Children experiencing homelessness are subject to stressors that their housed peers typically don’t experience and it is difficult for children to “leave their stressors at the door” when they come to school.
The Council for Professional Recognition recently published a whitepaper, The Invisible Children in Our Midst, that explores this topic. The paper discusses steps that some teacher education programs are taking to help future teachers better understand how a lack of secure housing may impact children and their families.
How can credentialing be used to recruit, train, and retain early childhood educators, or perhaps even return professionals who have left the field? In today’s episode of Impacting the Classroom, you’ll learn more about the CDA® credentialing process, how it works, and how it can be beneficial for educators and program leaders alike.
What’s the best way to teach empathy to an infant, toddler, or preschool aged child?
Joanna Parker joins the Teaching with CLASS® podcast to answer that question. Joanna has spent her entire career in early care and education. She’s worked with Head Start, Early Head Start, child care, early intervention, public PreK, and home visitation programs at the local, community, state, and national levels.
Joanna explains that defining empathy in early childhood is all about understanding social-emotional development. Children will not display empathy the way adults do because they are still developing social-emotional skills. But educators can instill foundational skills for children to build upon as they mature.
Though exacerbated by the pandemic, turnover in early childhood education is not a new phenomenon. In 2012, the Institute of Medicine & National Research Council reported early childhood settings turnover rates averaging between 25-30 percent. Some pre-pandemic studies indicate it could be even higher, at a startling 26-50% turnover rate. The pandemic has compounded the already present challenge and has made the headlines as our country grapples with the realization that a healthy child care system is critical to our economic recovery.
Social emotional learning (SEL) is a critical component of school readiness and later academic and social success. Did you know that high-quality interactions play an essential role in supporting children’s SEL learning? Our new brief breaks down the research behind the connections between teacher-child interactions and important social emotional skills.
The colliding of pandemic health and safety policies and historic underinvestment in early learning has culminated in worrying trends in the education workforce. In fact, the sector has seen a decline of more than 160,000 jobs according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In today’s episode, you’ll hear from a panel that includes Shanda Parkinson and Amanda Horne of the Davis School District Head Start program in Utah and Lauren Bell, and Associate at Ready Nation. Together, our guests discuss the latest trends in the early childhood education workforce with data from their new report, The Workforce Behind the Workforce in North Carolina. And, hear the strategies that one district is using to recruit, train, and retain its educators.
Burnout among early childhood educators is at a whole new level within the last couple of years. Administrators, teachers, observers, and staff feel different levels of burnout, and there isn’t a magic cure or quick fix. On this episode of Teaching with CLASS®, our guest Colleen Schmit returns to the podcast to help educators recognize and work through burnout.
Together, Sara and Michelle provided tips for helping educators dig deeper in their interactions and feel more confident in their teaching practice. Before diving into the tips for building confidence and consistency, Michelle shared a powerful quote from Lori Archer, a Head Start teacher:
Meltdowns and tantrums in the classroom can be a frustrating experience for both the educator and child. It's important for teachers to support children through their development of essential social and emotional capabilities.
