PSEd 117: TRENDS AND ISSUES

IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
EDUCATION
Presented to
Merasol P. Yunker, Ph.D.

Presented by
Dianne B. Ducos
The Professional & Social Status

An early childhood professional is someone who

has the personal characteristics, knowledge and
skills necessary to provide programs that facilitate
children's learning. An early childhood
professional is someone who promotes high
standards for themselves.
 Members of the Early Childhood
Education Profession are responsible
and accountable for:
 
1. Planning and implementing intentional, developmentally appropriate learning
experiences that advance the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development of
children
2. Establishing and maintaining a safe and healthy learning environment
3. Developing reciprocal relationships with families and communities
4. Advocating for the needs of children and their families
5. Advancing and advocating for the early childhood education profession
 THE PARADOX OF
PROFESSIONALISM

A professional status for the field of early childhood

education does not now exist. The field reflects an
outgrowth of “commonsense” approaches that more
nearly comprise an occupation rather than a
profession.
In addition, a practical distinction exists
between professionals who serve individuals,
such as physicians, and those who engage in a
“public service profession,” such as teachers and
social workers (Howe, 1980).
This distinction has its roots in historical
events, public ideologies and perceptions, and
sociopolitical and economic considerations.
A WORKING DEFINITION OF
PROFESSIONALISM
The early childhood professional has a high
tolerance for ambiguity. It is the scope and
depth of understanding as well as the capacity
to see patterns and flexibly juggle alternatives,
however, that differentiate the functionary from
the professional.
 Professional practice involves
six distinct characteristics:
(1) ethical performance that is fair;
(2) a high level of “essential” expertise and skill combined with “sensitivity” to
meaningful patterns and the capacity to use “varying levels of flexibility in their
approach to new situations”
(3) a body of deep knowledge and skills that lay people do not possess
(4) considerable autonomy in practice and control of entry into the profession;
(5) commensurate compensation; and
(6) a professional organization. Each of these characteristics will be discussed in
detail.
Ethical Performance

• Early childhood education needs to be a distinctly ethical

profession because the clientele are vulnerable and
relatively powerless.
• Young children tend to want to please adults. That they
can please adults by conforming to adults’ wishes does
not mean that they should be expected to conform to
those expectations that are not in the best interests of
the children or of society.
 Commensurate Compensation

• Early childhood educators are underpaid, particularly

those employed outside the public schools. Public
school early childhood teachers tend to be
compensated at the same rate as other teachers with
credentials that include at least a bachelor’s degree.
• Innonpublic settings, however, early childhood
program directors, with or without a bachelor’s
degree, often earn less than the base salary of a new
public school teacher.
• It is not uncommon to find early childhood personnel,
often with a high school diploma and sometimes with
a 2- or 4-year college degree, employed at or close to
the national minimum wage level.

• These people have been compensated at so low a rate

that a personnel turnover rate between 26% and 41%
(compared with a 5.6% public school turnover rate) is
typical.
Professional factors can be listed as follows:
• preference and abandonment of profession, training of
teachers, employment policies, conditions of admission to the
profession, level of income of teachers, career opportunities and
professional development, motivation and rewarding, working
conditions, participation in professional autonomy and decision-
making mechanisms, professional organizations, age of
students, female density in teaching. Non-professional factors
are social function of the profession, and the view of the society
in teaching, the changing role of teaching, the social origins of
teachers, and the image of the teacher in the media.
• In the current study, it was revealed that the
teachers mostly think that the social status of the
teaching profession is low and that a small number
of teachers see it as medium. In this context, none
of the teachers defined their occupations as high
status. This result is in the same line with other
studies indicating that teachers have negative
judgments against their social status.
• Teachers think that they were more autonomous in their
professional practice in the past years. This can be attributed to
the fact that it is more difficult for the central education system
to achieve the same level of standards at every point in the
country Journal of Teacher Education.
• Teachers in the past, while working in the rural areas,
according to the characteristics of the region, they could select
the activities more autonomously, now, every phase of the
education programs are planned in detail and teachers are
expected to comply with these plans. Teachers see
themselves as passive practitioners of these programs.
•As a result, this situation damages the teaching profession. The career and
professional development opportunities offered by the teaching profession are
insufficient and the social status of the teaching profession is adversely affected.
Expert teachers who have achieved a career in teaching think that this gain has
no meaning in terms of wages except for limited salary increase and title.
•Therefore, the practice of raising the career steps, which have been tried shortly
in the past, is not seen as effective by teachers. Teachers’ views on professional
development activities are negative. The majority of participants believe that
these activities are not achieving their goals.
•On the other hand, some of the participants think that the rewards do not
represent professional achievements, even if they have received any awards.
Failure to reward teachers who have achieved success and not to encourage
teachers to improve themselves adversely affects both the social status of the
profession and the professional motivation of teachers.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING! 