The Future of Early Childhood Education

09/26/2007

The Future of Early Childhood Education

Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.
Carl Sagan

In Canada, there are several initiatives designed to increase ongoing professional development of teachers in Early Learning and Care settings. The Child Care Human Resources Sector Council (www.ccsc-cssge.ca) has recently published their preliminary findings from a study investigating training needs and strategies for Early Childhood Educators, The Training Strategy Project – Preliminary Findings. The findings reveal some interesting demographics that support educators of adult students in understanding their audience. Here are some of the highlights that I found intriguing:

Students “35 and over” typically had more volunteer experience in early learning settings than did other age groups. Interestingly, the exception was in leadership experiences, where students with the most experience were in the “under 25” group.
Approximately 12% of students ages “25 to 34” came to the ECE field with a university degree; approximately 28% of students “35 and over” held a university degree.
Upon graduation, less than 50% of graduates planned to work in regulated child care settings. Within 5 years, this percentage is expected to drop to 35%.

This information is helpful in adult education. It tells us that, in Canada, there is significant leadership potential and an ECE culture where education is valued. The findings also suggest that much work is required to support talented, educated leaders to remain active in the teaching of young children.

Contributed by: Laurie McNelles - Mothercraft

Educators — Save these Dates!

Early childhood educators are responsible for training the early childhood workforce worldwide. Next spring the World Forum Foundation is sponsoring a Working Forum for Teacher Educators that will facilitate the sharing of techniques, objectives, philosophies, and perspectives among teacher educators from around the world. Full details of this event will be announced in an upcoming issue of ExchangeEveryDay.

Working Forum for Teacher Educators
Auckland, New Zealand
April 30 – May 2, 2008

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For more information about Exchange's magazine, books, and other products pertaining to ECE, go to www.ccie.com.