Using a Strengths Approach to Early Childhood Teacher Preparation in Child Protection using Work-Integrated Education

This paper explores a collaborative strengths-based approach to investing in pre-service early childhood teacher education in the area of child protection. The paper discusses findings from research that suggest using a strengths-based process, involving work-integrated learning, enhanced the ability of the pre-service teachers in the study to protect young children. The paper draws on the doctoral research of the author, which evaluated a Strengths Approach as a cross-sector tool for implementing change in early-childhood education and in doing so researched a potential investment in improving pre-service preparation.