What is the biggest issue facing early childhood education?

Question

What is the biggest issue facing early childhood education?

Answer 1

The fact that it is needed. Let's be honest here, in the good old (bad?) days the majority of children did not start formal education until they were in their 5th year. Mothers stayed at home, there were accepted differentials between parenting and education. Teachers were there to educate and inform, parents, usually the mother  were there to instill respect, good behaviour and manners. The last 30yrs or so we have seen a huge decline in stay at home mothers, we have also seen a huge decline in the behaviour of children. The two are directly linked in my view, no teacher, however well qualified, can replace the mothers role in the early learning years. Children feel abandoned, the bond is broken, rather than being nurtured they are now being "educated" en masse, and with an alien concept to such a young mind. Any child psychologist worth their salt will tell parents the importance of getting their 1st child to accept a new sibling, "the seperation theory", imagine asking the same child to accept that they are now one of 20/30 others but without their mother being there, no wonder our children are confused, times may have changed but the needs of children have not.

A young child needs to be with it's mother, whether she be good bad or indifferent, a controversial statement I know, but one I have found to be true, time and time again.

The answer? Stop pumping money into what is, effectively, an ineffectual "babysitter", spend the money on helping mothers stay at home and doing their job. This is not a slur on those who work in childcare, I am sure they believe in what they do, but infants do not need "education" and we are talking infants here, early education is both a misnomer and a "sop" handed out to working mothers who would rather be at home with their children.

The Jesuits say.."Give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man". I say..." Keep the child with it's mother until it is five and I will reduce delinquency and knife crime.

Answer 2

We need to teach them more at an early age so they won't struggle so much as they grow older.

Answer 3

Some of my readings seem to indicate the biggest issues tend to be related to nutrition.  Seems we are getting more obese children at younger ages than ever.

Answer 4

the lack of qualified workers.  a lot of people work at centers because they either need cheap daycare or they need to work and don't want to work nights and weekends.  they think just because they 'love kids' that it's enough.  they don't want to go to seminars or trainings, don't want to do the proper prep for lesson plans and think all they have to do is just let the kids play all day while they sit and watch.

Answer 5

Majority of children did not start formal education until they were in their 5th year. Mothers stayed at home, there were accepted differentials between parenting and education. Teachers were there to educate and inform, parents, usually the mother were there to instill respect, good behaviour and manners. The last 30yrs or so we have seen a huge decline in stay at home mothers, we have also seen a huge decline in the behaviour of children. The two are directly linked in my view, no teacher, however well qualified, can replace the mothers role in the early learning years. Children feel abandoned, the bond is broken, rather than being nurtured they are now being "educated" en masse, and with an alien concept to such a young mind. Any child psychologist worth their salt will tell parents the importance of getting their 1st child to accept a new sibling, "the seperation theory", imagine asking the same child to accept that they are now one of 20/30 others but without their mother being there, no wonder our children are confused, times may have changed but the needs of children have not.

A young child needs to be with it's mother, whether she be good bad or indifferent, a controversial statement I know, but one I have found to be true, time and time again.

The answer? Stop pumping money into what is, effectively, an ineffectual "babysitter", spend the money on helping mothers stay at home and doing their job. This is not a slur on those who work in childcare, I am sure they believe in what they do, but infants do not need "education" and we are talking infants here, early education is both a misnomer and a "sop" handed out to working mothers who would rather be at home with their children.

Their is a need for recognition and motivation  for the work being done by early childhood workers. That is, appropriate pay for their work, they are clearly underpaid. A national standards for all early childhood sectors and accreditation processes for same. Presentlyt, certain services are accredited whilst others are not. Their would be consistency and validation of registered training organisations who provide early childhood training. The inconsistencies are glaring particularly at Certificate III & Diploma level. Their is a Costly of early childhood education. In some case it is prohibitive for parents. the definition of early childhood education. In the UK, early childhood education incorporates any early childhood service prior to school, in Australia we tend to focus on pre-school or kindergarten and forget childcare centres.

Answer 6

Not enough qualified teachers-this could be because of pay.

Answer 7

The lack of sincere, passionate and caring educators.

It's true that a lot of people are taking up the courses and passing them, but the x-factor that is clearly needed in early childhood eduction is definitely missing.

Many take this as a job, career, something to earn money from, when it would be more meaningful if it was a passion, a desire to see our future grow into meaningful citizens.

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Answer 8

I think one of the biggest issues that is becoming more of a problem, is that we are pushing kids too hard and stressing them out.  We want them to be smart.  So many people are pushing things that are too academic.  Children need hands-on experiences to learn.  They need things that are right in front of them to learn.  Too many people want their kids to know it all, but children learn best through play.  Memorizing information does not mean that children actually understand what they are memorizing.  I think parents and policy makers need to be more educated about what is appropriate for young children to learn and how they should learn it.  We need to quit stressing kids out and let them be kids.  A good early child educator know what children need to learn, and we need to trust them to do that.

Answer 9

Funding

Answer 10

kids start education too early, and become robots and miss out on theyre childhood.

Answer 11

I could write a thesis on this one and particularly because it is not just one factor or issue.

1. Funding

2. Recognition for the work being done by early childhood workers. That is, appropriate pay for their work, they are clearly underpaid.

3. National standards for all early childhood sectors and accreditation processes for same. At present, certain services are accredited whilst others are not.

4. Consistency and validation of registered training organisations who provide early childhood training. The inconsistencies are glaring particularly at Certificate III & Diploma level.

5. Cost of early childhood education. In some case it is prohibitive for parents.

6. Definition of early childhood education. In the UK, early childhood education incorporates any early childhood service prior to school, in Australia we tend to focus on pre-school or kindergarten and forget childcare centres.

I could go on forever but I'm sure I've given you some food for thought.

PS I strongly disagree with One Ho. The actual early childhood workers in the sector are passionate and caring and adore the children they care for. Were it not for them continuing to work in these lowly paid jobs that do not recognise the skill levels required we would be in a deeper mess than we are currently in.Ask any parent to speak about the person who cares for their child day in and day out and they will tell you the same thing.

Answer 12

As an educator, I can tell you that the biggest issue facing early childhood education is a lack of parental involvement.  It is very easy to assess the students and within minutes you can guess which students are exposed to education on a daily basis and which students are not.

There are many parents today that feel it is the responsibility of the school to educate the children and that none of the burden comes down to them.  It is that feeling that robs a child of years of an education before they even step into their first classroom.

Answer 13

Oh I agree, not enough teachers who care and understand the early years in a child's life. It is not a job that a person can do and be able to support your family. The education qualifications which is a good thing are costing more and takes time to get. You can work sometimes at the profession but once you get your credential or degree you might be lucky to get a 25 cent raise for it. Better pay and benefits go a long way to attract the right people in these careers. Also respect from the community would give the encouragement to consider childcare and preschool to the teachers who care.

Answer 14

The conflict between what we know is Developmentally Appropriate Practice and the pressure from the schools and parents to include formal academic materials in our programs.