Consider this scenario: Imagine that you are in an elevator on your way to a National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) conference. Someone sees your identification badge and asks you about the conference. You explain that you are attending a conference for early childhood professionals. The person laughs and replies, “What’s an early childhood professional? Someone who babysits all day?”

In the 2 or 3 minutes you have with this person, develop an “elevator speech” that explains how you define your role as an early childhood professional, and identify at least three evidence-based reasons why early childhood professionals are vitally important to society and the early childhood field.

“What is an early childhood professional?”, you ask.  An early childhood professional can be considered a host of different roles from teachers, daycare workers, social workers, principals, coaches or school counselors. These are the people that are shaping our youth and they will one day become the doctors, lawyers, public servants, business owners and early childhood professionals of our next generations. As an educator, my job is much more than a glorified babysitter. Often times, I hear that teachers have it made weekend off, holidays off, and the summer. However, teaching is not a job that ends when you clock out and requires much preparation and time in and out of the classroom. Often, teachers are overlooked for their hard work and receive not overtime pay for those long hours preparing for their students. My job as an “early childhood professional” is never ending. Even after my students leave at the end of the day, it begins again with faculty meetings, parent-teacher conferences, committee meetings, paperwork, or tutoring struggling students. Also, my nights and weekends are far from relaxing and carefree, I am often grading papers, preparing for the next week’ lesson, returning parent emails, or researching new ideas on improving my classroom instruction. In any other job you have job description and this all you are expected to do. However, as an early childhood professionals are not just teachers, we are doctors, nurses, counselors, referees, coaches, social workers, custodians, and sometimes parents. We never have to option to say that is not my job, we have to step up and make sure our students’ needs are met in almost every aspect daily. Making sure that our students are not only growing only academically but also socially and emotionally. We are not just educators, we are life changers. Early childhood professional are vital to the field of education because we make sure that children are ready for college or the workforce, making sure parents are positively involved in their child’s education, and developing well rounded children.

            One day these young minds will be shaping our next generations and it is our job as teachers to make sure they are ready to enter colleges, universities, or the work force. In an effort to prepare today’s 21^st century learners and make sure that they are college and career ready, many states are adopting district, state, or national standards. According to Neuman (2103), “To be ready for college and the workforce, students will need the ability to gather, comprehend, and evaluate information and ideas in multiple media” (p. 10). With that being said, many states and school districts are ensuring that a set of learning expectations are put into place to guide teacher curricula and instruction in the classroom.

Even with all the advancements in technology teachers will always be necessary. Parental involvement is at an all-time low in schools and teachers are needed to build those relationships.  I believe that parents are the core of their child’s success, and through increased parental involvement, schools can also see an increase in overall student achievement. As Von Otter (2014) stated, “parental involvement has been shown to lower the risk of school failure and drop out by reducing problem behavior at school” (p. 557). As a teacher, I constantly try to build positive relationships with my students’ parents to encourage their involvement in and outside the classroom, especially as I know how important their role and presence is in their child’s life. According to Von Otter (2014), “Parents’ involvement raises adolescents’ aspirations for the future and is positive for children’s academic motivation and study persistence by enhancing their self-esteem” (p. 557).

As teachers we are expected to not just help students grow academically but socially and emotionally as well. According to Baumgartner and Buchanan (2010), “teaching is about providing an environment in which children can learn not only meaningful lessons specific to subject matter(such as numbers and letters), but also social lessons that support broader learning goals, like caring for others , being part of community, and working to create positive change (p.91).  At the end of the day, we are not just educators, we are life changers.

Baumgartner, J. J., & Buchanan, T. (2010). Supporting Each Child's Spirit. Young Children, 65(2), 90-95.

Neuman,S.B., &Roskos, K. (2013). Why common core matters: What parents need to know. Reading Teacher, 67(1), 9-11

Von Otter, C. (2014). Family resources and mid-life level of education: A longitudinal study of the mediating influence of childhood parental involvement. British Educational Research Journal, 40(3), 555–574.