When I think of an "isms" as it pertains to my professional aspect I think of is classism. Classism is the prejudice against or in favor of people belonging to a particular social class (New Oxford American Dictionary). In the textbook Anti-bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves it mentions how no one is unaffected by economic class issues, including those in the early childhood profession (Derman-Sparks. L., & Olsen Edwards. J., (2010).
While taking these different classes that deals with Anti-bias and diversity, I found that it stress the need for diversity in the classroom is key and early childhood intervention is best. While saying that teachers that work out of a daycare based program, like NCPrek is valued less as teachers but expected to have and maintain the same type of license like as the teachers in the public school system, and yet get paid extremely less and has less respect given to them form some families and other teachers.
The textbook also mentions how these low wages increase the staff turnovers. When staff leave because they cannot afford to stay, it puts at risk deep bonds and consistent relationships with children; on going, integrated curriculum; and strong family-schooled and inter-staff relationship(Derman-Sparks. L., & Olsen Edwards. J., (2010).
The textbook also mentions how these low wages increase the staff turnovers. When staff leave because they cannot afford to stay, it puts at risk deep bonds and consistent relationships with children; on going, integrated curriculum; and strong family-schooled and inter-staff relationship(Derman-Sparks. L., & Olsen Edwards. J., (2010).
The way that I feel when I am looked or talked down to as an early childhood provider, I feel annoyed. It's like I have to prove myself even though, I have the education and the licensed and experience with working in the education field. I just chose to work with the younger children 3 to 5 years old in the NCPreK program. Hopefully one day the respect and pay to our early childhood educators will be valued and respected by everyone.
References
Derman-Sparks.L., & Olsen Edwards,J.(2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, D.C: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
New Oxford American Dictionary
Hi Takeisha, thank you so much for sharing your experience with classism. I and most likely many others who are in this field can heavily relate to feeling unappreciated with the work we do base on respect from others and our income. We do this job because we are passionate about helping young children and their families in their early childhood developmental progress. Many who are not in this field of work do not understand all that we do for these young children and their families and unless they have the opportunity to just spend one day in our work environment they will not truly understand all that we do and the way we help educate and expand minds to new ways of thinking and challenging societal norms. Thank you again for sharing this very relatable post.
ReplyDeleteTakeisha,
ReplyDeleteWhen I became an elementary school teacher, they asked for any previous experience, and I gave them my 10 years of daycare experience. I was told that they would not count those years, so I started with zero experience in a public elementary school working with 3- and 4-year-old children, holding a master’s degree. I had more hands-on experience with children than the other 3 ladies in our department and I held more educational degrees than the 3 of them. I say this to share with you that as soon as I became a school administrator, I have worked for others to see the value in all early childhood educators despite the title they hold.
My school now houses 3- and 4-year-olds all day and I keep telling them they are missing the key component that any early childhood teacher could tell or show them, and that is how to educate children at that age. Early childhood teachers understand how children learn and grow; we focus on teaching children in a way that they can learn because we understand how the brain operates (Natasha Crosby Kile, 2019). For example, I just recently shared with a pre-k- 3 teacher that having 3 teacher desks in the room is taking up space for learning to occur or that that if they used manipulatives the children would be able to touch while they counted instead of being upset over them not counting on a worksheet.
Classism does exist among us educators because unlike early childhood teachers, others do not see how all educators play a part in the system of educating children. We have talked about advocacy for children and I think that getting others to see the importance of teaching to their developmental stage would demonstrate that what happens before kindergarten can only happen with a strong foundational teacher. Not having quality education in the early years will affect what happens thereafter, which is seen in academic gaps. Unfortunately, without equitable pay in the field we will continue to see a high turnover.
Reference
Natasha Crosby Kile. (2019). I’m a Teacher, not a Babysitter!: Professionalism in Early Childhood Natasha Crosby Kile. Continued Early Childhood Education. https://www.continued.com/early-childhood-education/articles/i-m-teacher-not-babysitter-22776
Hello Takeisha, I hear your voice loud and clear. Thank you for voicing such as strong issue. As early educators we do not get the recognition that we deserve although we go through on-going early childhood education training, professional training and have chosen to enroll in higher education. Whether we acknowledge it or not we are a product of classism in it self. We are not looked upon as authentic teachers. I have administration that have less education and training than me and get paid more than me.
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