Learning is Not Only for the Children

Early childhood education settings across the country fairly hum with the exploration, curiosity and sheer joy of learning that fill a young child's days.

"But why should all this fun be confined to the children?" asks Liz Reid. Known as "Teacher Liz" to more than 30 years of children, Reid runs a preschool program in Vancouver that emphasizes parent participation. Ongoing professional development not only keeps early childhood educators aware of the latest discoveries in child development and psychology, and the newest learning activities and play equipment for their young charges, she says, but it also keeps the profession fresh and interesting.

"Professional development offers many things besides the actual information taught," agrees Rosemarie Klein. An early childhood educator for nearly 10 years in Alberta, British Columbia and now Manitoba, Klein works with the Childcare Family Access Network (C-FAN), a centrally administered network of child care and family services in rural Manitoba. Dedicating time to improving professional skills rather than just using them, maintaining contact with peers and developing different perspectives, and gaining insights and ideas through networking and sharing of experience ensure that "we continue to promote and deliver the quality child care we promise to parents and the community," says Klein (see "Extra Training").

Commitment to Quality Care

This year's Prime Minister's Award recipients have various backgrounds and training in early childhood education, but they share a commitment to the field that requires some sacrifice and effort.

This is certainly true of Elizabeth Kaye, who began her day home in her fly-in community of Old Crow, Yukon, in 1991. After seeing a need in her community for quality early childhood education, and consulting with the Vuntut Gwitch'in First Nation social services department, she applied for a licence and information package from the territorial government in Whitehorse. "The package gave me the information I needed to operate a family day home - the policies, regulations and procedures to follow," Kaye recalls. Her program was well received by the community and, in 1995, she moved it out of her home to a new building built for her program.

In 1999, new regulations required that day home operators in Yukon acquire provincially approved training and certification. This meant Kaye had to leave her community of 350 people for two years to attend Whitehorse College. As a further challenge, the courses were taught in English, her second language. "I made sure I was always four assignments ahead," she recalls with a laugh, "just in case I ran into trouble."

Her hard work was rewarded when she was named valedictorian of her class. The training also made a drastic difference to her daily practices, she reports. "I am more patient, understand the children's development much better and am able to recognize problems and recommend early intervention." In September 2003, she left her community again, to complete the third and final level of her early childhood education training.

Correspondence courses are available to Kaye, but she decided classroom courses suit her needs better, even with the attendant sacrifices. Besides having contact with her peers and help with English when she needs it, taking courses away from home gives her time to concentrate on her studies.

Klein wholeheartedly agrees with this need for concentration. "It takes dedication and persistence to complete correspondence courses." She has also had to make special efforts to maintain her commitment to quality early childhood education, spending two years completing certification requirements at night and in her spare time while working with C-FAN during the day. Though she was an experienced early childhood educator with initial training in Alberta and further training in British Columbia, she was not able to obtain certification from Manitoba's government when her family moved to the province.

"I had to complete the Competency Based Assessment Program by preparing a 240-page portfolio covering 13 functional areas of child development," she explains. As part of this project, Klein designed activities to promote learning in these 13 areas, gathered research sources to support her activities, then carried out and documented the activities with the children. It is an incredible amount of work and an extensive time commitment, comments her colleague Donna Huyber, who also completed this project.

Although both Klein and Huyber agree that doing the program was worth the effort, "It would be helpful to have some sort of system between provinces to prove competence and equivalence," Klein comments. "I'm sure I'm not the only one who needs to move every few years."

Klein has also taken correspondence courses to gain specialized training in caring for infants and toddlers, and found the courses very thorough and well organized, especially with the recent additions of teleconferencing and email discussion groups.

Contacting a local professional association or post-secondary institution will also reveal many possibilities, advises Klein.

Even in a larger community with such a wealth of resources, it can still be difficult to access professional development, Reid acknowledges, especially in the evenings after a busy day at work. She recommends setting goals: for example, one course and one workshop per year. "It's so necessary in order to stay fresh and excited about your job, and as happy and excited every morning to see the children as they are to see you."