Final Blog: Consequences and Goals

Communicating with my international contact over the past few weeks has been very informative. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to learn about the early childhood field in France and compare it to America. Three consequences of learning about the international early childhood field for me are:

Intended Consequences

1. Understanding that I can gain knowledge about the field from other countries (Americans do not know everything)

2. Expanding my resources by establishing a relationship with an international contact

Unintended Consequence

1. Comparing other countries' early childhood education systems to America and making negative judgements based on those comparisons

My one goal for the field related to international awareness would be for EC professionals around the world to collaborate to improve the field by using the best methods, practices, and policies from each country. If we join forces and work together we can ensure that all children receive quality care and education.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts - Part 3

This week I discussed the teaching profession and how it is viewed in France with my international contact. He stated that in France you have to get a certificate from a college or the government to be a teacher. Once teachers receive their certificate, they do have to continue training. but the amount of training and classes you have to take depends on where you work. Jobs do not pay for additional training, and many teachers are challenged by working with special needs children because they have not been trained in that area.

For the most part, teachers are respected as professionals in France. In some places they are respected more than others. Teachers are viewed as civil servants like police officers. In France, young people take an exam and if they do well they are recruited to be teachers.

My international contact was kind enough to answer some personal questions about the teaching profession and his future in the EC field. He stated that his first professional goal is to always be his best. "I read on my own and learn on my own." In the near future he would like to travel and teach French in another country. He is even thinking about moving to America to teach French. He is still not quite sure what he wants to be doing in the field later on in life.

Surprisingly, teacher requirements in France seem to be similar in America! However, I wish we were respected more here because I agree with the people of France, we are civil servants. We serve our communities and society at large every day.

Sharing Web Resources (Cont.)

While exploring the Center for the Child Care Workforce website, I was intrigued by the Worthy Wages link (http://www.ccw.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=53)

The Center for the Child Care Workforce (CCW) is all about raising awareness of issues surrounding equity and excellence as it relates to early childhood education. In an effort to raise awareness about early childhood educators around the country, the CCW has established the Worthy Wages Campaign. Early childhood professionals work together to advocate for improved compensation and work environments. The goal of the campaign is to increase accessibility and affordability to high-quality programs for diverse children and their families. The campaign originated in 1991 and has "provided resources and technical support, offered leadership training opportunities, and organized and annual retreats." From the campaign, the Worthy Wage Day was developed. Worthy Wage Day is recognized on May 1st. On this day, EC professionals in various communities raise awareness for worthy wages and its relationship to high quality care for young children. The CCW provides ideas for EC professionals to organize a Worthy Wage Day in their community if there is not already one. There is a link to the American Federation of Teachers website which has a Worthy Wage Day Toolkit (http://www.aft.org/yourwork/ece/wwdtoolkit/index.cfm). The toolkit gives a detailed explanation of activities and how to implement them. It also provides downloads to help plan the Worthy Wage Day event. The AFT welcomes other EC professionals to share their Worthy Wage Day stories on the website.

On the same website, there was an article about a Worthy Wage Day event held in Oregon. President of the ATF Loretta Johnson visited two child care centers in Portland, Oregon. Johnson talked about how EC educators are still not respected and underpaid despite the fact that they are the key to quality care for young children. She believes that in order to improve early childhood education we must improve the workforce by providing them with better pay, benefits, and better working conditions. "Johnson discussed how Head Start programs are crucial for children from low-income families because the achievement gap can start as early as 9 months old. And parents who work or want to pursue a college education need access to high quality care" (AFT, 2011).

This week my understanding of the importance of high quality teachers has been deepened. Teachers are the key to a high quality early childhood program because they are the ones in contact with the young children on a daily basis. Besides the family, teachers have the most influence on a young child's life. It only makes sense that with this much power, educators are well-trained and qualified to work with young children. To me, improving and enforcing teacher requirements is one of the first steps in ensuring that every child is enrolled in a high quality program.

Reference

American Federation of Teachers (2011). Johnson's oregon visit highlights work of early childhood workers. Retrieved from http://www.aft.org/newspubs/news/2011/042611oregon.cfm