Professional Partners in Practice: Enhancing Institutional Partnership Connections in Early Childhood Through an Embedded University Mentorship Program

Early childhood contexts play an important role in shaping children’s developmental outcomes and life-course trajectories. It is therefore imperative that quality learning experiences are designed and delivered in Early Childhood Education (ECE) services by skilful and knowledgeable degree-qualified early childhood teachers. The Australian early childhood profession is currently experiencing a workforce crisis. To address these challenges, a collective approach is warranted. The Bachelor of Education—The Early Years degree (birth—5 years) at the University of Wollongong, Australia has responded to these challenges through the development of an embedded mentorship program designed to build student capacity and professionalism and enhance partnerships with the ECE sector. Formalised, collaborative partnerships ensure reciprocal benefits for both pre-service teachers, connecting theory and practice and building professional identity, and for mentors, sharing their expertise and contributing to the resilience and capacity of future teachers. This chapter reports on the development of the mentorship program with input from key partners. Elements, challenges, and implications for future practice are discussed. The program develops skilled graduates ready to enter, and remain, in the early childhood teaching profession—a model of practice that has the potential to be replicated globally in a range of education contexts.