More graduate teachers are needed in Early Years
For some years having a graduate teacher working within early year’s settings has become more and more important. Research shows the positive impact this has on early years practice and children’s development.
Although the importance is clear to see, many fear, enough is not being done to encourage childcare workers to take the step to gain further early years qualifications such as gaining early years teaching status. This is a fairly new qualification. However, numbers of those completing the course have not been as great as hoped.
Some are arguing it is the time that the emphasis on upskilling the early year’s workforce should once again be addressed. Those settings who have graduate leaders have the highest provision and the children have better opportunities and achieve higher outcomes.
Why are practitioners not receiving the training?
A practitioner who has completed an early year’s teacher course does not gain a qualified teaching status so are not able to teach in primary schools. This causes limitations, and it is believed the drive to complete this course is low because of this.
Some say practitioners would rather complete a course in primary teaching and gain a qualified teacher’s status and receive a much better income from teaching in a school, as the pay is still relatively low for those teaching in early year’s settings or preschool, regardless of qualifications and training.
Many are demanding for this to change and are calling for the government to amend the courses so that a qualified teacher’s status can be gained and practitioners have access to equal pay to those who work in a school with a qualified teacher’s status. The level of expectation and standards of teaching should be equally the same as teaching in the early years and at primary level are equally important.
The government argues enough is being done!
The government is arguing that enough is being done to encourage practitioners to gain the early year’s teacher status with grants and funds available to support practitioners through their training. They claim there has been an increase in those with an early year’s teacher status each year.
They also claim those completing the early year’s teachers courses and not more likely to work in one type of early years setting over another so therefore all children regardless of income or location across England are benefiting from having more graduates in the workplace.
Also supporting the government’s argument that enough people are deciding to complete the early year’s teachers status are the ever rising numbers of graduates in the workplace and the number of outstanding settings.