Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

In exploring the UNESCO’s Early Childhood Care and Education webpage and connecting information to my personal goals I believe professionals should have a relationship with families and the communities they work in. As teachers we should provide resources and information to help everyone in a child’s life have a greater understanding of the importance of quality early childhood programs and the positive benefits children can gain form such programs.  “Active involvement from parents and communities and relevant play and learning materials ensure that early childhood services remain relevant to the needs of the children and all other stakeholders and increases sustainability”.

 

I also found more surprising information in an article from “The Early Childhood Workforce in ‘Developed’ Countries: Basic Structures and Education” about “Restructuring the workforce around a ‘core’ profession will increase costs, both for the education of workers and their employment. Once early childhood workers are educated at the same level as school teachers, there is a compelling case for comparable pay and conditions. The question hanging over all countries is who will pay for a properly qualified workforce?” The reason I found this interesting is because in the state of Georgia, teachers working in the public school system working with prekindergarten’s pay is higher, and offered more benefits than a teacher with the same degree working with the same age group but work in a childcare center. I believe the pay of the qualified teachers should be the same no matter which environment they choose to work in. Therefore this could be one reason for constant teacher turnover in the childcare environment.  

 

The last information I found insightful was the information on allowing children to develop at their own pace. In the article from the “Curriculum in Early Childhood Education and Care” it states, “because of the learning patterns of young children, social-emotional and cognitive progress will be at the child’s own pace, and take place through play and active methods, governed in so far as possible by the self-direction of the child. These considerations suggest caution about designing a detailed cognitive curriculum, which staff should ‘deliver’ to compliant young children”. Therefore with a well-equipped early childhood environment to benefit all children, I have always believe that if children are given age-appropriate tools to learn, and explore, the children themselves can/will help in their own development areas of growth. Moreover it is essential to remembering that each child is an individual, and every child develops at their own level, and not always by which development standards may imply.  

Reference

UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” webpage http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/