The aim of this special issue is to discuss and share experiences in terms of enhancing the quality of the early childhood education and care (ECEC) workforce within the AsiaPacific Region. While the geographical scope is broad, we would particularly welcome submissions from East Asia and non-English language countries not widely represented in early years research journals. A growing number of research studies indicate that the quality of ECEC services for infants, toddlers and young children during the years before compulsory education largely depends on well-educated, experienced and competent staff. Moreover, a systemic perspective has been gaining ground, suggesting that it is not only the acquisition of competencies by individuals that needs to be foregrounded but also the competence of different levels of ECEC as an organised system. It is widely acknowledged that staff quality is linked to the quality of interactions in the setting and subsequently to children’s learning and development outcomes. Yet it is a daunting and shared challenge across countries to ensure that all early childhood classrooms, whether in public or private centres, are staffed by competent personnel skilled at nurturing children’s full potential, and fostering learning and development. We use the term ECEC Workforce to refer both to the staff working directly with children on an everyday basis and to those responsible for leading and managing ECEC settings. They may variously be referred to as ‘professionals’, ‘teachers’, ‘caregivers’, ‘educators’ or ‘practitioners’, depending on country-specific usage. We welcome papers that focus on the initial and ongoing professionalisation of the ECEC workforce and teacher professionalism, on key/core competencies and supportive infrastructures, on continuing professional development (CPD) and on recent policy reforms and initiatives relating to ECEC staffing. Given that a systematic approach towards conceptualising and organising practica/work placements is essential for enhancing teacher professionalism, we are particularly interested in articles that discuss innovative mentoring/coaching programmes. A typical paper should be no more than 7000 words in length, inclusive of tables, references, figure captions and endnotes. Accepted papers will be published online as soon as they have been processed and are planned to appear in the September 2021 print issue of the journal. Please email your abstract (up to 500 words) to the Guest Editors by 31 May 2020. The submission date for full papers will be 1 October 2020. All papers will be blind peer-reviewed. Manuscripts for Early Years – An International Research Journal are submitted online at the ScholarOne Manuscripts site: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ceye EARLY YEARS 2020, VOL. 40, NO. 1, 155–156 https://doi.org/10.1080/09575146.2020.1728079

中文翻译：

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在亚太地区建立一支称职的幼儿教育和护理队伍

本期特刊的目的是讨论和分享在提高亚太地区幼儿教育和保育 (ECEC) 劳动力质量方面的经验。虽然地理范围很广，但我们特别欢迎来自东亚和早期研究期刊中没有广泛代表的非英语国家的投稿。越来越多的研究表明，义务教育前几年为婴幼儿和幼儿提供的 ECEC 服务质量在很大程度上取决于受过良好教育、经验丰富和称职的员工。此外，系统性的观点已经取得进展，这表明需要前景化的不仅是个人获得的能力，而且作为一个有组织的系统，不同级别的 ECEC 的能力也需要被重视。人们普遍认为，员工素质与环境中的互动质量有关，随后与儿童的学习和发展成果有关。然而，确保所有幼儿班，无论是在公立还是私立中心，都配备有能力培养儿童全部潜力、促进学习和发展的合格人员，这是一项艰巨的、各国共同面临的挑战。我们使用 ECEC 劳动力一词来指代每天直接与儿童打交道的员工以及负责领导和管理 ECEC 环境的员工。他们可能被称为“专业人士”、“教师”、“照顾者”、“教育者”或“从业者”，具体取决于国家特定的用法。我们欢迎关注 ECEC 劳动力和教师专业化的初始和持续专业化、关键/核心能力和支持性基础设施、持续专业发展 (CPD) 以及与 ECEC 人员配备相关的最新政策改革和举措的论文。鉴于概念化和组织实习/工作实习的系统方法对于提高教师的专业精神至关重要，我们对讨论创新指导/辅导计划的文章特别感兴趣。一篇典型的论文长度不应超过 7000 字，包括表格、参考文献、图标题和尾注。被接受的论文将在处理后立即在线发表，并计划出现在该杂志的 2021 年 9 月印刷版上。请在 2020 年 5 月 31 日之前将您的摘要（最多 500 字）通过电子邮件发送给客座编辑。完整论文的提交日期为 2020 年 10 月 1 日。所有论文都将进行盲审。早期手稿——国际研究期刊在 ScholarOne 手稿网站上在线提交：http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ceye EARLY YEARS 2020, VOL。40，没有。1, 155–156 https://doi.org/10.1080/09575146.2020.1728079