This week I asked him about issues related to excellence and quality that his area is currently facing, and he sent me a number of articles that we very helpful and informative. One thing that the UK is currently debating is the question: Should early years teachers have qualified teacher status? Some people think that they should be on the same educational level as primary and secondary school teachers, while others think that it is not necessary.
Another hot topic in the area involves child:teacher ratios. A proposal was recently submitted to increase child:teacher ratios and as you can imagine, professional in the field are not very happy about the idea.
Much like in the US, school readiness is an issue that continues to come up. Many think that early educators should push more academics to ensure children are prepared, while others prefer the learning through play approach.
You can read more about the topics currently in the news in the UK here:
Regarding the requirements for educators in the early childhood education field, it is my understanding that a minimum of an associates degree is required. Chris did inform me, however, that Finland and a few other countries are requiring a masters degree and that more and more countries are moving towards that requirement.
Chris just completed his masters degree and is currently pursuing his PhD in early childhood education! He told me that there are very few grants and scholarships available so most people must pay for this education themselves. Therefore, most people, himself included, work full time while attending school and will take around 4-5 years to complete. I admire him so much for his dedication to our profession!
This assignment has really allowed me the opportunity to expand my professional contacts and I have enjoyed learning so much about my profession in other areas around the world. It has helped me see that a lot of other countries value early childhood education so much more and that we need to get our country on that same path!
Hi Cassie,
ReplyDeleteI think Chris is doing a good job--he is also my international contact. It obvious ECE is tending towards quality in many countries with respect to teachers qualification. But the aspect of teachers' paycheque is still on the opposite extreme end. I sincerely do hope that someday it will be better than what we have now.
It's great that you got in contact with your professional contact, I have not receive any feedback yet. It's good that Chris sent you information about stuff that's happen in his area, looking foward to reading more information that Chris sends you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing these great resources. While reading your post, my mind began to wonder about the presence of male early childhood professionals in his country. Has he talked about any gender differences within the profession?
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine having to have a Master Degree in the US and still have a salary comparable to a parking lot attendant?
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