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Compensation as a Pathway to Professionalization
July 13, 2023
Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push—in just the right place—it can be tipped.
-Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point
-Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point
In a recent Rand Corporation commentary on Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce, the authors note that efforts to professionalize our field typically focus on increasing training and educational requirements. “The benefits or costs of these types of large-scale professionalization efforts in ECE are not yet clear.”
In a study conducted with the Louisiana Department of Education, the authors learned “less than one-third of the teachers who started working towards an Early Childhood Ancillary Certificate ultimately earned one.” Program leaders, site leaders and teachers interviewed suggested that completing programs after work hours proved too difficult, and the majority who didn’t complete the credential left for other jobs due to low pay.
“Teachers who work in childcare settings in the United States earn $11.65 per hour on average—less than half of what their peers working in schools earn, and below a living wage in most U.S. counties. Accordingly, even prior to the pandemic, childcare teachers left the profession at considerably higher rates than K–12 teachers. In Louisiana, for example, nearly half of childcare teachers working one year were gone the next.”
The authors suggest a 2-pronged approach:
- Embed professional learning in the paid workday—and compensate teachers for hours spent on training.
- Increase pay for early educators.
Acknowledging state-level funding initiatives in Virginia, New Mexico, and elsewhere, they conclude, “Such efforts fundamentally put educator compensation first and in doing so address both the current reality of working in childcare in the United States and our longstanding underinvestment. Professionalization efforts that do not prioritize teachers' real and immediate needs may make an already challenging situation worse and, consequently, be unlikely to succeed."
This of course returns us to our discussion of apprenticeships and ways to support effective on-the-job learning. We are eager for your continued input and ideas.
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Comments (4)
Displaying All 4 CommentsEugene, OR, United States
Charlotte, thank you for taking this to the next level. Yes, it's beyond an embarrassment that the United States has refused as a government to sign the UNCRC. Many of the arguments against honoring children's rights are the very same ones used to argue against women's rights, indigenous peoples' rights, the rights of Black Americans and other people of color throughout the world. And understanding the linkages between caring for children, policy and political issues and quality issues in our field is paramount.
North Shore , Auckland, New Zealand
The United States of America is the only country in the world not to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Upholding the best interests of the child in all matters that affect them is the key message in the Convention and it is the responsibility of the State, the community, and individuals to ensure this happens. We all know the importance of the early years for children’s welfare, well-being and life long learning so how do we convince anyone and everyone that implementing the rights of children is a priority? Education is a child’s right. While I firmly believe that children are not a commodity to be bargained over their welfare and the wellbeing and that of those who care and educate them is a priority. Pay equity is a start - valuing the profession - each and every one of us. Alongside this are the markers of quality - qualified staff, a safe and peaceful environment, appropriate group sizes, workable ratios that enable sustained authentic connections, staff continuity, ample space inside and out, a natural environment and trauma informed practices to name a few of the markers.
Eugene, OR, United States
Francis,
Thanks for being a champion for our field and an advocate and mentor for students. I was a full-time teaching assistant when I did my masters and yes, services were closed by the time I arrived for night classes. Beyond budgeting, time and access, I took public transportation, waiting alone at isolated bus stops and train platforms at 11 pm at night, then walking home. The challenges show up in so many ways.
Speaking for myself, I will take a different angle on calling ourselves professionals. Even as we advocate for better pay and recognition, I think we need to own our power and tell the world (and the field of education) who we are, and why we deserve deep respect for the profound and rich work we do. This includes accountability not through checklist assessments and ratings but through professional standards and codes of conduct.
University of Phoenix/ Red Rocks Community College
Denver, Colorado, 80222, Colorado, United States
I TOTALLY agree with these two recommendations!
All the ECE classes I have taught at my community college over the last 20 years have been in the evenings and weekends, because that's the only time students can attend. Yet my community college cafe is open only during the day on weekdays, and not at all on weekends. And other essential services are only offered 9-5. (Yet the college's DEI committee continues to boast about how they are committed to equity!)
For some time, I have refused to call our field a profession, and those who work in the field, professionals. Clearly this is not based on my view of early childhood teachers and staff. A profession must receive respect from two places: society at large, and the rest of the educational field. We get respect from neither! A central symbol of respect is pay and benefits.
When I discuss this issue with my students, I recommend that we flip what I call the pay/benefit pyramid (the older the student, the more the teacher is paid.) I think the younger the student, the more the teacher/caregiver should be paid, because that's the age when we have the most impact!
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