Eight national institutions call for full reinvention of higher education programs for professionals working with children from birth to age five.
(September 22, 2008)
Research has continually shown that in order for children to have exceptional, high quality early care and education, they must have teachers and staff with specialized knowledge, skill and experience. In a newly released paper, eight national organizations including the National Head Start Association, request that every college president address this by asking two questions: What is the current state of our early care and education programs? How can we make them better?
In their paper Role, Relevance, Reinvention: Higher Education in the Field of Early Care and Education, the national partners recognize that this is a defining moment to establish public expectations for the care and education of young children, and the qualifications of those who provide early care and education services. The paradox is clear: On the one hand, public awareness about the importance of the early years of life is growing as is the knowledge base about the education, skills, and expertise necessary to be an effective teacher of young children. Yet, as more early educators enroll in college courses, important questions emerge about what they should know and what they should be able to do in order to meet the needs of children, their families, and society.
There is a growing movement to mandate a bachelor’s degree for teachers and administrators of young children from birth to age five. However, colleges and universities, understaffed and under-resourced at all levels, do not have the capacity to meet the needs of this increasingly diverse and non-traditional student population. The relevance and quality of a baccalaureate education for staff is questioned.
“We agree that the attainment of a bachelor’s degree for early care and education teachers and staff is a necessary but insufficient element of change,” stated Valora Washington, President of the CAYL Institute and author of the paper, on behalf of the eight organizations. “Leadership is needed to improve teacher education for early care and education staff.”
The Three Major Issues
Following an exhaustive literature review, the national partners specifically raise three major issues:
Role — The role of college credentials as a qualifying element of workforce participation is evoking passionate debate. There are three primary reasons for the debate: 1) A foreboding sense of potential loss among early educators who have traditionally relied on informal apprenticeships; 2) Widespread suspicion and doubt about the “value-added” of teacher education programs in actual practice, particularly with diverse populations; and 3) the historically weak connection, outside of public schools, between credentials and compensation or career growth.
Relevance — The relevance of teacher education programs to the effective, developmentally-appropriate preparation of staff serving diverse young learners in a variety of settings is questioned. Faculty preparing early care and education staff are frequently part-time and inexperienced in working with the age groups about which they teach. Preparing staff to deal with diverse learners in a variety of contexts continues to be a weakness of higher education curricula.
Reinvention — The capacity of colleges and universities to reinvent their content, infrastructure, and delivery system is uncertain. Institutions of higher education find it difficult to change without additional funding and support. Working to reinvent higher education is important, as absent change in higher education, the education options for the early care and education workforce are severely constricted.
Strategies for Change
The following strategies to facilitate change are recommended by the national partners:
- The attainment of a bachelor’s degree in early care and education by all key staff is recommended as a necessary but insufficient element of change.
- A stronger federal role in financing and supporting the work of staff in the field of early care and education is vital.
- Members of the field of early care and education are urged to better organize themselves to articulate the field’s values, knowledge base, and needs.
- A stronger strategic voice from accrediting bodies and national organizations is needed, as well as from states and state boards of education.
- Individual colleges are encouraged to undertake specific efforts to improve both access to and quality of teacher education for early care and education staff.
- Strong targeted efforts are needed to both increase the diversity of faculty and to ensure that all faculty members can provide appropriate content for our diverse population of children and families.
- Stronger links between staff compensation and their credentials is demanded.
The eight national partners of this paper represent collaboration among the following organizations:
For more information, download the full Report and the Brochure.
.
.
|
