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Barriers to and facilitators of inclusion and equity in the workplace for diverse early childhood kaiako

Veronica Griffiths, Erin Hall, Derek Hartley, Fleur Hohaia-Rollinson, Karen Illston, Jenny Malcolm, Kerry Purdue, and Alice Tate
Abstract: 

He Taonga te Tamaiti, Every Child a Taonga: Early Learning Action Plan 2019–2029 (Ministry of Education, 2019) presents goals directed towards strengthening quality provision in early childhood education (ECE) in Aotearoa New Zealand, including actions needed to attract and retain a diverse range of kaiako in the sector. Because “Kaiako are the key resource in any ECE service” (Ministry of Education, 2017, p. 59), they must feel safe, included, valued, and respected within early learning services and have good working conditions. We surveyed early childhood kaiako to find out more about the barriers to and facilitators of inclusion and equity in the workplace for diverse kaiako. The findings show that more can and should be done at all levels to support and protect the rights, wellbeing, belonging, mana, and needs of diverse kaiako in ECE.

Barriers to and facilitators of inclusion and equity in the workplace for diverse early childhood kaiako

Veronica Griffiths, Erin Hall, Derek Hartley, Fleur Hohaia-Rollinson, Karen Illston, Jenny Malcolm, Kerry Purdue, and Alice Tate

He Taonga te Tamaiti, Every Child a Taonga: Early Learning Action Plan 2019–2029 (Ministry of Education, 2019) presents goals directed towards strengthening quality provision in early childhood education (ECE) in Aotearoa New Zealand, including actions needed to attract and retain a diverse range of kaiako in the sector. Because “Kaiako are the key resource in any ECE service” (Ministry of Education, 2017, p. 59), they must feel safe, included, valued, and respected within early learning services and have good working conditions. We surveyed early childhood kaiako to find out more about the barriers to and facilitators of inclusion and equity in the workplace for diverse kaiako. The findings show that more can and should be done at all levels to support and protect the rights, wellbeing, belonging, mana, and needs of diverse kaiako in ECE.

Introduction

Inclusion and equity for diverse kaiako is an important issue for the ECE sector in Aotearoa New Zealand, which is grappling with many opportunities and challenges, including high teacher turnover and shortage (New Zealand Educational Institute, 2021). He Taonga te Tamaiti, Every Child a Taonga: Early Learning Action Plan 2019–2029 (Ministry of Education, 2019) includes an objective to foster “teaching staff and leaders that are well qualified, diverse, culturally competent and valued” (p. 22). The plan states that all tamariki should have access to kaiako who mirror the diverse communities they serve. This includes the ongoing need for government to honour its commitment under Te Tiriti o Waitangi to ensure Māori kaiako are represented in greater numbers to ensure equity and help promote the rights, identity, language, and culture of Māori learners.

Ethical and professional obligations for kaiako in Aotearoa New Zealand include creating environments where everyone is treated with respect and dignity, and where diversity and uniqueness is valued (Education Council, 2017). The profession is also governed by wider human rights legislation and employment laws that require workplaces to be culturally safe, fair, and equitable for everyone (see, for example, Employment New Zealand, 2021; Education and Training Act, 2020).

To enable kaiako to meet their teaching responsibilities to a high level, find fulfilment in their work, and stay in the profession, it is essential that their diversities are respected and valued within educational settings and communities (Derman-Sparks et al., 2020; Koch & Farquhar, 2015). We undertook a research project designed to investigate the barriers to and facilitators of inclusion and equity in the workplace for diverse ECE kaiako in Aotearoa New Zealand. We considered this information important for informing cultures, policies, and practices focused on addressing inequities and discrimination and on retaining diverse kaiako in the sector (Cherrington & Shuker, 2012; Mitchell, 2019).

Why kaiako diversity matters

Research points to the importance of everyone in early learning services actively promoting inclusive attitudes to diversity in those settings (see, for example, Gunn et al., 2020). Because tamariki learn bias from an early age, early learning environments that feature a diverse teaching workforce can provide tamariki with positive role models to help them construct knowledge that supports diversity and challenges prejudice (MacNaughton & Williams, 2009).

Aotearoa New Zealand’s ECE teacher workforce has yet to reflect this country’s diverse society, a situation that various educational stakeholders and researchers consider adversely affects the quality of our early childhood provision (Education Workforce Strategy Governance Group, 2019; Macfarlane & Macfarlane, 2020; Mara, 2019). For example, ECE Census 2020 data (Education Counts, 2021) showed that 65% of ECE kaiako identified themselves as European/Pākehā, 16% as Asian, 8% as Māori, and 7% as Pacific. The remaining 4% identified themselves as “Other” or did not disclose their ethnicity. The data also highlighted the very low number of men and people with disabilities who work as kaiako in ECE.

Kaiako from across the range of diversity helps services respond appropriately to and support the diverse backgrounds and identities of those they serve (Ministry of Education, 2017, 2019). Kaiako diversity not only exposes the learning community to difference but can also encourage important conversations about difference, bias, and equity (Cherrington & Shuker, 2012; Derman-Sparks et al., 2020). However, inclusivity can be undermined by issues that, unless proactively addressed, perpetuate inequitable workplaces and deter or prevent diverse people from working within them (Bendl et al., 2019). These issues include negative attitudes towards diversity and diverse peoples, inadequate staff-support policies and working conditions, limited or inequitable resourcing, and discriminatory practices. To raise awareness and create further discussion around inequities, discrimination, inclusion, and exclusion in ECE workplaces, it is important that diverse kaiako concerns, needs, rights, and wishes are listened to and acted on (Baker, 2018; Beltman et al., 2020). Providing opportunities for diverse ECE kaiako to share their experiences of inclusion and exclusion in their workplaces can provide us with further understanding of how to ensure ECE services are fair, equitable, and therefore inclusive places for all.

Method

To obtain information on the everyday experiences of diverse kaiako in their workplaces and to explore how they and their services’ learning communities were responding to diversity matters, we employed the qualitative methodology of storytelling (Clandinin, 2015; Edwards, 2010). Ethical considerations relating to our research approach were reviewed and approved by our tertiary institution.

We invited ECE kaiako to share their experiences via a questionnaire administered online through SurveyMonkey (Mukherji & Albon, 2018). We deemed the online approach an appropriate means of gathering data during the COVID-19 pandemic. We emailed the invitation and the information sheet to (1) ECE kaiako through a publicly available database of email addresses of early childhood services and (2) student kaiako from our initial teacher education organisation. We encouraged all invited recipients to share the questionnaire through their own networks. We kept access to the questionnaire open for 2 months and sent out reminder emails. We received 233 responses.

The questionnaire asked respondents to indicate the service they worked in and to identify any diversity that applied to them from a provided list that included an “Other” option. Respondents from a range of early learning services completed the questionnaire. Services included kindergartens, childcare, Te Kōhanga Reo, Pacific language centres, home-based ECE, hospital-based ECE, and playcentres. The diversities respondents identified with included ethnicity, culture, age, religion and spirituality, socioeconomic status, disability, ability, sexual orientation, gender, health conditions, mental health, background, appearance, and body size.

The questionnaire also asked respondents to answer four open-ended questions that allowed them to tell their stories (Clandinin, 2015; Edwards, 2010). These covered the teachers’ experiences of diversity while working and teaching in early learning services, their perspectives on and opinions about diversity-related issues and challenges occurring in their workplaces, and their attitudes towards, feelings about, and understandings of these matters.

The findings presented in this article focus on the teachers’ responses to two of the four questions. These asked kaiako to share experiences, both positive and negative, relating to their own teacher diversities while working in ECE. When answering the two questions, respondents were asked to consider four subquestions designed to aid their responses. Our analysis and interpretation of the data were framed by the questions and aims guiding the project as well as the patterns, discourses, and themes emerging from iterative reading of and reflecting on the participants’ responses (Edwards, 2010; Mukherji & Albon, 2018). All members of the research team collaborated in the analysis to support interpretations from different viewpoints.

Findings

In this section, we make visible some of the barriers to and facilitators of inclusion and equity for diverse kaiako in ECE through three key themes. Our analysis of the questions gave insight into how attitudes and values towards diversity, relationships, and workplace policies and practices potentially impact—either positively or negatively—kaiako wellbeing, rights, belonging, and mana in early learning services.

Attitudes and values towards diversity

The attitudes and values of colleagues and families, expressed through action and words, appeared to influence how safe (free of discrimination) diverse kaiako felt in their ECE settings. Inclusive environments actively respected and valued the contributions of all kaiako and saw diversity as a strength:

The fact that I am accepted, appreciated and recognised as a contributing partner in the centre. The fact that my voice is heard and that I do have a voice and my faith is respected gives me a sense of belonging. (Respondent 124)

At the centre I work at we value diversity and have a culture of kindness which, as well as ensuring that all children and their families feel a sense of belonging and respect, means I also feel safe in my workplace being who I am. (Respondent 74)

Respondents who reported environments where people did not accept or show respect for difference said this adversely affected their participation, belonging, and job satisfaction. Respondent 12 said: “I have not felt welcome by staff … after they found out I was lesbian and I was getting married to a woman.” Respondent 34 said she had experienced “disrespect and [felt] undervalued due to age”. Respondent 59 said “being diverse has impacted on my mental health as well as my feeling of identity ... I’ve never identified properly with my culture or ethnicity in ECE as sometimes I worry of the judgement.” Respondent 2 implied that the ethos in her centre was one where acknowledgement of kaiako diversity was more tokenistic than reality: “It just isn’t talked about at all. We are encouraged to support diversity in whānau and children, but not at all as a teacher.”

In contexts where diversity was not valued, respondents reported feeling stereotyped, bullied, and discriminated against. Respondent 207 said:

“During placement while studying for my degree being told it was ‘inappropriate’ for me to help a child take off a sweatshirt because ‘I’m male’. Also at same placement on three separate occasions being approached by a parent and my right to be there challenged by ‘Who are you? What are you doing here? Who’s watching you?’ questions.”

Respondent 128 said: “I feel I have been bullied and disrespected due to ‘being different’.” Respondent 47 had experienced “the stigma that exists around larger sized teachers”. This stigma, she said, positions such teachers as “lazy”.

Some kaiako felt pressured into or forced to “hide” their diversity due to the values, beliefs, and comments they encountered from members of their learning communities:

I have often had to downplay my faith as it was ‘apparently’ offensive or deemed as inappropriate to speak of it in ECE. (Respondent 124)

I was shamed for having depression … I [learnt] not to disclose … I was encouraged to resign and told that parents did not want someone with a mental illness teaching their tamariki. (Respondent 209)

My skin colour has been looked down on several times but now I just ignore those comments. (Respondent 51)

Kaiako responses such as these indicate the need for ECE learning communities to critique their diversity-related values, beliefs, and attitudes and to be aware of the implications these might have for the tone and culture of the teaching and learning environment (Derman-Sparks et al., 2020). The responses also emphasise how important it is for teams to work towards creating a positive atmosphere where people can be who they are without fear of prejudice and discrimination.

Relationships

The respondents’ comments suggest that a focus on open, respectful, and positive relationships and whanaungatanga set the “tone” or culture of the ECE environment (Education Council, 2017). It seemed that this tone contributed not only to how well ECE teams responded to diversity but also how effectively they worked with one another to the benefit of the children and the communities they were serving. These relationships are underpinned by values such as ako, respect, and understanding. Making the effort to learn about differences helped kaiako learn more about themselves, including their own biases and those of others. For example, Respondent 90 said:

In my past experiences of positive encounters, true cultural appreciation and acceptance has come from a more diverse team, developing deeper understanding and willingness to learn strong, respectful relationships between teachers, whānau and communities.

The negativity that some diverse kaiako experienced, however, appeared to have undermined effective team relationships and their ability to support diversity within their centres. Respondent 113 said: “My ability to learn and adapt easily is not readily accepted as I am considered middle age and what could I contribute?” Another respondent’s comments were indicative of how this situation could lead to valuable knowledge not being shared:

There is subconscious racism in a number of teachers I have worked with and these come through in subtle ways which does not make me feel like my ethnicity isn’t valuable enough to exert energy and time into see[ing] revitalisation of the language and culture. (Respondent 193)

Some respondents said their colleagues expected them to be the expert on their culture. These respondents sometimes felt uncomfortable with this expectation. Respondent 111, for example, said:

I have … felt an expectation to be the ‘expert’ or the ‘go to’ person to carry out any tasks or responsibilities relating to my ethnicity… As I have become more confident in my identity and culture, I am more open to sharing this learning with others and therefore building a wider network of people to share the workload … rather than rely on Māori teachers to deliver a bicultural curriculum.

“Because tamariki learn bias from an early age, early learning environments that feature a diverse teaching workforce can provide tamariki with positive role models to help them construct knowledge that supports diversity and challenges prejudice.”

Kaiako responses indicate that culturally safe, positive, collaborative, and supportive working relationships are essential for delivering quality provision in the early years. Teaching teams who work from rights- and strengths-based approaches that value everyone for who they are and are receptive to learning from one another enhance the mana of kaiako which benefits the whole learning community. In this way, they develop and maintain a professional culture that supports and upholds the principles and practices set down in Our Code Our Standards (Education Council, 2017) and Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 2017).

Workplace policies and practices

Workplace policies and practices featured in the comments of many respondents as barriers to and facilitators of equity and inclusion for diverse kaiako. Some respondents applauded their respective centre’s good working conditions. Respondent 21, for example, commented on sick leave: “My service promotes health and wellbeing and has good provisions for sick leave.” She saw this provision as a reflection of her centre’s overall ethos: “We have a centre culture that ensures everyone feels safe, well and has rights.” Respondent 80 said: “My centre celebrates diversity and that promotes my wellbeing and belonging.” Other diverse kaiako, however, experienced pressure to comply or fit in with inflexible policies, or go elsewhere:

I used up all my sick leave due to a temporary health condition[;] instead of supporting me through this my employer suggested I resign. (Respondent 86)

[I had to] sign an agreement to never bring my faith into any aspect of my teaching practice. (Respondent 98)

I was compelled by my employer to attend a working bee on a Sunday (not usually a working day for me), even though I said that I was not available due to church commitments. (Respondent 55)

I have felt excluded from centre events and team building due to not enough finances to participate. (Respondent 104)

Unsupportive and inflexible policies and practices, where diversity is seen as a burden or unwelcome expense, undoubtedly have a negative impact on diverse kaiako rights, wellbeing, and belonging. Several respondents referred to adverse working conditions and practices giving rise to stress, fear, and unhappiness. One kaiako said:

After my diagnosis … I have been talked to about using too many sick days in one year. I frequently work [unwell] instead of taking days off now as I don’t want to be talked to again and I am worried I will lose my job because of it. (Respondent 195)

Diverse kaiako who experience these types of working environments are likely to become dissatisfied and frustrated to the extent that they may decide to leave the profession. However, kaiako working in environments with good working conditions and where management and leaders placed emphasis on wellbeing, rights, and manaakitanga typically reported a strong sense of belonging and positive work self-efficacy. The findings highlight why early learning services need to consciously operate in a manner that reflects a philosophy of inclusion and equity for everyone—where the gaze shifts from one positioning the individual as the problem to one focused on improving workplace policies, practices, and wellbeing. As respondent 232 said: “Until ECE teachers are respected and have pay parity and quality working conditions (non-contact, high ratio of teachers, small class size), we are not going to attract diversity into the sector.”

Discussion

The findings highlight three key practice-related messages about barriers to and facilitators of inclusion and equity in the workplace for diverse kaiako.

1.Critically reflect on attitudes and values towards diversity: When attitudes and values towards diversity and the effects these may potentially have on diverse individuals are interrogated, positive outcomes for everyone can result, including a more inclusive work environment for diverse kaiako, supportive learning contexts for diverse tamariki and their families and whānau, and enhanced wellbeing and belonging for all (Baker, 2018; Beltman et al., 2020). The more we reflect on and talk openly and honestly about the many diversities within our learning communities, the better we will become at identifying the values, beliefs, and dispositions that act as barriers to or facilitators of inclusion and equity in ECE (Gunn et al., 2020).

2.Critically review workplace cultures and the likely impacts these have on relationships and quality provision: The environments in which kaiako work and their relationships within those contexts can strongly influence quality ECE provision, kaiako wellbeing, and job satisfaction (Baker, 2018). Through their questionnaire responses, kaiako highlighted the attitudes and behaviours they deemed important or valued within their work environment, notably professionalism, manaakitanga, integrity, honesty, respect, rights, fairness, support, responsiveness, understanding, acceptance, empathy, openness, and flexibility. Kaiako in environments that emphasised strengths, wellbeing, rights, and whanaungatanga typically reported a strong sense of belonging and positive work self-efficacy.

A workplace culture that welcomes and celebrates difference benefits everyone associated with it because it signals a willingness to listen and to learn from one another. Such environments are characterised by management and leaders who are receptive to new or different ideas, innovations, and possibilities, willing to try alternative approaches, and ready to talk through and resolve issues. When inclusion and equity is modelled within teaching teams, it enables diverse kaiako to be themselves, encourages dialogue about difference, and shows how environments can be made more welcoming and inclusive for all (Derman-Sparks et al., 2020).

3.Critically examine workplace policies and practices: Despite Aotearoa New Zealand’s commitment to honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnerships and its human rights and workplace legislation (for example, Human Rights Act 1993; Health and Safety Work Act 2015; Holidays Amendment Bill), some kaiako were working in services where responses to diversity and difference reflected tokenism or a “one size fits all” approach. As Bendl et al. (2019) point out, when workplace environments are insufficiently set up to cater for diverse staff, these people are likely to experience stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. Although ECE managers and team leaders can find meeting individual kaiako needs difficult, those who value diversity do not require diverse kaiako to assimilate to norms and expectations that counter diversity (Nuttall et al., 2021). Instead, they find ways to address kaiako individual needs in ways that maintain mana and rights (Cumming et al., 2020; Mitchell, 2019).

Maintaining good health and wellbeing—physical, mental, spiritual—is important in teaching, especially in the current age of COVID-19. Some kaiako indicated unwillingness to talk about their diversities or health conditions for fear they would be judged unable to cope with their work or told that teaching might not be the best option for them. The Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand (2020) points out that kaiako have a personal and professional responsibility to make sure they are “fit to teach”—that they can handle the physical, emotional, and intellectual demands of the job. However, this does not absolve their workplaces (or government, for that matter) of responsibility to provide working environments that are professional, respectful, inclusive, and safe to the greatest extent possible.

Health and wellbeing needs can be worsened by lack of flexibility in workplace policies, practices, and conditions of employment or when kaiako diversities and needs are seen as a problem, burden, and deficit within the team and service (Bendl et al., 2019; Pratt & Alexander, 2018). Management therefore needs to closely examine their workplace policies and practices (for example, those related to workload, leave entitlements, working conditions, pay, hours of work) to determine if they act as barriers to or facilitators of inclusion and equity in the workplace. From there, they need to do everything reasonably possible to support diverse kaiako health and wellbeing needs. Greater government support of early childhood is also necessary to ensure management can enact policies that support inclusion and equity in the workplace.

“… early learning services need to consciously operate in a manner that reflects a philosophy of inclusion and equity for everyone—where the gaze shifts from one positioning the individual as the problem to one focused on improving workplace policies, practices, and wellbeing.”

Conclusion

Overall, the findings of our study reinforce the need for employers, leaders, and kaiako to examine what inclusiveness and equity in the workplace means and looks like in culture, policy, and practice for diverse kaiako. Initial teacher education providers also have an important role to play in preparing student kaiako for inclusion and equity opportunities and challenges, including working in diverse teams.

This consideration gains support from a recent New Zealand Educational Institute (2021) report. According to the report, ECE kaiako are “stretched to their limits”, with counterproductive workplace cultures, relationships, working conditions, pay equity issues, and other factors having contributed to high teacher turnover rates and staff shortages in ECE over the past few years (New Zealand Educational Institute, 2021). Urgent change is therefore needed if we are to attract and retain diverse kaiako in the sector.

When kaiako feel healthy in mind, body, and spirit, if they feel valued, supported, and looked after, and if they have their diverse identities, rights, and needs acknowledged and respected, then they are more likely to cope with the pressures of teaching, to do their jobs well, and to stay in the profession (Baker, 2018). Importantly, they will be better able to work as part of a team dedicated to providing quality learning environments for all tamariki and to partner with families, whānau, and communities to effectively support young children’s learning and development (Ministry of Education, 2017).

We conclude by providing several reflective questions to encourage further dialogue on the facilitators of inclusion and equity in the workplace for diverse kaiako:

What do I/we need to do to uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnerships and the value, respect, and mana shown to Māori kaiako as tangata whenua?

Do my/our attitudes and values towards kaiako diversity act as barriers to or facilitators of inclusion and equity in the workplace?

Who is advantaged/disadvantaged by how I/we respond to diversity within our early learning team?

What inclusion- and equity-related discussions would I/we like to have in our teaching team, and why?

What processes are in place in my/our service to examine and discuss workplace policies and practices? What legislation, values, and beliefs underpin these?

What advocacy actions can I/we take to promote the wellbeing and rights of diverse kaiako in the early years sector?

Glossary

Aotearoa: New Zealand

kaiako: qualified or unqualified early childhood teacher

mana: prestige

manaakitanga: showing kindness, respect, care to others

Māori: indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand

Pākehā: New Zealander of European descent

tamariki: children

tangata whenua: indigenous people born of the whenua (land)

Te Kōhanga Reo: Māori language immersion ECE

Te Tiriti o Waitangi: The Treaty of Waitangi

whānau: family group, extended family

whanaungatanga: engaging in respectful, positive, collaborative relationships

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Veronica Griffiths, Erin Hall, Derek Hartley, Fleur Hohaia-Rollinson, Karen Illston, Jenny Malcolm, Kerry Purdue (corresponding author), and Alice Tate are Regional Academic Staff members in the early childhood education programme at the Open Polytechnic.

Email: Kerry.Purdue@openpolytechnic.ac.nz