Work in early childhood education: Protocol of a systematic review

There is international attention on early childhood work issues including workload, qualifications, low pay, and social and professional value. Increasingly, research examines ECEC work, including associated issues such as personal wellbeing, stress, and work-family balance. This protocol for a systematic review outlines plans for comprehensive synthesis, mapping and quality grading of international research published between January 2010 and 2020, focusing on work factors and associated issues in early childhood education and care. Several cross and interdisciplinary databases will be searched, with items screened against inclusion criteria, and quality assessed using NICE quality appraisal checklists. This systematic review will be of interest to policy makers, early childhood education service owners, and employees, while indicating areas requiring further investigation.