The Art of Teaching the Youngest Students

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Preschool Teachers Chatboard

The Art of Teaching the Youngest Students

by Bob R/CA

Aug 12, 2017

I like The Atlantic because it frequently publishes articles about teachers and education. Here's a new article that seems pertinent for this chatboard level.

"Scattered around a meeting room in groups of three or four, 13 women bent over laptop computers and smartphones, squinting at Colorado's hundreds of child-care regulations...."

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/08/the-art-of-caring-for-the-youngest-students/535650/

Who Is Taking Care of the Youngest Students?

A Denver training initiative tries to bring in more early-childhood educators and better prepare them for their difficult roles.

The Atlantic | theatlantic.com

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men52 I taught that age group for over 25 years before retiring. I was surprised to read in the article that Colorado wouldn't let colleges offer bachelor degrees in early childhood

My bachelor degree was in a different field and after working in that field, I found I wanted another type of work that make a difference. I accidently like so many...See MoreI taught that age group for over 25 years before retiring. I was surprised to read in the article that Colorado wouldn't let colleges offer bachelor degrees in early childhood

My bachelor degree was in a different field and after working in that field, I found I wanted another type of work that make a difference. I accidently like so many other women I met over the years found attracted to Montessori preschool education. I received my training through a university sponsored Montessori training program. I was able to apply earned credit towards my Masters. When I taught classroom management there I had former professionals like attorney and veterinarian as well as young women right out of high school( huge difference in life experience and professionalism) in my class.

Our local university offers a BA in ece and I was asked to present to a classroom of college seniors. I found those students overall were closer to the right out of high school students then the mature students I had had in classroom management. They had such unrealistic expectations about the reality of low pay in ece and day care. Unless they were going to work in a corporate run program, the pay was not enough to be a living wage let alone paying off any student debt. Those kids wanted to work with children, but as the article points out, they could work their way up to director. Think about it- what drew them to the field was working with children, but in order to feel successful and paid well, they had to work their way into office jobs!

I have held the positions of assistant, lead, director and school owner. I would take the lead position over director hands down because my expertise and interest was the children, not all that is involved in director. Until people change that attitude of if you want to be successful in ece you have to "move up the ladder" to achieve decent pay. I have worked with excellent assistants with no desire to "move up the ladder" Why should they not be compensated for the valuable work that they do?

I think the best example I have seen in professionalizing ece was in my state. Many years ago there was an elementary school that was determined to be a failed school. They got rid of the entire staff and hired new administration and decided to turn the elementary school into a public Montessori school. All of the teachers hired were trained in Montessori. The principal did not have Montessori background and she too went through an overview of the philosophy. They were able to purchase all the specialized equipment through funds provided because they were "failed" . Our state is way behind other states in public funded preschool, but the school understood the value of ece and used district funds to include that. It also helped pay for full day k because back then the state didn't fund that either. What was neat about this set up was that every teacher in the school whether a preschool or 6th grade teacher were all in the same pay scale. Every teacher had their state teaching license as well as their Montessori certification. Even the assistants had both. This is the kind of professionalism that ece teachers should have.

Aug 12, 2017

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