Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/threads-of-hope-in-dire-times/5011803/
Amidst all our dedicated work, it's hard to hear the discouraging news several research studies have brought us these past few years. But, when we examine our weary hearts, we know this news to be true. Each day, child care directors struggle to make do with inadequate staff, facilities, and budgets. Mediocre child care is a more pervasive crisis than periodic media coverage about FAS or crack babies, alarming as those stories may be. We're providing for the one childhood these children get to have, laying the brain pathways that will serve them the rest of their lives. Is this a place to accept mediocrity?It's painful to admit that most of our programs are mediocre or worse, even the ones with more stable funding and staff. Acknowledging this reflects poorly on our profession and seems to imply that we are failing, if not at fault. It jeopardizes our credibility with parents, funders, and policy makers.
Time to connect the dots
Reading the current ECE literature and studies with a careful eye, we can find some threads of hope between the lines of the bad news. In fact, if we have a serious commitment to quality, reaching for excellence rather than settling for ...