Early Childhood Education Advocacy Plan Research Assignment (Essay Sample)

Early Childhood Education Advocacy Plan
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Advocacy Issue in the Context of Early Childhood Education
Abstract
Early Childhood Education has not conclusively been part of, or even included in the larger child care advocacy movements. Worse still, interested stakeholders have argued out that being an advocate and similarly becoming an early childhood education professional are often contradictory, rather than being complimentary roles. Child care movement actors in have revealed that Child educators are better placed to advocate for the infant generation at the micro and meso levels by conducting themselves in ethically and professionally codes of conduct while actively speaking up for children and their families cumulatively. With the many perils to which children in this age are exposed to, the roles and functions of early childhood development practitioners cannot be overlooked.
Among numerous practical dispositions given as to why engaging in macro level advocacy is that active advocacy seeks to offer opportunities that challenge the prevailing social orders that negate the value of Early Childhood Education Centers (ECDEs) and Early Childhood Educationists (ECDEs) themselves, a factor that has widely been perceived as being beyond the capacity of some educators. The realities of being overworked and even undervalued are considered as very real barriers for early childhood educational professionals to engage in the extra tasks that are demanded of them to become informed and confident advocates. While this may be correct, it is apparent that there are many Early Childhood Educationists who are much eager to engage in changing the current issues they face while adding value to the opportunities they get to work towards better outcomes for the younger generation.
Statement of Problem
According to a research by Macdonald lack of understanding and knowledge, compounded with the lack of confidence on the part of the childhood educators are some of the significant reasons why they do not engage in macro level advocacy campaigns. With this, it is believed that the childhood educators have the capacity to get engaged and become effective advocates for child care centers and also for themselves as professionals. As Macdonald et al. (in press) argued, the early childhood education must be systematically supported financially, emotionally and intellectually so as to overcome the barriers that come with advocacy. Among the issues highlighted by Macdonald are that the personnel concerned with the welfare of children are often not afforded the incentives that they need to excel; neither in terms of remuneration nor societal estimation of such responsibilities.
The entire discourse of early child care and education as a public good has been became one of the defining messages embraced by child advocacy groups; the efforts of which have severely and in some instances fatally curtailed by the incompetence of early child education advocates. This incompetence comes about as a result or very little studies conducted in the area as compared to say, medicine. The society has made sure of the facts that since people concerned with the welfare of children are often underpaid, that career path has been deemed unattractive to the extent that people only decide to opt for early child education as a last resort; when all other career options become unavailable. Rarely do we encounter instances where early child education receives a sponsorship deal; the opposite is true for other sectors such as the environment or even higher education. Basically the people we entrust the welfare of our children to, are not well motivated to work exceptionally a situation that has serious repercussions on their competence and the quality of their work.
Commentary
The place of early childhood education in the ultimate life of any given individual cannot be understated. It is also an incontestable fact that the circumstances of an individual’s childhood and upbringing are fundamental determinants of the individual’s future. The quality of any early childhood education on the other hand lies on the nature of the family unit, the prevailing economic situations, and the general health status of the society as a whole. A number of childcare discussions have concluded that we no longer have to assert the value of child care systems, but that we in fact have all the relevant proof that we need to justify on the importance and absolute necessity of child care centers for the public good. While this discourse of child care as a public good ties up together the numerous benefits of child care in the concrete phrase, this advocacy discourse also raises the conversation around child care advocacy directly in the political realm.
In light of this, there is an ideological divide abridge public education and child care that has for some time now, persisted in the conceptualization and provision of early childcare services. This notwithstanding, education has long been considered as a public necessity and a universal entitlement which should be supported through collective resources and programs considered to be child-friendly without regarding child care as the private responsibility of families. By referring childhood education as a public good, a greater value is placed on the work of advocates. This means that the care and education of the young children is of public importance and, therefore, deserves attention from governments with material resources from its own collective coffers maybe that will make the enterprise all the more attractive and respectable.
Advocates have to take sufficient conviction and courage as they face off with many people who may continue to hold backward sentiments on child care education and the work of Early Childhood Educationists in order to justify their limited investments in the existing collective resource kitty. Until that time when the society shall look at early child care practitioners differently, the undersigned need to be bold and strong arm the society to reevaluate their sentiments. This demands that ECEs get to know the value of their roles and of child care more broadly so as to feel confident while advocating for child care as a public good. The entire childcare workforce also needs to be supported in widely understanding the conflicting ideological submissions and their implications to the profession. This then calls for a capacity building and sensitization schedules to explain not only the bigger value of child care and associated public good, but also the current approaches to cohesive child care provision as a vital commodity that cannot be bought or sold in the market.
Research Source Summaries
Macdonald in his article Explicating a mechanism for conceptual learning' elaborating the construct of reflective abstraction alludes to the argument that whereas the welfare of children is perhaps one of the most important things to warrant attention, our governance infrastructural design does not afford it the attention it deserves. He delivers his point by assessing the incidence of instances when our media airs concerns in the education sector particularly for younger children with issues such as security. At some point he makes reference to the fact that perhaps if we paid more attention to how our children are raised, we would not need to concern ourselves so much with our or their future.
Nancy Folbre in his article The Developmental-Interaction Approach to Education: Retrospect and Prospect reiterates the sentiments of Macdonald and contends that of all things that the society must actively concern itself with, the prosperity of their children is perhaps the most important. Additionally, he places the blame on a brainwashed society rather than the government unlike Macdonald. While the latter argues that the governance must put in place infrastructural designs to put early child education on the map, the former argues that it is in fact the society that is governed that should change. She avers that even if the society did act fairly towards early childhood education, the government would be compelled to treat it fairly too.
Other authors have expressed the possibility that the incompetence among early childhood education advocates is perhaps more internal than it is external. These authors such as George Louis and Shapiro suggest that maybe the problem has something to do with the fact that the people who chose his career path themselves pick it as a last resort. Very few are actually enthusiastic and anxious to work closely with children it is a career chosen out of desperation. In Long-Term Effects of Early Childhood Programs on Cognitive and School Outcomes by Shapiro and Nager the main argument is that practitioners should be selected on a case by case basis and not clustering for instance based on academic performance or college institution. Amid these arguments and expressions of opinion, several solutions have been proposed so as to assist in the circumstances by most authors.
Advocacy Plan
Firstly, there is overwhelming evidence that a marketed provision of child care is the root of the challenges that societies and governments face while sourcing for widely accessible, affordable and high quality system of early childhood education. At the center of these upheavals is the simple question of the competence of personnel we entrust certain roles in as far as early childhood education is concerned. According to a study by Hart, B., & Risley, T. R. (2005), the major challenge that the child care movement in the United States is leadership. Political leaders have a role to help and support early childhood centers to understand the market versus the system arguments and associated debates so that they can easily connect it to their work and speak well for the children with informed experience. ...