My interview with Early Childhood Professionals

My first interview was with my third grade host teacher Mrs. G. I started the interview by explaining my desire to do a research paper on advocating for families with special needs, the lack of quality childcare programs or adequate training for those working with young children. During my discussion, I asked my host teacher if she could share with me some of the topics related to quality care, working with families, and training.  Mrs. G.  replied, "education, training, ongoing professional development, and staying current on best practices" are all important aspects of providing quality care.  She went on to say, "providing quality care goes beyond the certificate requirements that are needed to become a teacher".

            As we continued to talk, I asked Mrs. G, "What are some of the current issues related to training, ongoing professional developing, and staying current on best teaching practices". She says, "without quality teachers, students do not get a quality education". When I asked her about the issues that she commonly encounter in discussions with her colleagues, she says, "teacher evaluations".  I could tell in her voice, that this is a big issue for her.  She says, "teachers are being held accountable for how well students perform on achievement test". She goes on to say that, the parents or students are not being held accountable; and everything falls on the teacher, and it's not fair". She feels that it should be a joint effort between the teacher, parents, and the students.

            I also interviewed a Quality Rating Specialist(QRS) and a preschool teacher.  After explaining my interview with Mrs. G, I wanted to hear their opinion on providing quality care.  I asked both of them about topics related to quality care. The QRS specialist says "education of teachers and the importance of teachers being knowledge of most current teaching practices". She goes on to say, with everything changing, it's so important for educators to stay on top of the best teaching practices.  The preschool teacher says, "quality care involves planning a good curriculum, knowing your students abilities, and building positive relationships with families. I ask both of them, to explain which of these issues are of most concern.  They both agreed that  education, training and building positive relationships with families are all important issues to providing quality care.  The QRS specialist says, "educators need to have access to education. Many educators want additional training, but there are many time constraints and lack of resources".  

            The information that I gained from these interviews, helped me to see how education and ongoing professional development impacts the quality of care that early childhood educators provide. As a result, of interviewing these professionals, my knowledge on what it means to provide quality care has greatly increased. As a result, I have decided to do my research paper on the importance of providing quality care.  My three related topics will be:

1.         What is quality care

2.         How does quality care impact children and families

3.         Why is ongoing professional development and training an important part of  providing quality care.