Getting to Know Your International Contacts

By: Violet Watson

 

The first insight that I found is the wage inequity for the teachers. Some teachers make less than $25,000 a year. There are a lot of teachers that work second jobs to make ends meet. A Bachelor’s or a Master’s degree will help improve salaries. Most teachers know that they will not become wealthy working in this field, but it’s for the love of working with the children that keeps them in this career.  

According to Mrs. Vasquez, early childhood educators are still viewed as babysitters. Though this statement is false, many parents believe they drop their child off to the caregiver and the caregiver just watches them or lets them play. People view early childhood caregivers and educators as babysitters because in the past years, anyone could become a childcare giver, as long as you weren’t on the sex offenders list. Parents don’t know and haven’t paid attention to the new requirements of caregivers working with public funding. It is required that all Head Start teachers must have at least an Associate’s Degree. This means each child’s teacher will have a degree and will have had at least two years of college. While in college, the teachers learn all of the appropriate ways to teach children and they also learn all of the inappropriate ways that shouldn’t be taught to the children. So, are early childhood caregivers just babysitters? The answer to that question is no. early childhood caregivers teach the child developmentally appropriate skills. They aren’t just letting the children play all day. Early childhood caregivers and early childhood educators should be given more credit. They go to college for at least two years just to make sure each child learns the age appropriate skills and develops appropriately.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resource:

 “Excellence and Equity of Care and Education for Children and Families-Part 3” (approximate length: 12 minutes). Conversation with Delila Vasquez (Director of Program Services, Los Angeles University Preschool) about issues of equity and excellence related to EC professionals.