I have had the pleasure over the last 7 weeks to discuss issues of early childhood with Michaela Ashley-Cooper from South Africa and Sandy Jackson from Ontario, Canada. It was great to see two different professional perspectives. Michaela is an advocate and academic on early childhood, and Sandy has 27 years of experience as a teacher and director in the field. I have witnessed first hand that no matter where you are in the world the issues are fundamentally the same, but differ in the details. I was unable to make contact with Michaela this week. I enjoyed having a conversation with Sandy about the challenges of working in early childhood, along with the rewards, her hopes, and her dreams professionally and for the field. The following is a summary of my conversation with Sandy.
- What
issues regarding quality and early childhood professionals are being
discussed where you live and work?
For the past couple years preschool programs for 3-5 year old children (pre-K and Kindergarten) have moved out of day care centers and into public schools. They are publicly funded through taxes, and thus more widely available for all children. In doing this the responsibility for all early childhood programs have moved from the Ministry of Community and Social Services to the Ministry of Education. There were several reasons for the change including: low public school numbers, a desire to create a more seamless transition between preschool standards and elementary standards, and to relieve the cost burden for low income families for child care expenses. However, there have been some challenges with the switch. Licensing officials look at more superficial aspects of a program (ex. chipped paint, shelving, furniture details). Sandy is afraid that the change might affect the quality of the programs. One concern is the discussion of changing teacher/child ratios from 1:8 for 2 and 3 year olds to 1:10. One major concern, for Sandy, is how difficult it has become for subsidized children (children on child care assistance) to find placements. Subsidies are falling between the cracks between the two ministries.
There is not a degree requirement for teachers in licensed child care centers in Ontario currently. Sandy would like to see a person with an ECE degree in every classroom. However, she mentioned how two very qualified ECE students, that did their internships at her center, are no longer thinking they want to pursue a career in child care. Long hard hours with very low pay are two reasons they mention for their decision.
- What
opportunities and/or requirements for professional development exist?
Currently there are no licensing requirements for continuing education credits like we have in Michigan. Therefore it is up to the individual centers and it is not consistent. Some centers that she has worked at have brought people in, that includes first aid and
CPR training, maybe once or twice a year. One center she worked at in Kitchener, Ontario had a record card for each teacher. Organizations around Kitchener would provide seminars,
like a 6 week seminar she took on resiliency. Centers would also take turns hosting "make and takes" for circle time
every month. During her time there she had acquired 35 or 40 hours each
year. However, it was still not a condition for
employment. She would like to see this become a more standardized requirement for centers, because it is always helpful to have fresh ideas.
- What
are some of your professional goals?
Sandy is 67 years old and is looking forward to retirement. She has had her ECE degree and has been teaching since 1991. Before that she organized a nursery school in her home for 4 years which lead to her desire to obtain her ECE. She has always wanted to teach in the ECE program at the college level and would like to work with the student internship placement program for ECE students. She can not imagine leaving the field for good, even after retirement and can see her self doing supply work (substituting) or pursuing her interest in advocacy groups that she just can't find time for currently. She is most concerned for children below the poverty line and would like to be in a position where she could help raise awareness for programs that are available.
- What
are some of your professional hopes, dreams, and challenges?
Challenges- Sandy feels that one of the biggest challenges, even though it is a
satisfying field, if you have a calling for it then it makes you go the extra mile, and it can take over your whole life if you let it. There is always more time and money that you can put into it, every day, and it feels as if it is never enough. If you are very interested in what you are
doing you are always looking to do more. She asked, "Where is that line between enough and not enough." She has worked with people who act as if they have nothing else to do when they go home and people who clock out and put in no extra effort. If you don't learn to pace yourself it is so easy to burn out.
Hopes and dreams for the field-
- Sandy hopes that the feeling of burn out will be acknowledged and teachers are provided more vacation time during the year. This would give teachers a chance to refresh their energy and passion.
- She would also like to see learning opportunities for staff become a requirement, it makes everyone’s job easier if they are renewing their knowledge.
- She would like to see a system where every child has access. Right now there are not enough subsidized spaces for children (placements for children receiving child care assistance). So parents end up using unlicensed home child care and often it is not providing minimal safety standards. 3 children have died in Ontario in the past year due
to places like those.
Again I would like to say a special thank you to my contacts for providing me with such wonderful insights into your countries and your contributions to the early childhood field.
