Opportunities in Excellence

I was able to gain some insight into the early learning system in Australia this week. My colleague shared the same issue we are discussing this week in that the profession is not recognized as a true profession despite the educational requirements and other standards. She went on to explain that education continues to be on the chopping block instead of increasing funding. I learned that they, too, are inundated with paperwork and feel they have less quality time with the children.

She is currently traveling throughout various areas of Australia and documenting her work on naturalistic playground spaces. She has attended a training Bush Schools training in which they work to truly incorporate the outdoors in a naturalistic way without the additional plastic playground equipment we typically see. (Archimedes Training Information ). She wishes to continue this training and travel throughout Europe to continue her research. She is truly passionate about children learning through sensory activities but sees that families look for more concrete examples of how their children are progressing. While Julia did not share vary many details regarding the requirements of their professional development, she did share that she is required to maintain first aid certification as well as child abuse reporting, courses in the health and safety domain and child development.

I see many of the same issues in the US are also experienced overseas. I knew there was a tremendous amount of work to have my professional recognized as a profession in my state. I did not realize that these same struggles were so far reaching. It's very overwhelming to now understand the magnitude of our challenges!