Saturday, April 14, 2012

Getting to Know Our International Contacts - Part 3

It has been great getting to know my international contact, Gayle.  This week she responded to the questions that were posed to us...

  • What issues regarding quality and early childhood professionals are being discussed where you live and work?
Gayle's response - the most common is teacher qualification, next is the salary range, and last is meeting the needs of the students.
  • What opportunities and/or requirements for professional development exist?
Gayle stated that there are several choices like Principal certification and teacher certification.
  • What are some of your professional goals?
Gayle has a lot of things that would like to do.  She wants to obtain another masters degree in education majoring in special education.  She is now training on ABA, applied behavior analysis for autism and Montessori lower elementary. "So many plans, so little time"
  • What are some of your professional hopes, dreams, and challenges?
Her hopes, dreams and aspirations in life are to share, reach out to more families and to be able to pass down the knowledge about Montessori.

From talking with Gayle again, it appears that things are similar there as they are here.  We struggle with having highly trained teachers and pay rates are not what they should be.  Just like Gayle, many of us have goals of obtaining more knowledge about early childhood education and child development.  I think we also want to reach more families and to share our knowledge with others.  I'm looking forward to continuing to talk with Gayle and learn more about what it is like teaching in her corner of the world!
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4 comments:

  1. Allison HoltApril 14, 2012 at 10:51 PM

    Just like in the States, teacher qualifications rise to the top of issues for quality measures, as do salaries. Gayle was very helpful to you for this assignment, and I'm glad she shared her insights with all of us.

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  2. Temeka.ThatchApril 15, 2012 at 12:39 PM

    Jodi,
    I do agree that we both struggle with highly trained/qualified teachers and pay rates; however I cannot understand why it is so hard for teachers that do meet requirements to get jobs. The three BKE majors that graduated with me are all highly qualified and went through vigorous training, having to be proficient in every area of teaching before we could graduate. With all of that we are still unable to find a job working in the public school system as a lead teacher. Two of us work in childcare with the nc pre-k program and the other is a teacher assistant. I feel Gayle when she says "So many plans, so little time"

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  3. SophiaApril 15, 2012 at 4:25 PM

    Hi Jodi,
    It is great that you were able to connect with an international contact. The information that you shared was very insightfult and it is very interesting to find out that other countries are faced with the same issues that we are faced with. Obtaining educators who genuiney have passion for children and who are willing to take the good with the bad can be very difficult. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. Amanda KlineApril 15, 2012 at 6:37 PM

    Hi Jodi,
    It sounds like early childhood professionals are all on the same track and have similar goals and wishes for early education! Now if we could only get everyone involved on the same page... I am hopeful that with the increase of reasearch and knowldge, we will slowly begin to see positive change. Thank you, Gayle, for all of the information for this course.
    Amanda

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