The Positive Early Childhood Education (PECE) Program

Prospective users

Aims & approach

The Positive Early Childhood Education (PECE) Program aims to cultivate early childhood educators’ knowledge, confidence, and skills providing early childhood learning and care . It is aligned with the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program® and designed to support and enhance educators’ self-efficacy in implementing strategies that promote children’s development, social competence, and self-regulation.

These strategies include:

• Providing responsive care and rich learning opportunities to promote children’s social and emotional skills.

• Helping children to develop a positive approach to learning.

• Responding to common child developmental, behavioural and emotional concerns.

• Reducing stress associated with early education and care responsibilities.

• Communicating and collaborating with co-workers and parents about early learning outcomes.

The PECE program teaches early learning educators six foundational principles and 22 strategies aimed at positively impacting the development of the children in their care.

The PECE modules are designed to promote positive early childhood education and care practices, including the use of positive attention, responsivity and praise, strategies to promote children’s early learning and independence skills, prevention strategies to avoid problems and manage transitions, and effective guidance for challenging behaviour.

Strategies such as setting up environments to prevent or minimise problems, contingent reinforcement of appropriate behaviour and withdrawal of reinforcement for inappropriate behaviour are effective in reducing educator challenges related to behaviour in young children.

Implementation support

• Access to professional facilitator, instructor or mentor
• Implementation training webinars or modules
• Ongoing helpdesk, email or phone support

Evidence

The PECE program has been evaluated in research, service implementation, and demonstrator site contexts in a number of countries, including Australia, Canada, the U.K., Germany, the U.S. and China. Despite differences in pedagogical approaches, educator training, and education requirements between and within countries and communities, PECE continues to be well received with positive research outcomes to support the value of integration into diverse early childcare settings.

Thus far, research shows positive outcomes with regard to educators, as well as children, following participation in the PECE Program. Post-intervention outcomes include:

Educators
Increased workplace satisfaction.
Reduced workplace stress.
Increased team communication and support.
Feeling more prepared and supported to meet children’s needs and challenging behaviour.
Increased confidence in behaviour management.
Improvements in educator practices (total score and laxness subscale).

Children
Improvements in overall strengths and difficulties, including conduct, hyperactivity/inattention, and prosocial behaviour.
Less disruptive child behaviour and improved behaviour towards adults.