Conclusion

To conclude, I think that it is clear that children in our early childhood centres benefit more from being in centres who have 100 percent qualified teachers. Teachers who are not qualified are not always able to respond to children in a way that extends on or benefits the child’s learning (Field, 2011). There is definitely a high demand in my eyes for more qualified teachers. Why should primary schools and high school teachers have to be 100 percent qualified but not early childhood centres? Especially when the first three years of a child life is the most vital because those three years shape the brain (NZTC, 2013). From all of the readings that I did throughout this assignment I found that 100 percent qualified centres were more beneficial for children because the teachers have knowledge about how to deal with certain things. They are able to notice interests and extend on them. Teachers without qualifications are not always able to notice those things and extend on them because they have not had the training to teach them. As a teacher in training and being familiar with working in a centre that is 100 percent qualified I have seen how knowledgeable the teachers are and how they respond to children. It has opened my eyes to things that I would not have even thought of before. Whilst on practicum and working in a centre that was 50-79 percent qualified I felt that even I as a second year student was more knowledgeable with some things than some of the unqualified teachers. I guess what the literature is trying to get across is that if we want our children to get the best out of their short time in early childhood education we need more qualified teachers and 100 percent would be ideal.

Pedagogical implications for infants, toddlers and young children

Research has proven that from the age of zero to three a child’s brain experiences the most growth therefore everything that a child experiences in that time has a huge impact on the brain (New Zealand Tertiary College, 2013). In other words having children surrounded by teachers who are qualified will be of great benefit (NZTC, 2013). “An example of such research is the longitudinal study entitled Competent Children, Competent Learners, conducted by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) (NZTC, 2013, p. 1).

In 1993 the study was started which 500 children were a part of, all between the ages of zero to 20. From the studies it was found that the children who went to early childhood settings that were 100 percent qualified scored “significantly higher scores in literacy and maths tests” (NZTC, 2013, p. 1).

With majority of the children under five in New Zealand attending early childhood centres (95% of them) it is only crucial that the teachers teaching them are qualified and knowledgeable (NZTC, 2013). Some of the many things that a qualified early childhood teacher can offer a child is that are able to notice interests, extend on them by providing further learning experiences, ask open ended questions to enable the child to think more in depth, and have rich conversations (NZTC, 2013).

To improve quality care in early childhood centres there is a need for more qualified teachers (Field, 2011). A non-qualified teacher does not have the same knowledge that a qualified teacher does and therefore is unable to offer the same degree of quality care (Field, 2011). A fully qualified teaching team is able to offer children more than a centre with 50 percent qualified teachers (Field, 2011). Qualified teachers are trained to respond to children in certain ways and cater for developmental needs whereas a non-qualified teacher may not even recognise that a child’s developmental needs require responding to (Podmore, Kerslake & Hendricks, 2000).

References

Field, J. (2011). Supporting families, extending free ece. Retrieved from:                 https://www.greens.org.nz/sites/default/files/equity-ece_final_21072014.pdf

New Zealand Tertiary College. (2013). Quality early childhood teachers make a difference-for life.            Retrieved from: http://www.nztertiarycollege.ac.nz/news-events/news/qualified-early- childhood-teachers-make-difference-%E2%80%93-life

Podmore, V.N., Meade, A., Kerslake Hendricks, A. (2000) Aspects of quality in ECE. Retrieved from:                 http://www.nzcer.org.nz/pdfs/5885.pdf

Are our infants, toddlers and young children getting quality care?

The New Zealand Childcare Association (NZCA) randomly picked ten early childhood centres to do research on and observe the teachers working in them. In five of the centres visited all of the teachers held an early childhood qualification and in the other five centres only between 50 and 79 percent of them were qualified (Te Rito Maioha, 2015). The researchers’ studies showed noticeable differences in children in the centres which had 100 % qualified staff including the experiences that teachers offered children and the learning that occurred (Te Rito Maioha, 2015). The researchers believe that children who are in centres with 100 percent qualified staff are more exposed to a richer learning environment rather than children in centres with only 50 to 79 percent qualified (Te Rito Maioha, 2015).

One of the researchers discusses that according to her observations the teachers who held a qualification as an early childhood teacher in the centres with 100 percent qualified staff were intentionally teaching the children. This was seen through planning and communicating with families about their children's learning. The qualified staff were knowledgeable about linking theory with practice and acted in a more professional manner (Te Rito Maioha, 2015).

The centres who had 100 % qualified teachers had their funding reduced in February 2011 which lead to changes. Such changes included teachers practice and “finances that impacted on teachers’ work” (Meade, Robinson, Smorti, Stuart, Williamson, Lind, Lundberg & Te Whau, 2012, p. 12). The centres who had less qualified early childhood teachers (50-79 %) had other things to face such as how they would utilize the teachers who were qualified alongside the teachers who were not (Meade, et al, 2012).

Some of the things that were more evident in the centres who that had 100 % qualified teachers was that whānau involvement was seen more and communication between teachers and parents when children would be picked up was valued more. The talk amongst parents and teachers revolved around the children’s learning rather than “How was your day? Or Hi how are you?” The teachers were able to talk about their personal and centre philosophy and the ways in which they planned and their reasoning behind this. The teachers in these 100 % qualified centres maintained a good routine with things like nappy changes and staff placings, for example, the same staff every day in the under two’s (Meade, et al, 2012).

In the centres with 50-79 % qualified teachers it was noticed that the teachers weren’t as able to discuss in as great detail their personal or centre philosophy or the planning or reasons behind their planning as well as the 100 % qualified centres were (Meade, et al, 2012). Te reo Māori was more evident in the centres with 50-79 % qualified teachers than in the centres who had 100 % qualified teachers (Meade, et al, 2012).

Overall, the most evident things seen was that children were more interactive with teachers who were qualified, the conversations between qualified teachers and children were more meaningful, “more episodes of sustained shared thinking,” (p. 14) and children seemed generally more concentrated and independent in the centres with 100 % qualified teachers (Meade, et al, 2012). In the under two’s teachers gave infants and toddlers a better level of quality care than the centres with 50-79 % qualified teachers (Meade, et al, 2012).

Although the centres with 100 % qualified teachers seem to be giving children better quality care, the funding being reduced in these centres means that children’s learning outcomes may be affected (Meade, et al, 2012). 


References

Me whai matauranga nga kaiako. (2015). Report supports qualified teachers in early chilhood education. Te Rito Maioha, Early childhood New Zealand. Retrieved from: https://ecnz.ac.nz/about-us/news/media-releases-and-updates/report-supports-qualified-teachers-in-early-childhood-education/

Meade, A., Robinson, L., Smorti, S., Stuart, M., Williamson, J., Lind, J., Lundberg, P. & Te Whau, S. (2012). Early childhood teachers' work in education and care centres: Profiles, patterns, and purposes. New Zealand Chidcare Association. Wellington, New Zealand.

History

Before the year 2006 there was no set percentage of teachers that were required to be qualified to work in an early childhood setting (Tarr, 2006). Between the years 1996 and 2006 there was a 32% increase of children attending licensed early childhood settings. Because of the increase in numbers it was believed that there was a need for more qualified and registered early childhood teachers so that quality teaching could happen. The New Zealand Government came up with a ten year plan which involved 100% of early childhood teachers being qualified and registered by 2012 to ensure that children were getting quality care. This was a huge goal as only 44% of the current teachers were qualified and registered in 2005 and in order to reach 100% qualified by 2012 several thousand early childhood teachers would be made to study to meet the qualified obligations (Tarr, 2006). This all had to be done in the space of six years.

Until the 1970’s, kindergarten teachers in New Zealand were to attend one of four teachers colleges in which they would gain their diploma over the course of two years. In 1975 the courses were no longer available and instead the studies were to be continued alongside the courses of primary teachers (Tarr, 2006). This course gave early childhood teachers a lower status to the primary programme where teachers trained for three years.

In 1986 the early childhood course was extended to three years and the course was slightly changed by teaching the trainees about culture, care for infants, and included information about the importance of children’s families. In 1989 there was debate around whether teachers should be able to use previously gained qualifications to go towards their early childhood qualification and do extra studies to make up to an early childhood diploma (Tarr, 2006). This was put into place and to a lot of people seemed unfair and there were fears for children’s education. How were they meant to do an accurate job as a teacher if they did not complete the same training as a teacher who had completed the full early childhood course? This option was no longer available in 1994 which made many people happy and increased the number of people doing the three year diploma (Tarr, 2006).

In 1999 “the new Minister of Education wrote to the sector” (Tarr, 2006, p. 27) and said that his “vision for early childhood education is one where all centre based early childhood educators will have at least a diploma of teaching (ece) and will be registered teachers” (Tarr, 2006, p. 28). He understood that this would not be able to happen straight away but believed it would be beneficial for children and improvement would happen in phases (Tarr, 2006). In 2002 the phasing in approach began which has briefly been discussed in the first paragraph of this section. A part of the phase also includes pay parity with primary teachers (Tarr, 2006). 

Todays requirements - Atleast 50 percent of teachers in an early childhood centre must be qualified.

"These staff count as having a teaching qualification...


- The person responsible for the early childhood education service
-Any staff member with a recognised early childhood education qualification
-One staff member in their final year of study for an earlly childhood education qualification"
(Ministry of Education, 2015, p. 1).



References

Ministry of Education, (2015). The number of qualified teachers your ECE service needs. Retrieved from: http://www.education.govt.nz/early-childhood/running-an-ece-service/employing-ece-staff/the-number-of-qualified-teachers-your-ece-service-needs/

Tarr, C. (2006). Initial early childhood teacher education. A look at some research, some policy and
some practices. New Zealand journal of teachers work, volume 3, issue 1, 24-32.

The current political issue that I have chosen to discuss is that only 50 to 79 percent of teachers in early childhood centres are permitted to hold a qualification and the other  21 to50 percent do not need one at all (other than in kindergartens where 100 percent of teachers must be qualified). I am interested in this political issue because it amazes me how anyone could think it is okay to have as little as 50 percent of teachers in a centre who are not qualified. Does a primary school allow for this to occur? I was lead to believe that the first three years of a child's life was the most important for their brain development. So why is it that only early childhood centres allow for this rule? From this I would like to learn more about how the government can justify their reasons for this and am interested to see if my point of view changes at the end of this assignment because right now I believe that 100 percent of teachers in ece centres should be qualified.