One of the issues I hear about almost daily in my current role as an ECE professional is the recent influx of educators whom are not of the best quality. Throughout my company, centers across the nation have experienced a severe lack of quality teachers whom are dedicated to this field, as well as the growth and development of young children. We are all quite aware that ECE teachers are well underpaid, so it is beyond my understanding as to why so many people gravitate to these positions if they are not passionate about young children.
Professional development is all around me, and this is one of the major reasons why I chose to work in my current center. There are at least two professional development trainings per month, all of which are paid trainings that are center specific and relevant to our current center happenings. Also, the program leadership team gathers together once a year to develop the professional development calendar. This allows us to really cater to the needs of the teachers and ourselves as well. If anyone is unable to attend a training, there are also online training courses offered by our management company that are paid for by our center. A teacher is able to visit our company website to assign themselves trainings, or a supervisor can assign trainings to staff members based on need.
In terms of my professional goals, I would really like to become a center director or executive director within the next five years. In the long term, I would like to own and operate a private childcare center.
I hope that I can continue to learn all that I can to achieve each and every goal that I set for myself. As of now I am happy with my career advancement, however, I know that I still have quite the road ahead of me. One of the main challenges I face is that the ECE field is not the most financially rewarding. I knew this when I began this journey, as my mother has been a teacher all of my life. However, I know that I possess a deep passion for children and education as a whole. Therefore, I enjoy what I do and I know that in the end, my position in this field will always be rewarding. I just hope that someday, educators everywhere will finally receive the monetary compensation that we all so deserve.
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ReplyDeleteShabrika-
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your goals, hopes, and dreams with us this week. I too have the hope of one day opening my own child care center and becoming a director. Recently I was offered the opportunity to become a teacher and director in training. I would appreciate any words of wisdom as I believe you also hold an administrative position. I also think educators should be paid more for the work we do. I often wondered why teachers are paid so little but we are the ones working long hours both inside and outside of the classroom, filling out countless reports and teach young growing minds. Like I have said before this is not the type of job you start at 8 and end at 5 but it is type where you know all the hard work is reworded by the growing faces of the students you are teaching.
Hi Shabrika,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that professional development is imperative in the early childhood field. I think it is awesome that you guys are provided with 2 training's a month. Thank you for sharing your goals, I wish you the best of luck in pursuing your dream of director.
Hi Shabrika,
ReplyDeleteI am inspired by your goals. I love that you have a five year plan in place for future goals. I agree with you that there is a similar issue or turnaround in our Head Start Center. I believe that they would get better quality teachers if they could raise the pay and require more education for the teachers they have in place. In my Head Start they have partnered with a community college to get tuition waivers for up to 6 credits a year. This helps teachers obtain and afford their associates degree in early childhood. Other teachers who may have degrees in other areas can then pick up course work in early childhood as well.