Roles and Responsibilities of Developmental Educators: Disability Professionals Supporting Australians with Disability

ABSTRACT

Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is associated with disability sector growth. A skilled and competent disability professional workforce is needed. Developmental Educators (DEs) are university qualified disability specialists; however, the profession (est.1983) has been under recognised. Due to the multi-skilled nature and broad scope of this profession, there is little evidence associated with the exact roles of DEs once they complete their degree and enter the disability workforce. This paper presents a mixed methods self-assessment investigation of DEs’ current job roles and responsibilities, and DEs’ perceptions of the understanding of their profession. Data were gathered from DEs (N = 121) using an online survey. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. DEs reported working with people with disabilities across the lifespan in various settings including: employment, accommodation, recreation, education, positive behaviour support, and skill development. Though there were widespread perceptions from DEs that their profession was under recognised, many DEs reported being employed prior to or immediately after graduation from their degree. The next step for this research is to investigate the views and perceptions of people with disabilities and their family members who receive service and support from DEs.

KEYWORDS:

• Allied health professional
• Developmental Educator (DE)
• disability professional
• disability specialist
• disability workforce

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the Developmental Educators Australia Incorporated (DEAI) for endorsing this research and helping to recruit participants. The Disability and Community Inclusion Unit, in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, at Flinders University, South Australia is also acknowledged for contributing some funds for this research. Lastly, thanks to Emily Heard and Eleanor Watson for their support with the research and paper.

Disclosure statement

The Disability and Community Inclusion Unit, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, contributed some funds towards undertaking this research. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Disability and Community Inclusion Unit, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, or Developmental Educators Australia Inc (DEAI). Opinions reflect those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the funding agency(ies). The second author and the Research Assistants are qualified Developmental Educators (DE). However, the first author who is not a DE completed the primary data analysis. Any author biases or conflicts of interest were managed by examining quantitative data, not requiring researcher interpretation.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Disability and Community Inclusion Unit, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University.