Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/educating-the-early-childhood-workforce-trends-in-higher-education/5017222/
Exchange surveyed early childhood educators around the country to get their views on trends that are impacting the early childhood segment of higher education. They identified five key trends: shrinking student population, changing student population, changing course content, increasing use of technology, and the continuing challenge of articulation. Here are their thoughts:Shrinking student population
The economics of early childhood continue to be the Achilles heel of our field: teachers are paid poorly so that there is little incentive to invest resources in a college education to pursue such employment.
Gwen Morgan, Wheelock College, Boston, Massachusetts:
The number of higher education institutions that offer pedagogical preparation and research-based teacher preparation for work with children younger than kindergarten age is dwindling just at a time when demand is highest for teachers with this specialized education. The reason for the loss of capacity in higher education is tied to the salary issue in the early childhood field. Colleges do not want to have their bachelor’s degree graduates facing low salaries. It may also be tied to the trend in public policy to have the bachelor’s degree define the profession even before salary policies can be developed in public policy that reward bachelor’s ...