Initiatives Supporting Student Retention in Early Childhood Teacher Education Qualifications

This paper describes a case study using quantitative and qualitative approaches to investigate student engagement and retention within an online early childhood teacher education program at a regional Australian university. Two key interventions, the identification and support of disengaged students and the Embedded Tutors Program are described and examined. Initial findings on these retention initiatives, developed to support Early Childhood Education undergraduates studying in the online environment, are presented. Additionally, discussion of the findings through the theory of practice architectures highlights the practices and institutional arrangements that create the conditions to support student retention. This study is significant in planning for Early Childhood Education workforce quality and supply. It may offer guidance to institutions for their retention practices with early childhood teacher undergraduates studying in the online environment.