You must be thinking of the relevant aspects when it comes to ECCE teacher training, what the facilitators should know to qualify as a teacher and create a positive impact on children’s life.
Today, in this blog, I will share some of the insights that I have learned over the years working and learning about ECCE.
A little about me. I’m Sudhanshu. I have completed my graduation in ECCE from Ambedkar University, Delhi, and today, I will be sharing some of my learnings with you.
What It Means To Prepare ECCE Teachers
It means to prepare a teacher holistically; this includes the knowledge of various developmental domains of children, children’s cognitive development, their milestones at different stages, knowledge of various approaches, as well as famous psychologists in the field of early childhood. It also includes developing some core skills; creating an inclusive environment, using positive reinforcement than negative reinforcement, etc.
Why Is It Important?
As we know, in early childhood, children have more plasticity in their brain development than an adult. It is easier to learn things at this age. The quality learning or strong foundation of early childhood helps them throughout their lives. The quality of the learning environment created by the facilitator will help the child to build self-esteem and other soft skills that will also help the child throughout their life.
These positive experiences will not only improve their academic performance but also their health, relationship with others, confidence level, and learning abilities, etc. This is why having good ECCE training is essential.
How To Develop It
Before going to the technical knowledge, we should develop the core knowledge of teachers.
- What is inclusion? Why is it important?
- How to ensure all components of inclusion in the classroom, i.e, Access, Participation and Support
- Why is diversity important (in themes, activities, etc.)?
- The advantages of using positive reinforcement rather than negative reinforcement (the theory of BF Skinner)
Then we should focus on developing the technical knowledge of facilitators.
- Various domains of child development
- Their milestones as per their age
- The importance of identifying red flags and intervention
- The importance of identifying age-appropriate activities, creating age-appropriate design of classrooms for children
- The development of the brain in early childhood, key terms like plasticity, critical period, sensitive period, etc.
- Various approaches of teaching, i.e. Constructivist approach, Waldorf Approach, Project approach, etc.
Every ECCE facilitator should have mastery in at least some of the aspects. After having these points at your fingertips, you will be able to provide a quality experience to the learner and create a positive impact on the learner’s life for the long term.
Thank you