Friday, July 6, 2012

Taking a look at NAECTE … part 1


This is my first week sharing information with you about my selected organization.  The National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators (NAECTE) is found at www.naecte.org.  NAECTE was created and is sustained by members with a common interest in teacher education.  Their purpose is to promote professionalism, professional growth, advocate, discuss issues, share information, and provide a Journal and Conferences to support  growth and learning in the field. 

I first looked for a newsletter that I could subscribe to and found that they produce a newsletter quarterly.  I was disappointed because I wouldn’t be receiving weekly updates from the organization.  The most recent newsletter is dated Summer 2012 and its main focus is on preparation for the Professional Development Institute from the beginning of June.  The NAECTE meets during the NAEYC’s Professional Development Institute and the NAEYC’s fall conference. The newsletter also included highlights from 3 regional reports.  The highlight for me was the focus on Growing up WILD: Exploring nature with young children.  I had heard about this resource, but their information clarified the purpose of the resource in helping educators bring kids into nature and feel confident in the process. 

My next exploration into this site was their Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education.  Through my studies already, I have used this journal in locating additional information.  The purpose of the Journal is to “provide a forum for consideration of issues and for exchange of information and ideas about research and practice in early childhood teacher education.”  Currently there is a call for papers for a special edition titled “Early Childhood Teacher Education: Why does it matter?  How does it matter?”  This may be one that I need to get my hands on when it comes out!

The primary issue or trend that this organization is focused on is the development of quality teacher education programs.  There are three policies that they state should be included in every certification agency and school district. 
1.      Require an early childhood certificate and/or endorsement for those teaching in classrooms for children five years old and younger in state funded pre-kindergarten and in kindergarten programs.
2.      Give priority in hiring and placement to teachers with an early childhood certificate and/or endorsement for public school classrooms for six, seven, and eight-year-olds (1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades).
3.      Require that early childhood certification and/or endorsement be based on completion of teacher preparation programs that meet professional preparation standards consistent with those established by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Stay tuned for more information about this organization in future blog posts!  AND – I did find a professional contact!  Next week I hope to share some information with you from a home-child-care provider in England.

4 comments:

  1. Hi Amy, I found that many of the newsletters were quarterly or provided every other month and at one site the most recent was Jun/July 2011. Quite frustrating at first...I did find though that many of the news-feeds and articles were up to date. Thank Goodness, as early childhood professionals we have creativity, the power to improvise, and are ever persistent in pursuit of our goals.

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  2. Dear Amy,

    thank you for posting about NAECTE. There are a lot of Non-Benefits organizations for Early Childhood, but this is very specific one to support us as educator to develop ourselves to gain our knowledge and share experience to each other. I put on my resources' list.

    - putri -

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    1. Amy, I really enjoyed reading your post and am very interested in bringing children to nature or nature to the children. I am amazed at my own transformation as I got older from being a lover of reading to one of being outdoors and experiencing the world. I get so excited to bring interesting science activities into the classroom and watch the children's faces as they experience the wonder of science! I will also look into this resource. Thanks. And please pass along any activities that you learn about as well.

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  3. Hi Amy,
    I am a member of NAEYC and have heard about NAECTE but never took the time to look into it. After your post it is something I will take the time to do. I know NAEYC has publications released every two months which is enough for me; I barely have time to read them. I am so happy that there is a focus on science with young children. I know many teachers struggle with science, as did I, and it is great to get ideas and strategies that are easy to implement. I look forward to your future post on information from this website.

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