People in the Early Childhood Field

As I reviewed the resources from this week, one piece of the article I read on an interview conducted with Dr. Marilyn Friend stuck out to me. She said "In this day and age there is simply too much for any one educator to know in order to effectively meet the needs of all his or her students. If in schools we would act in the understanding that some professionals should be experts in instructional strategies, some in the use of cooperative learning approaches, some in responding to troubling student behavior, some in assessment practices, and some in building students' self-esteem and social skills, we could draw on each others' knowledge and skills and collectively create more effective schools for our students." I can not help but read this over and over again and reflect on how true it is!! If we all contributed within a role we were confident in how much more successfully could we utilize our time and teach our students?

Brownell, M. T., & Walther-Thomas, C. (2002). Dr. Marilyn Friend. Intervention In School & Clinic, 37(4), 223.
While not specifically quoted, the article I read about Marcy Whitebook's work on wages for child care workers was quite interesting. She discussed the average wage based on the area where the study conducted took place, the reasons for such high turnover in child care, and where those that left went when they left. I could not believe it! I knew long ago that my rewards in education would not be monetary, however if those of us in the child care setting are also teaching should there not be more of a push to compensate us more equally?

Again, please do not misunderstand me, my rewards are often and priceless. The look on a child's face when they understand is what I am in this profession for.

Schumann, R. (2011). Employee Retention in the Day Care Industry. Monthly Labor Review, 134(2), 50-51.
A couple of weeks ago, I listened to Louise Derman

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011). Foundations: Early childhood.
learning. Baltimore: Author.