The web resource I chose is the National Association for Early Childhood Teacher Educators (NAECTE). This organization focuses on teachers that interact with adults in the field or adults entering the field of early childhood. My ultimate goal from getting my Master's degree is to become a teacher of new professionals in the field and to conduct training's for teachers. Personally, I have seen a decline in opportunities for teachers in my area to receive professional development. A community-funded program in my area that offered classes for teachers' ongoing professional development recently closed their doors. My colleague Deb spoke with me about the financial and temporal concerns she has as a result of this change- she now must enroll in college course to make up her professional development hours required by licensing (D. Danforth, personal commuication, 28 December, 2016). The climate of professional development for teachers and professional preparation for teachers is an ever-changing dynamic and can only be effective with strong and informed leaders and teachers of these professionals.
The NAECTE puts forth position statements and a newsletter to keep teachers of early childhood professionals up to date with current trends. Their newsletter is mostly news about the organization (board member changes, events, etc.), but their position statements are truly effective and informative for those seeking information about trends and best practices in our field. After reading the position statement describing the code of ethics for early childhood adult educators, I learned so much about what it means to truly prepare teachers. First, it is our responsibility to help (adult) students learn the difference between commonly accepted practice and best practice (NAEYC, NAECTE, ACESS 2004). The NAECTE demonstrates their commitment to all stakeholders in the process of teaching children, outlining their ethical responsibility to (adult) students, to children, to practicum sites, to colleagues, and to higher education institutions. The NAECTE provides adult-education candidates with a holistic perspective about what our society needs in order to improve teacher preparation programs.
One specific aspect of improving teacher preparation programs and early childhood programs that the NAECTE details is providing a more cohesive and aligned teacher certification process. They suggest that teachers of children five years and younger should have extensive coursework and some experience working with young children (NAECTE, n.d.). Given what we know and have learned about the significance of the early years on brain development and the ability of the teacher to help the child and family maximize their potential, I would have to agree that teachers of young children should possess content knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to be effective in their work. Recently I had a conversation with a colleague and we discussed a childcare center she worked for several years ago where the director had a business degree and no background in early childhood (T. Chaffee, personal communication, 16 January, 2017). The NAECTE definitely has some relevant informations to my work as a teacher and hopefully as an adult educator. I hope to learn more about this organization as our coursework continues.
References
NAEYC, NAECTE, ACCESS (2004). Code of ethics; Supplement for early childhood adult educators. Retrieved from http://naecte.org/wp-content/uploads/ethics.pdf#page=1&zoom=auto,-39,798
NAECTE (n.d.). Position statement on early childhood certification for teachers of children 8 years and younger in public school settings. Retrieved from http://naecte.org/wp-content/uploads/ECE-certification-position-statement.pdf
Hello Neisha,
ReplyDeleteI think all teachers need professional development if their thinking about making teaching their profession, because I've been a preschool teacher for four years, and i'm still learning how to give it my all, and that is, I want to know everything from ethical, diversity, and cultural issues when it comes to learning more and more about my children and families that i come in contact with everyday inside and outside of the classroom. I think teachers need training on how to be a professional in side the classroom, because we have a lot of teachers that don't know how to be a teacher, and they are the ones that need continuing training, and also they need some educational development.
Neisha,
ReplyDeleteI think you have a great dream.Most people go into education to teacher children and sometimes we forget we need someone to teach us. You have a clear plan as to what you want to do.I believe NAECTE will be a great assess to you
Neisha,
ReplyDeleteI think you have a great dream.Most people go into education to teacher children and sometimes we forget we need someone to teach us. You have a clear plan as to what you want to do.I believe NAECTE will be a great assess to you
Hello Neisha, great job on your Blog! I am also a Pre-K teacher and I found the post very interesting and informative. I agree with you, there're always more to learn and having professional development training's for teachers is a must.
ReplyDeleteNeisha,
ReplyDeleteI also have an interest in teaching adults someday, whether it be at the college level or as a consultant or leading professional development. I am excited to see what information you glean from this organization, and I hope it can be useful to all of us. Thanks for sharing!
Great reason for listing this resource. Sounds like it is perfect as you pursue your goal for teaching teachers. Can't wait to take one of your classes! Good luck
ReplyDelete