Why Child Care needs to be Professionalized

Recently, while perusing the NAEYC website, I wound up reading through the Power to the Profession initiative information. This initiative is focused on creating a national system of credentialing Early Childhood/Child Care educators/professionals/teachers. This process, though no easy feat, is meant to help professionalize the field and create one consistent image of those of us working in the field of Early Childhood Education.

Think about it...Would you be okay if you were in the hospital and the second nurse to come in to take care of you didn't have the same training as the first? Would you choose a therapist who'd only taken one or two trainings related to your mental health needs? Would you take a class from someone who read a few articles about the topic of your course? I hope not.

There have been discussions about cost, what happens to educators who don't get the education that will be required; how to ensure equity among cultures and socio-economic status, and where do we all start. All of the questions haven't been answered, but its a start. I believe its an important start on the path to creating national systems that support Early Childhood Educators as the professionals they've always been. Check out the link above for more news on the national efforts. -Shawna