My Hopes and Dreams for ECE

    My Hopes and Dreams for ECE

The one hope I have when I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is complete acceptance for who they are and what they look like, because as it stands, diversity is a constant battle.

 According to Derman-Sparks, & Olsen Edwards, 2010, “As children grow, they move into an even wider and more diverse settings, and we want them to be open to and respectful of all kinds of people they may encounter” (p. 85): “If we want children to thrive in a diverse world and choose to stand up for themselves and others, then we must choose to help young children make sense out of the confusing and often emotionally charged messages they receive about themselves and others” (p. 87). Derman-Sparks, & Olsen Edwards, 2010, also encourages us that we should, “take seriously all of children’s expressions or behaviors that reflect negative messages about their racial identity or feelings of inferiority or superiority”, and to “remember that what may seem like a ‘“little thing”’ by itself to you can add up with other little things to cause serious harm, so don’t ignore it” (p. 83).

The one goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice, is a higher and more competitive pay with the rest of the education sector, and to be completely received and recognized as an honored and respected profession, and not babysitting.

As Pelo, 2008, reports that, “improving working conditions and professional status for early childhood educators is critical to developing high-quality early childhood and school-readiness programs”, and that “poor teacher compensation has long been a major challenge for the field of early care and education; In addition, in 2004, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual salary of a childcare worker was just under $18,000, and that, the vast majority of childcare workers qualify as low-income or living in poverty” (p. 201). Pelo, 2008, also reports that, according to the American Federation of Teachers, the hourly wages for an Elementary Teacher is $23.42, Kindergarten Teacher is $22.62, Preschool Teacher is $12.45, and Childcare Worker is $9.05; furthermore, the mean annual salary of childcare workers in the United States in 2006 was $18,820, and the AFT reports that since 1973 the hourly wage of childcare workers with some college education has gone up 39 cents: childcare workers’ wages are compared to parking lot attendants $8.33, bell hops $8.83, and animal trainers $14.39” (p. 204). 

Colleagues’, as we come to the closing of another professional class I feel that we are even stronger and more equipped to conquer the problems of diversity in any of its forms with-in our profession of educating children of any age as we also keep their families encouraged with our acceptance and respect for their unique heritages and cultures. I take this time to thank each of you for all your comments and insights as we went on our entire journey of learning. Sometimes we agreed, and sometimes we disagreed, but we respectfully learned with and from each other and gained new insights on issues that we never thought mattered, or was a bother to someone else. My sincerer prayer for each of you is that you go out and conquer with the echoes of each person’s comments and thoughts as we attempt to strike a fire for change in our world by starting with our own communities. I’ll miss our times together in discussions and blogs as we shared our thoughts and concerns while learning more through each class that represented steps towards the finish line and the beginning of our fight for the very BEST for children our students, and their families. Take care colleagues and let’s keep properly caring and advocating children and their families. 

References

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and

     Ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children

     (NAEYC).

Pelo, A. (Ed.). (2008). Rethinking early childhood education. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking

     Schools.