Have you noticed a shift in the language used in early childhood education and care?
There is now a stronger emphasis on the educational aspects of education and care. Many educators support this shift, believing it better captures the professional nature of their work and raises the profile of their work within the community.
However some educators believe this is a disservice to the profession, advocating the need to promote care as a requirement for learning and as an integral contributor to quality in practice. Speaking to educators who have been in the profession for over 20 years, they talk of the higher level of expectation in regards to education, with the requirement to be computer literate, overshadowing the need to care for children. One of them said "when I began my career in early childhood I saw myself as a carer, not an educator because that was what I was told