Staff Training

 Staff Training

Early childhood education is an integral phase in the emotional, physical and social development of a young person. It helps toddlers to learn about the world and create relationships, to develop bonds with their parents and peers. This is an essential stage in human development that prepares the children to communicate and relate to others. However, successful early childhood training calls for skilled mentors. The Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) provide special assistance including instructions on basic aspects of formal education and caregiving. Given the central role of the ECEs, it is important to create a positive environment and provide the mentors with appropriate skills for teaching. Furthermore, the provision of refresher courses and other job training will improve the knowledge of the ECEs about the management of child concerns. The learning process is developed to address the specific issues resulting from interactive learning. This will enable the ECEs to detect and track behavioral changes of the learners. In addition, it is important to equip the learning centers with appropriate learning aids to make the learning enjoyable and interactive.

Problem Statement

The province of Alberta prioritizes childhood education because it has direct and indirect impact on social, mental, and physical growth of infants. However, the lack of a standardized curriculum and evaluation format affects the efficiency of early childhood education in the region. In addition, the absence of proper approaches to documenting the progress of the children in early childhood centers makes it difficult to examine the academic performance of each learner. Currently, the fragmented nature of the programs implies that there is no common instructional method that focusses on implementation of the principle of play, participation, and possibilities (PPP). The proper training will improve the capacity of the ECEs to adopt appropriate teaching techniques that address the learning needs of children.

The significance
of the Program

A feasible educational system should equip learners with practical skills to explore new information in the educational environment. However, most governments focus on improving the infrastructure for institutions of higher learning. The imbalance is evidenced by the increased investment in research colleges and universities. Nonetheless, the guideline will facilitate a shift to participatory decision making with the intent of boosting the early childhood education curriculum and learning centers. Particularly, the emphasis will be on building a vibrant learning environment inspired by an idea for active, strong and energetic childhood communities.

The intended outcome is to operationalize the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 that underscores children’s right to safety, wellbeing, and development without any discrimination. It takes into account that despite the sociocultural and economic differences, it is imperative to offer equal opportunities for learning for the children. Therefore, the training on curriculum design, implementation and evaluation will be engrained in the key vision of ‘framework of possibilities’. Principally, the will equip the teachers and other stakeholders with the right information and experience to nurture every child’s identity as a worthy citizen and learner. This will address the discrepancies that arise from economic, political or religious affiliations of the children.

Other notable areas of consideration for the framework comprise valuing the lives of young people and their right to proper schooling. In addition, the approach will rationalize the needs of the children in mainstream educational programs. Some of the key concerns for integration will encompass children’s learning, playtime and visible issues that might hinder their comprehension such as the pedagogical techniques. Furthermore, the program will help the ECEs to appreciate the cultural differences and traditions of the local communities. Such progressions will guide the formulation of course contents and lesson plans that reflect on the everyday experience of the learners.

Objectives

The main objectives of the program entail the following;

To obtain knowledge about how to enhance the cognitive, physical, and social development of a child.
To heighten the educator’s level of understanding of pedagogical documentation, visual aids, and learning stories.
To reflect on the teaching techniques and recommend measures to improve their applicability to a wide spectrum of audience.
To embed the principles of play, participation, and possibilities in the educational processes.
Required Resources

The main resources for the training will include;

Computer-based lessons
Workbooks
Audio-visual aids
Training manuals
Constraints

The first constraint relates to budget implications required to conduct thorough training for the educators