Hello All!
I selected the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators (NAECTE). Since I aspire to be an early childhood teacher educator some day I think this site will offer some valuable information.
A lot of the information on this website is for members only. I checked to see how to become a member and since I am a student I can join for $45. Although I am not going to join now, I may join in the future.
With that being said, I browsed the site for the free information and found several position statements written by the NAECTE. One of them that piqued my interest was the position statement on early childhood certification for teachers of children 8 years old and younger in state funded pre-k programs. In summary, this statement is asking that these educators be highly qualified by having BK certification or pre-school add on license, that the programs give priority in hiring to the teachers that hold this certification, and that the certification be obtained in teacher preparation programs that meet the standards of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
I agree wholeheartedly with this position statement. I believe that the teachers that work with young children need the specialized education that is offered through high quality teacher preparation programs. In my state, North Carolina, all NC Pre-K teachers are required to either hold a BK certification or pre-school add on license or be working towards that certification. I am glad that this organization sees the value in teacher education and how it is closely related to high quality childcare.
What do YOU think?
References:
www.naecte.org/
Hi!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing information you found on NAECTE.
No amount of teacher training seems enough. You are right that teachers need high-quality specialized education. I feel teachers need to be life-long learners in order to stay up-to-date with the new programs and practices in the field of early childhood.
Hi Monette,
ReplyDeleteI agree with those recommedations. I work for a NAEYC accredited center and our preschool teachers are required to have a 4 year degree in education or a related field. All of our teachers must have a minimum of the CDA credential. We have 6 classrooms and 4 of those teachers hold Bachelors degrees, the other 2 have CDA certificates. We have many assistants with Bachelor degrees also and some are even working on their Master's. It really shows in the programs we are able to provide.
Hi Monette, thanks for sharing the information for the NAECTE website. It is a shame that they would charge students so much to become members of their site. I am glad you were able to find some information at the free level.
ReplyDeleteI agree that teachers should have a degree to teacher in Early Childhood. These are the formidable years and we should know what we are doing to help them become ready for school. I have learned so much with each class that I take-I feel more confident as being a teacher. Teachers that know more have more to teach.
I think that it is important for teachers to constantly be educated in their specific field. I know as a kindergarten teacher ending my 4th year I have attended the Kindergarten conference 3 years in a row. We have to know the newest, best practices to make sure that we are educating our children to the best of our ability.
ReplyDeleteHi Monette,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing. I relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2006 and I was really impressed by the level of education required in order to work in the field of Early Childhood Education because I had recently implemented those standards in the center where I was the Director in Virgina. I have always believed in mastering your craft so I set up our school as a satellite campus for the local Community College where they sent instructors to our school and we hosted people from our community as they offered classes towards an Associate's Degree.