It has never felt good to hear people say, “All you do all day is watch kids.” First of all what do they mean, “All you do.” Working with children is a lot of work and definitely not given the credit it deserves. Working with children requires a lot of patience, understanding, improvising, creativity, and challenging different techniques that may or may not work.
Something that can often be very hard for an early childhood educator/caregiver is to express their frustration appropriately at work. Working with children is very different than working with adults. When working with children you cannot just sit down alone whenever you want or vent out to a co-worker all the time. A teacher/caregiver must learn to have control over even the strongest feelings and emotions and wait until an appropriate time and way to deal with them. Controlling one’s feelings is not always the easiest things to do.
Everything that is said and done must be done very cautiously. Just as the book New Possibilities gives the example of a fifth grade girl who was so excited for her blue ashtray and her teacher embarrassed her greatly when it blew up. Instead of creating a learning opportunity about how the air in clay can make it explode when it is being fired, she made her student feel terrible and it is an experience that has stuck with the student.
Also, anyone who says that this field is not very challenging has obviously never worked at an early childcare setting. Yes, it is very fun, and rewarding to work with children but the reward comes through hard work. Being an early childhood educator/caregiver means being able to not only think on your feet but to come up with solutions that are age appropriate and necessary. What is easiest is not always the best technique.
There is also the constant need to challenge things and find newer and perhaps better methods for different practices. This is truly a profession that should not be entered into lightly. A person who likes children will not always be the best person to leave in charge of children. This job requires a lot and there is not always anything given back in return. The reward has to be something.
To anyone who thinks that working with young children is a lesser job and that anyone can do it, you are seriously wrong and the easiest way to change your mind is to simply have you try it and see.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi Kawai,
ReplyDeleteInteresting observation -- "all you do" -- this statement seems to bring up many assumptions about young children. What do you think are the assumptions? Are they societal? Are they local? As I read the statement, I think there is an assumption that children are lesser than adults. Do you agree? disagree? Why? In the Rethinking text there are several words defined which are a part of our field -- do these definitions make assumptions? What assumptions do you find?
How can assumptions limit how childhood and early childhood education is viewed and enacted?
Jeanne
Hi Kawaiula!
ReplyDeleteYes! You’re so right when people think of early childhood education they think: “All you do all day is watch kids.” They are so wrong, early childhood education is the foundation of a child future education. To me this is where (early childhood education) the child needs to start learning the fundamental of education like the A,B,C the 1, 2, 3 and the different colors etc. Early childhood education is needed for the child to prepare them for elementary education.
Here’s my question to you: “How would you change people mind in early childhood education?”
Gary
Aloha Kawai,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about what people think about early childhood education. In my experience, I've actually had people assume that we were just a "drop-off daycare service". They didn't comprehend the fact that children were actually learning whether it was through play or hands-on experiences. I've had many conversations with different parents to inform them of what their children were learning through various activities and experiences. My question is: How can we promote early childhood education so people will understand its' importance?
Hi Kawai,
ReplyDeleteI can relate to your observation. Many people think that what we do is not as important. Kind of like what I posted about babysitting. It is true that there are more to our profession than watching the children. I also agree with you about "A person who likes children will not always be the best person to leave in charge of children." Some people would have good intentions but at times they do not have the background on early childhood development that would serve children at best.
Good questions everybody. Okay so I think it is our society kind of as a whole that seems to belittle the value of children and the profession that goes along with it. I think it is wrong to assume that children are some how lesser. Anyone happy about all the Fridays off? How valuable do they think children's education is? If we start limiting what we thing they can do then we will really be hindering their development.
ReplyDeleteAny suggestions on how to prove just how valuable young children and their education is?