that underpin their professional qualifications. The benchmark standard statement that each profession has developed specifies what students should achieve in these professional degrees and articulates the attributes and capabilities that those possessing such qualifications should be able to demonstrate. These are linked to:

• professional values and personal commitment;
• professional skills and abilities; and in
• professional knowledge and understanding.

4.16 We propose that a shared base is developed for the early years and childcare qualifications which is based on the roles and responsibilities framework and which follows the structure of similar benchmark statements in other professions. Although it is outwith the remit of this Review, our view is that we should identify a shared base or skill set for working in all children's services and the wider social services. This would further reinforce joint or integrated working and would start to build the kind of flexibility we need in the workforce. Likewise, we have an opportunity in early years and childcare to build a range of professional qualifications which can be delivered in different ways for lead practitioner/managers which other sectors might also consider for their professional qualifications.

Implementation Issues

4.17 Our vision of the workforce of the future is one that is challenging to all those in the sector - to the workforce, to employers and to training providers. It cannot be achieved overnight. The transition will need to be well planned to ensure that we retain our existing experienced workforce. We need to ensure that they have accessible routes through CPD to build on their existing qualifications and develop additional professional skills to enable them to play their part in shaping and leading the workforce of the future.

4.18 We recommend that the first steps in implementing our vision should be to develop the professional core and to start the benchmarking exercise for the degree and work-based equivalent. This could then be followed by a similar exercise relating to the other qualifications that constitute the new qualifications framework. An important part of that process will be consulting on and researching the Roles and Responsibilities framework to ensure that it is a sound basis for developing the professional base.

What could be improved in the current system?

4.19 We also considered how the current system of qualifications and training could be developed to better reflect the principles we identified. Some of the suggestions are relatively straightforward, others are more complex. However, all the areas we highlight represent steps towards our vision of a future qualifications framework.

Design of Qualifications

4.20 We need to ensure that staff and employers are confident in the standard of the qualifications. SVQs are already based on National Occupational Standards, developed by the sector skills councils and which reflect the National Care Standards. We suggest that all qualifications should be based on benchmark statements which set out a common professional standard for a particular level of qualification. By aligning the existing qualifications more closely we can start the process of developing the more coherent qualification structure that we have proposed.

4.21 We also need to encourage and facilitate more exchange of staff, students and trainees between different settings so they are able to learn from a wider experience of practice. For example, SVQ candidates could benefit from placements with other employers, and senior staff exchange, including across the public, private and voluntary sectors, would support reflective practice. Training providers, the college sector and employers need to work together to achieve this.

4.22 There is room to further streamline the process involved in collating evidence for SVQs, saving time for candidates and assessors alike.

4.23 Flexibility is a theme which runs through this Review. We have described a qualifications framework that supports staff transferring across, into and out of the sector. Some relatively small developments to our current qualifications system could move us in the right direction. For example, colleges and training providers need to make more use of recognition and accreditation of prior learning, and funders of training need to consider how to resource this. SQA need to develop skills sets for the early years and childcare and wider social services sector. We need to credit rate the SVQs in early years care and education and playwork and look again at the credit rating for the HNC in Childcare and Education to ensure that these qualifications allow transfer into more advanced ones.

All employers and childcare partnerships should be pressing training providers, colleges and universities for accurate advice, tailored to the candidate's and employer's needs.

Delivery of Qualifications

4.24 We need to improve the quality of advice that candidates and employers receive about choosing the right qualification and the right way to deliver training and qualifications for each candidate.

Likewise employers and childcare partnerships should be working with training providers, colleges and universities to deliver training and qualifications in a way that meets the sector's needs e.g. at the right time and in the right location.

4.25 In more rural areas, delivering qualifications and training has to be even more flexible and we need even better use of quality distance learning. Employers, too, need to fulfil their role in supporting their staff's development: by providing time for study and gathering evidence; by providing access to resources such as IT; and, most importantly, by assisting their staff to put what they have learned into practice in their workplace.

Funding

We need to look further at how we can simplify access to funding for staff and for employers. We also need to look in more detail than this Review was able to, at how training is resourced in the sector.

4.26 We currently have a plethora of routes for funding training and qualifications including the Executive's Workforce Development Funding managed by the childcare partnerships, funding from the Enterprise Networks and the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Councils. Funding available to an individual staff member will vary depending on several factors including e.g. where they are based or whether they are a full or part-time student. In rural areas training costs can be significantly higher than in towns or cities.

Consultation Questions

This section outlines the case for a more integrated qualification structure which supports career pathways and integrated working.

The Review proposes a case for higher levels of qualification in the early years and childcare workforce.

The Review proposes that there should be higher levels of qualification for practitioners and support workers.

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