Final thoughts concerning contact with international early childhood professionals

Throughout this course, I have had the privilege of corresponding with a colleague from Ireland. This experience has brought into perspective that the issue of early childhood education is a concern world-wide, not just locally in the United States.

Early childhood professionals in other countries face the same hurdles and difficulties that we face here in our country. And they also have the same desire to affect change and make a difference in the lives of children.

Would it not be wonderful if we could all work together throughout the world to ensure that all children have the opportunity to receive a quality and appropriate education? Just imagine the positive change this would have on our world today.

Another aspects of communication with my colleague is the ability to receive feedback from her on issues that I am dealing with. Not only did we discuss the topics that were assigned, but we also discussed daily issues that we were each dealing with in our classrooms. We provided suggestions, ideas and even support during this time.

I also feel that my communication has provided me with the educational experience needed to become a more effective advocate for early childhood education. Funding and quality teachers seem to be two of the most common hurdles for countries throughout the world. According to an article by Roger Neugebauer, "One of the biggest challenges facing the entire field is recruiting, training, and retaining talented early educators and encouraging the next generation of individuals passionate about the development of young children to pursue careers in child care and education. With so many competing career choices that can be lucrative and a continued lack of respect in our society for the serious and skilled work of early education, it is critical that we continue to find creative ways to overcome these obstacles" (Neugebauer, 2008).

References:

 http://www.childcareexchange.com/library/5017932.pdf

More discussion with Iris from Ireland

During the time I have spent communicating with my contact from Ireland, I have learned that the challenges and aspirations are basically the same in Ireland as they are here in the States. Iris says that securing adequate funding and qualified staff has consistently been two of the main issues in the early childhood field in Ireland.

When discussing our dreams and aspirations with each other, we both want to remain in the education field. My dream job is to be an educational consultant. Iris' dream is to own a preschool program. She stated that she has considered continuing her education to gain the Ph.D. in Education. For me, I am not sure that I want to continue past the Master's degree.

Just as I struggle with funding my education, so does Iris. The idea on taking on more student loans frightens me. Iris talked about a Teaching Council with which all teachers in Ireland with must register. According to Iris, "The Teaching Council promotes and develops teaching as a profession at primary and post-primary levels. It provides a forum for presenting the views of the profession on all aspects of the teaching career from initial recruitment to in-career professional development. As the regulatory body for teachers in Ireland, the Teaching Council produces a code of professional conduct for teachers, which covers standards of teaching, knowledge, skill and competence. It also maintains a register of all teachers who teach in recognized schools in Ireland." This information was found on the citizen's information website. To become fully registered with the Teaching Council in Ireland, graduates must complete 300 hours of teaching practice within three years of graduating.

There is also a Department of Education and Skills in Ireland. She referred me to a website that gave great information about the requirements for teachers in Ireland. According to citizen information website, a teacher must have the following:

"Primary school teachers must be qualified to teach the range of primary school subjects to children aged 4 to 12 years. To qualify as a primary school teacher, you must have completed one of the following:

A recognized 3-year full-time program, leading to the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) degree
A recognized Graduate/Higher Diploma in Education (Primary) combined with a primary degree at level 8 or a level 9 qualification on the National Framework of Qualifications" (www.citizensinformation.ie).

According to Iris, the available jobs for teachers in Ireland are a bit slim for new young teachers attempting to enter the field. She said that many of the new teachers are looking outside the country to secure employment. She said that many of them were going to England for jobs. Our own country is in a teacher shortage right now.



References:

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/education/primary_and_post_primary_education/teachers_and_schools/teacher_qualifications_at_primary_and_post_primary_level.html

Exploring the NAEYC website

Unfortunately, I still have not received a newsletter from the NAEYC organization, but I did find some rather interesting information.

While on the NAEYC website today, I was please to read about the new legislation that was introduced by Senator Harkin of Iowa. It is known as Start Strong for America's Children Act. This legislation will support early childhood programs by providing expanding funding and creating partnership that will ensure quality programs.

According the the website, the legislation has three main parts:
1. Grants to states to expand the preschool programs
2. Grant to create partnerships between Early Head Start and Child care to improve quality and expand access
3. Expand the home visiting program to serve infants and toddlers

Emphasis were placed on the following:

"Using high-quality, research-based and developmentally appropriate standards and assessments in all settings (and avoiding inappropriate use of testing);
Building on the use of existing state systems to deliver preschool programs in high-quality child care, Head Start, and school settings;
Ensuring that programs engage families and support children’s comprehensive needs;
Attracting and retaining teachers by helping them to gain the specialized knowledge required and earn degrees in early childhood education, including improved compensation;
Improving  and expanding access to infant and toddler care in Early Head Start/child care partnerships;  and
Strengthening families by providing access to voluntary home visiting in the critical infant and toddler years. " (NAEYC, 2013)

I researched more on the issue of how to be an effective advocate for funding the early childhood programs. The website has a toolkit link that offers suggestions and information that is important to advocates. To be an effective advocate, one must be an informed advocate. The section I focused on learning was the area of the workforce in early childhood education. While most of the stats were from 2004, I was very impressed at the number of educators in early childhood programs, over two million. In comparison, there were just over three million educators working in in public elementary and secondary programs.

I was really surprised at the low number of states that pre-service qualifications for teachers in the child care centers. Below is a chart taken from the website.

Setting	Role	Number of States that Require Pre-Service Qualifications	Number of States that Require Annual Ongoing Hours
Child Care Center	Teacher	16	48
	Master Teacher1	14	16
	Director	40	46

While these numbers are high, I feel that all states should require pre-service qualifications for educators.

References:
http://www.naeyc.org/policy/advocacy/ECWorkforceFacts#K12