Follow some of the outside links that you have not yet explored. Where do they lead?
As I have explored the NAECTE website this week I have had an opportunity to discover a section titled Related Organizations. This is the only area of the website where I have discovered outside links. The outside links include a number of these related organizations. These range from American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education to Australian Early Childhood Association and, unsurprisingly, the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Thoroughly search one area of the site. What do you find?
One area of the site that I was particularly interested in was the space for job announcements. NAECTE offers this space as a way to advertise "for positions or events of interest to early childhood teacher educators" (NAECTE, 2017).Currently, I was able to discover 3 listed positions- Director of Science Education, Tennessee Aquarium, Assistant Professor of Education, Early Childhood/Elementary Education, and Department Chair Teacher Education, Miami University. After clicking on the links to the jobs I found information about the position responsibilities, requirements for qualification, and contact information for submitting the required application materials. I was surprised to see there are not more positions (or any events listed) but realized that I did not even know this space existed until this week so I suppose it might not be a well known avenue for teacher educator recruitment.
If you receive an e-newsletter, follow a link related to one of the issues you have been studying. What new information is available?
Unfortunately, there is no newsletter that is available for subscription. However, in reading back through some of the past issues that are available on the website I did find one article within the September 2013 issue that relates to Online Teaching and Learning in Teacher Education.
"The Online Teaching and Learning in Teacher Education ResearchNet will provide opportunities for multiple scholars with diverse perspectives to disseminate their research results and opinions, and investigate or propose best practices for online teaching in early childhood and elementary education to provide insights for higher education institutions and the NAECTE members" (NAECTE, 2013).
Does the website or the e-newsletter contain any information that adds to your understanding of equity and excellence in early care and education?
By its nature the NAECTE website relates to equity and excellence when we consider the importance of qualified teachers as a mark of quality. The dedication of NAECTE to providing high-quality teacher education as an avenue for raising quality in the early childhood classroom is apparent in each E-letter that describes their bi-annual conferences. In their connections to similar organizations NAECTE also shows a dedication to raising quality in the field and the awareness of those in the field to encourage advocacy. However, I did not find any evidence that specific work is being done to increase accessibility or responsiveness when it relates to targeting specific populations.
What other new insights about issues and trends in the early childhood field did you gain this week from exploring the website and/or the e-newsletter?
While I am glad that I chose this organization as the one to review this semester, I am also disappointed that I was unable to gain more insights or information through it. I suppose this is an insight within itself- it might be necessary to research additional teacher education organizations if I want to continue to research this topic. This website is a little "thin" in what is available. So, I will continue to research other teacher education organizations and compile what I find from each source to build my own knowledge and capacity as a teacher educator.
References
NAECTE. (2017). Related organizations. Retrieved from http://naecte.org/about/related-organizations/
NAECTE. (2013). Spring 2013 e-letter. Retrieved from http://naecte.org/wp-content/uploads/NAECTE-Spring-2013-E-letter-host.pdf
Wendy,
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, recruitment of professors is as important as building awareness of program services in communities. Sometimes, this is not taken into consideration in many low income countries. As quoted by Kumar, “…many low income countries have addressed teacher shortages by applying different strategies: employing a new cadre of teachers with lower academic qualifications; providing less pre-service training; and appointing teachers under less secure temporary contracts” (2015). This is also a big challenge here in Panama as most teachers do not meet requirements. Most schools prefer to pay fines than to demand teachers to hold degrees or preparation. This happens a lot with English teachers, as schools have a hard time getting teachers who are English proficient so they basically hire anyone who has an English background, but not necessarily an early childhood education background.
Reference:
Kumar, P. (2015). Why well-trained and effective teachers should be central to education in the Post 2015 development agenda debate. Retrieved from https://baice.ac.uk/2014/why-well-trained-and-effective-teachers-should-be-central-to-education-in-the-post-2015-development-agenda-debate/
Hi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteThe NAECTE website has a positive resource that relates to early childhood professions. However, I think the career opportunities for teachers are great, coming for disadvantaged countries. I also think that the article about online teaching and learning in teacher education could be important information for teachers to enhance their learning opportunity towards education. As early childhood educators we need to follow-up on these resources to become more knowledgeable about issue and trend to early childhood programs. Great Post! by: Angela Davis