— ECFC Events —
Early Educators as adult learners – case studies and best practices from innovative early childhood models
This event was held on October 10, 2023 @ 1:00 pm - 2:15 pm EDT
ECFC & Trust for Learning sponsored learning session at the Grantmakers for Education annual conference
Many early childhood educators work in schools alongside and with the same credentials as K-12 educators, but are an often overlooked part of the broader educator continuum with disparities in wages, benefits and working conditions.
Early educators are often the first relationships young children have outside of their family. They are essential to the social and emotional development of young children, and to the academic success in Kindergarten and early primary grades for young children in their care. Yet, EC and K-12 systems have both failed to create a field with attractive wages, benefits and working conditions that can attract and retain early educators, and we have failed to create easy to follow, supportive and accessible pathways into the field and to higher qualification levels. With lower salaries, and wage disparities, many struggle with basic needs.
Pathways to higher education are often fraught with obstacles, including cost, timing of classes, and availability of childcare for their own children. Too often, institutions of higher education (IHEs) don’t recognize and give credit for courses taken at another IHE’s. Full time EC educators often get “stuck” in a cycle of stopping, starting over, or transferring between community college and four-year collect which can be costly (and sometimes results in the educator taking more classes than if they had enrolled in a IHE as a freshman and gone straight through).
To truly apply an equity lens to the education workforce, we must focus attention on strategies that address these and other barriers that prevent the entry of new career seekers into the early learning workforce, and meet the adult learner needs of our existing workforce. Early educators need more than scholarships. They also need tailored and responsive opportunities (such as mentoring, coaching, paid learning opportunities, and credit for past experience and education).
Workforce development strategies that work in EC education can ultimately be employed to help close the gap in the overall teacher workforce, especially for starting to fill hard-to-staff substitute and paraprofessional roles and then creating pathways from those roles to licensed teacher roles. EC and education funders have the opportunity to align our priorities and goals to create the expectation for of high quality, responsive workforce development programs that build a diverse pipeline of educators (from early education through K-12), educators who reflect and are trained to respond to the growing diversity of our students, and have equitable opportunity to advance their skills and pay.
This session explored workforce development strategies (such as mentoring, coaching and paid learning opportunities) that treat early childhood educators as adult learners as inspiration for educator recruitment and development programs at all levels.
Event Takeaways
VIEW THE LEARNING SESSION SLIDES
Moderator: Bryan Stokes
Director, Education Portfolio
Robert R. McCormick Foundation
Bryan Stokes, Education Portfolio Director, brings a wealth of knowledge from 15 years in the early childhood field, most recently serving as the Chief of Early Childhood Education at Chicago Public Schools. Bryan began his career as a classroom teacher at the Carole Robertson Center before spending six years leading early childhood and youth development programs at Gads Hill Center, which serves more than 4,500 children on Chicago’s Southwest Side. His range of professional experience in the early childhood sector includes managing implementation of the state’s Preschool Development Grant in the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development and serving as Vice President of Early Learning at Illinois Action for Children.
Anita Andrews-Hutchinson
COO & Founder
It Takes a Village Family of Schools
Anita Andrews-Hutchinson, M.P.H has successfully envisioned, facilitated financing, and implemented strategy behind the growth of ITAV’s organizations. Through the ITAV Family of Schools, she manages the care and education of over 1000 children and employs more than 160 staff members. Anita not only believes that high-quality education is a universal right, but it is also critically important for all children to have exposure to developing leadership skills that can traverse any discipline. In 2015, Anita and a group of amazing women who believe that childcare is an essential service co-founded Child Care Advocates United, a non-profit professional organization for child care providers and early childhood educators in the State of Illinois. Representing over 300 small businesses, Anita has been instrumental in not only promoting industry excellence by supporting providers in delivering high-quality educational services to children and their families; but also representing those businesses as their advocate in State and City commissions and forums. Through the work of education, institution building, and advocacy, Anita’s goal is to improve those industries so they are systematically beneficial to all. She is also a loving wife and proud parent of three amazing children.
Carol Austin
Executive Director
First Up (Philadelphia)
Carol directs the fulfillment of the organization’s mission to positively impact the educational and developmental outcomes for young children by empowering and equipping early childhood professionals and families with the skills and tools they need. Prior to joining First Up, Carol served as a senior executive at another non-profit organization where she worked for more than fifteen years on high school education reform and youth post-secondary success. In that capacity, Carol worked with schools, non-profit organizations, Fortune 500 companies, small businesses and other stakeholders, to design collaborations that result in expanded opportunities and positive outcomes for young people. She holds a Master’s in Education from Temple University and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Rosemont College.
Tanika Beauchemin
Recruitment Programs Manager
Early Care & Education Association of the Upper Valley
Tanika Beauchemin began her journey with the Early Care and Education Association (ECEA), a network of center-based early educator providers in the Upper Valley Region of New Hampshire & Vermont, in early 2021, in the midst of the pandemic. This was a critical time when teachers were leaving the field, classrooms were having to close, and childcare space was hard to find. During her time with the ECEA she has been a crucial part of a team that targets recruitment, recognition, and retention for early education/child care centers everywhere. One of those programs, Career Cultivator, has recruited and trained 16 teachers with another 10 candidates nearing completion of this program. Early in her career, Tanika also spent a number of years as a Preschool teacher in Northern NH. She specialized in working with children along the Autism spectrum, striving to meet the needs of all children in a truly inclusive environment. She has extensive experience using strategies such as Applied Behavior Analysis, Sensory Integration Therapy and Responsive Classroom, just to name a few. Through her work she is committed to the mission and vision of the ECEA, which demonstrates the power of collaboration in their efforts to sustain, expand and improve access to quality and developmentally appropriate care in the Upper Valley.