Preparing the Early Childhood Workforce for the Demands of the 21st Century
What do teachers need to know and be able to do to take care of and educate young children?
by Tracey West
Do you need a degree to take care of and educate young children? Researchers have been trying to answer this question definitely for some time. But maybe the question needs to be turned around a bit. What do teachers need to know and be able to do to take care of and educate young children? And if they are pursuing higher education, are they getting this knowledge and these skills?
Here at FPG, we've had some interesting findings in that regard. For example, one study
revealed that large numbers of graduates are leaving teaching preparation programs without
having had a course or field experience in working with children with disabilities. This, despite the fact that the majority of preschool classrooms have at least one child with a disability.
Another study, talks about the need for teacher educators to adapt promising practices to help students develop cultural competency. Today, 43 percent of children in the United States under age five are of a race or ethnicity other than White. And almost a quarter of all children under the age of five is Hispanic. That leaves mostly English-speaking teachers with the challenge of successfully integrating Spanish-speaking
children into the classroom.Being culturally responsive is a necessity.
Valora Washington explores these issues in the report: Role, Relevance, Reinvention: Higher Education in the Field of Early Care and Education.
The report addresses two key questions:
1) What is the role of higher education in preparing qualified early childhood teachers?
2) How relevant are teacher education programs to the current state of early childhood?
She closes by discussing recommendations for reinventing teacher preparation.
How is your community addressing these issues? Do you think her recommendations are viable?
