Nearly 40 years ago, I found my way into Education and Care and have had the privilege of working alongside educators in many different roles ever since. What has stayed with me most strongly is not the title of the role or the setting, but the incredible people who come to work every day carrying an enormous responsibility for the wellbeing, development, learning and safety of children.
We need to be honest about what we are asking of them.
The mental, cognitive and physical load carried by educators is enormous. You are constantly observing, interpreting, anticipating, planning, responding, adapting, regulating yourself while supporting children to regulate, communicating with families, documenting, meeting regulatory requirements and making hundreds of decisions throughout the day. You are expected to be present, emotionally available, intentional and responsive while managing competing demands that would challenge anyone.
And then we place educators in environments where the numbers often make the very relationships we know children need increasingly difficult to achieve. Ratios are not simply a staffing calculation. They determine whether an educator can genuinely connect with a child, notice the small changes in their behaviour, sit alongside them, listen, respond and be emotionally available. When educators are stretched across too many children and too many competing needs, something has to give. Too often, it is the quality of connection.
This is not a reflection of educators’ commitment or capability. In fact, I believe it is the opposite. Educators continue to give extraordinary amounts because they understand how much their work matters. They bring knowledge, skill, professional judgement, compassion, creativity and a deep commitment to children every single day. Yet we continue to operate within systems that can make it incredibly difficult for them to practise in the way they know children need.
We also need to challenge the way our profession is understood. Education and Care is not “just babysitting”. It is not simply supervising children or “playing all day”. It is complex professional work that requires deep knowledge, critical thinking, intentional practice and the ability to build relationships that support children’s development and wellbeing. The expertise sitting within this workforce is enormous, but too often it is underestimated, undervalued and unheard.
I believe the time has come for us to stop accepting that we have to carry this individually. We need a much stronger collective professional voice, one that brings together educators, teachers, leaders and the broader profession to speak clearly about what children need and what professionals need to be able to provide it. A voice that is informed by practice, grounded in evidence and strong enough in numbers to influence the decisions that shape our profession.
This is not about complaining. It is about asking for the conditions that allow highly skilled professionals to do the work they are trained and committed to do. It is about being heard, valued and recognised for the expertise, professionalism and commitment that Education and Care professionals bring every day.
We owe that to educators. We owe it to children and families. And we owe it to the future of our profession.
We cannot continue to ask individual educators to carry a systemic problem on their shoulders. We need to stand together, speak together and act together. Our collective voice can be much stronger than any one of us standing alone.