Somebody used the term "babysitting" to describe our program recently and I couldn't help but cringe. If you hang out in an ECE class for any length of time, you'll realize that "babysitter" is a dirty word.
Early childhood educators are anything but babysitters and the sector has worked unbelievably hard to get away from using that term and ones like it. They fought hard to including the "learning" in Early Learning and Child Care and their struggle to become viewed as professionals by the government, society, and media is still ongoing.
So, I feel slightly guilty to begin complaining about something else. The title, "early childhood educator." I mean, it's great for the people working in early childhood. But, I'm not doing that. Therefore, to say that I'm an early childhood educator is false.
So, what am I? I could say that it doesn't really matter and that I should just get on with my job. But, titles do provide an important bedrock of purpose and mission to one's job. Am I just a babysitter or am I something else? The answer to that question fuels so much of what I do or don't do.
I would like to go through a few of the different available titles to figure out what best describes my job.
Babysitter - If you begin to dissect this word, you get...nothing, except maybe a title for a person who sits on babies. This title doesn't expound on any roles or competencies. Objectively speaking, this is an empty word, devoid of any real meaning. If we look at it from a cultural context, we see a job description that is heavy on "watching" and "safety scouting," but little on anything else. "Babysitter" is definitely not a comprehensive enough title.
Teacher - This term, heavy with cultural context, definitely brings a particular picture to mind. It is a picture that includes a classroom, lectures, and lots of adult led and adult centred learning and activities. Though I do think that I play a small teaching role in the lives of the children I work with, I do not feel like this word fully exemplifies the full professional profile of my work.
Educator - Early childhood educators hold this up as their title. I do believe that their work is educative and I fully support the fact that the emergent process they go through, all of the observation, reflection and planning, does result in well educated children. This is a process that is similar to my own. However, working with school aged children really does change the journey somewhat. I hesitate to call myself an educator because the role I play in the lives of clientele is slightly different than that.
Coordinator - Oh! We're getting close. This is actually currently my official job title. It represents the multitasking and organizational part of my position very well. We do endeavour to organize and plan a large number of activities and spend a good amount of time coordinating pick ups of children, getting from one spot to another, booking parts of the facility, communicating with parents about activities and necessary supplies, and documenting those activities. Though this is a huge part of my job, I don't think the term really takes into account other competencies, such as behaviour management, promoting a learning environment, and promoting relationships among the children as well as between the kids and myself. Which brings me to...
Facilitator - So far, this is the best possible term I can think of to describe my position. It touches on the coordinator facet and also includes an aspect of promoting and cultivating learning and relationships among the children. I love the way it is not a word that brings to mind a "front and centre" adult role. Rather, the adult is behind the scenes, putting together a program and an environment that fosters learning, fun, relationships, wellbeing, and prosocial behaviour. It conjures up a particular mind set as well. A facilitator is constantly observing, reflecting, supporting, and planning. A facilitator is on the administrative end, too, keeping paperwork in order, organizing data, communicating with parents. She believes in an orderly environment in order to set the right atmosphere and is constantly cleaning, organizing, and decorating whatever space is available. She observes the children and supports their learning and growth where possible. She creates situations for children to play and work together. She steps in when behaviour becomes disrespectful, unsafe, or irresponsible. She plans activities of all kinds carefully, but is also very flexible to adapt to needs of the children. She maintains the balancing act of authority vs. empathy.
In short, she is me. Whatever my official title may be, whatever society calls me, whatever parents see me as, I see myself as a facilitator and this gives me a goal, a standard, and an ideal.
- A
Early childhood educators are anything but babysitters and the sector has worked unbelievably hard to get away from using that term and ones like it. They fought hard to including the "learning" in Early Learning and Child Care and their struggle to become viewed as professionals by the government, society, and media is still ongoing.
So, I feel slightly guilty to begin complaining about something else. The title, "early childhood educator." I mean, it's great for the people working in early childhood. But, I'm not doing that. Therefore, to say that I'm an early childhood educator is false.
So, what am I? I could say that it doesn't really matter and that I should just get on with my job. But, titles do provide an important bedrock of purpose and mission to one's job. Am I just a babysitter or am I something else? The answer to that question fuels so much of what I do or don't do.
I would like to go through a few of the different available titles to figure out what best describes my job.
Babysitter - If you begin to dissect this word, you get...nothing, except maybe a title for a person who sits on babies. This title doesn't expound on any roles or competencies. Objectively speaking, this is an empty word, devoid of any real meaning. If we look at it from a cultural context, we see a job description that is heavy on "watching" and "safety scouting," but little on anything else. "Babysitter" is definitely not a comprehensive enough title.
Teacher - This term, heavy with cultural context, definitely brings a particular picture to mind. It is a picture that includes a classroom, lectures, and lots of adult led and adult centred learning and activities. Though I do think that I play a small teaching role in the lives of the children I work with, I do not feel like this word fully exemplifies the full professional profile of my work.
Educator - Early childhood educators hold this up as their title. I do believe that their work is educative and I fully support the fact that the emergent process they go through, all of the observation, reflection and planning, does result in well educated children. This is a process that is similar to my own. However, working with school aged children really does change the journey somewhat. I hesitate to call myself an educator because the role I play in the lives of clientele is slightly different than that.
Coordinator - Oh! We're getting close. This is actually currently my official job title. It represents the multitasking and organizational part of my position very well. We do endeavour to organize and plan a large number of activities and spend a good amount of time coordinating pick ups of children, getting from one spot to another, booking parts of the facility, communicating with parents about activities and necessary supplies, and documenting those activities. Though this is a huge part of my job, I don't think the term really takes into account other competencies, such as behaviour management, promoting a learning environment, and promoting relationships among the children as well as between the kids and myself. Which brings me to...
Facilitator - So far, this is the best possible term I can think of to describe my position. It touches on the coordinator facet and also includes an aspect of promoting and cultivating learning and relationships among the children. I love the way it is not a word that brings to mind a "front and centre" adult role. Rather, the adult is behind the scenes, putting together a program and an environment that fosters learning, fun, relationships, wellbeing, and prosocial behaviour. It conjures up a particular mind set as well. A facilitator is constantly observing, reflecting, supporting, and planning. A facilitator is on the administrative end, too, keeping paperwork in order, organizing data, communicating with parents. She believes in an orderly environment in order to set the right atmosphere and is constantly cleaning, organizing, and decorating whatever space is available. She observes the children and supports their learning and growth where possible. She creates situations for children to play and work together. She steps in when behaviour becomes disrespectful, unsafe, or irresponsible. She plans activities of all kinds carefully, but is also very flexible to adapt to needs of the children. She maintains the balancing act of authority vs. empathy.
In short, she is me. Whatever my official title may be, whatever society calls me, whatever parents see me as, I see myself as a facilitator and this gives me a goal, a standard, and an ideal.
- A
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