Early Childhood Future-proofing early childhood education

  • By Louise Swinn
  • This article was published more than 1 year ago.
  • 7 Dec 2022

Rebecca Simpson has been an active AEU rep for many years, six of those as a member of the union’s early childhood sector council. Before retiring due to ill health last year, Rebecca was a kindergarten teacher, and she has been heavily involved in some long-running AEU campaigns – most significantly, a decade-long push for secure, ongoing preschool funding.

“There were lots of meetings with MPs and talking with them about why they need to be supporting us. We didn’t get permanent funding until federal Labor got in last year and we had been campaigning since 2011,” Rebecca says. 

It was often a frustrating and uncertain process. “I spent a lot of time helping other teachers understand why it’s an issue. We can’t just sit back – we need to be saving our profession.”

Rebecca was in South Australia when the Andrews government announced its support for 15 hours of fee-free kindergarten for all three-year-olds. “I was at a lookout on the Murray River and I heard on the radio that it was an election promise from Dan Andrews, and that was just massive. It’s something that we’d always wanted to happen because it wasn’t funded, which basically meant it was only accessible to children of parents who could afford to pay full fees. There was this inequity. Now, this means everyone’s going to get it – so, three-year-old kinder isn’t just for rich families, it’s for everyone.”

Rebecca points out the difference that this makes for families of children with disabilities. “There was no government funding for additional aids for children with disabilities – they were being treated unfairly by the system – so getting the funding was a really big win for children with disabilities as well.”

Rebecca talks passionately about how much she enjoys advocating for her colleagues. “It’s future-proofing our workforce, making sure the future generations of teachers will be coming into a better place than my generation did.”

“It’s future-proofing our workforce, making sure the future generations of teachers will be coming into a better place than my generation did.”

She appreciates the many aspects of teaching that were improved by the generations before her. “I had paid maternity leave for both my kids. Talking to older teachers, they say: ‘We didn’t get that!’ It’s about recognising the advocating that went on, to know that this wasn’t always the standard.

“It’s a 10-year rollout with [funded] three-year-old kinder, so there will be new teachers coming in in 15 years who will just take it for granted. I think a lot about legacy and knowing your roots and where this stuff came from – and who struggled to make this happen.”

The campaign for portable long service leave, for example, started in 1984. “That’s the year I was born,” Rebecca laughs. “The discussion has been going on for that long – and it’s knowing that basically all these people are just passing the torch along, keeping these campaigns going, for however long it takes.”

It was a big deal when the union won ten days of paid family violence leave in the latest early childhood benchmark agreements. This was a personal issue for Rebecca. “I submitted my own case study. I was never able to access that leave because of timing, but I was able to contribute my own experiences, which helped secure the paid family violence leave.”

“We didn’t just have to accept crappy work conditions. I looked at that power and knowledge and thought, ‘I want that ability to be able to advocate for myself and for my profession’.”

Rebecca did not grow up with any union awareness, but joined the AEU and was an inactive member until agreement negotiations became fraught back in 2015. A strike was on the horizon, and her workplace started putting pressure on members. Rebecca was infuriated.

“There were vacancies for sector council positions. I wanted to get stronger in my activist work; I had seen that we had this power because I was learning how EBA negotiations work. We didn’t just have to accept crappy work conditions. I looked at that power and knowledge and thought, ‘I want that ability to be able to advocate for myself and for my profession’.”

Rebecca talks fondly about sector council. “They are an amazing group of teachers and educators, and I was so welcomed and have made some of the best friends in my career and in my life. Incredible people. People who listen and want to fix problems, whether that’s something big or something tiny.”

And with that, Rebecca has inadvertently but expertly described herself – fixing problems for the greater good, with integrity and with such unique and infectious energy that it’s easy to see why this year she was the very popular winner of AEU Victoria’s inaugural Early Childhood Activist Award.

Photos: Meredith O'Shea

“We didn’t just have to accept crappy work conditions. I looked at that power and knowledge and thought ‘I want that ability to be able to advocate for myself and for my profession.”

AND ANOTHER THING…

The most important things I take into the classroom every day are… A good story to share and a sense of wonder and curiosity.

The most important things to leave at home are… I think we are whole people and leaving parts of us at home is impossible.

The best advice I ever received was… Join the union!

My top piece of advice to someone starting out in education would be… Leave it (work) behind and leave on time. Don’t get into the habit of doing unpaid work.

My favourite teacher at school was… Mr Lawrence, my media teacher, and my Year 12 English teacher (whose name I can’t remember). Both made me feel welcomed as a rebellious little punk, and consequently influenced some exceptional work from me! School was hard for me – I was expelled from my first school for dressing weird and being bored. Another teacher I have a retrospective massive admiration for is my Year 12 drama teacher. Our major ensemble performance had to be based on the Stolen Generations history, and she invited Stolen Generations people to talk to our class about intergenerational trauma. I now realise that this teacher was being political and strategic in ensuring we received this vital education in Aboriginal history back in 2001 when there was barely any Aboriginal inclusion in the curriculum anywhere.

The people I admire most are… Anyone who is willing to make a stand against injustice, however big or small the action.

The music or book that changed my life was… Phantasmagoria by The Damned. I fell into a life-long love of punk music. A book that changed my teaching life was Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe – it inspired so many teaching ideas around Aboriginal farming.

In my other life, I… Actually retired from teaching a year ago due to chronic health issues. I now happily potter in my garden, hang with my kids and focus on my health.

If I met the education minister, I’d tell them… If you want to fix the education system, you need to listen to teachers on why they’re burning out and quitting.

The most important thing the union does for its members is… Builds solidarity.

    * mandatory fields


    Filed under

    Latest issue out now

    Small steps can lead to big change. In the Term 1, 2024 edition of AEU News we meet some impressive members embodying the union values of collectivism and action, whose small actions have created much happier workplaces for themselves and their colleagues.

    View Latest Edition