University of Guelph-Humber

The role of early childhood educators is changing rapidly – and the University of Guelph-Humber is helping to redefine the field.

The university recently hosted one of three Toronto roundtables for the College of Early Childhood Educators, which is reviewing and updating its Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. Joined together by videoconference, the three roundtables brought specialists working in the field together with University of Guelph-Humber and Humber College faculty to examine what it now means to be an early childhood educator.

“In our field, we’ve undergone a huge shift,” said Early Childhood Studies Assistant Program Head Elena Merenda. “Where we were once seen as babysitters, we’re now seen as leaders in the field.

“So even though we’re still taking care of children, there’s more understanding of what it means to take care of a child, how important the early years are, how much growth and development happens, and how important the role of an early childhood educator is.”

Not only are early childhood educators finding their responsibilities growing dramatically, but also the range of settings in which they work. Experts in educating young children aren’t being hired only to teach kindergarten, they’re also being hired in hospitals, rehabilitation centres and many other settings.

The eventual changes made to the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice will have significant impact on everyone in the field, including students in the University of Guelph-Humber’s Early Childhood Studies program, whose field placements are evaluated based on those professional regulations.

“If they change the standards of practice, then the expectations for our students, how they perform and how they’re evaluated, will also change,” Merenda said.

Soon, universities will need to reconsider their curriculums to reflect the changing trends in early childhood education. Already, Merenda is noticing that students who come to the University of Guelph-Humber’s Early Childhood Studies program are quickly intrigued by the diversity of work available to them.

“Most of our students come here thinking they want to be teachers,” she said. “But then they get here and through their placements, they realize the world of early childhood education is so huge and there are so many different opportunities for them.

“We need to prepare them to go out into the field and be leaders, because we’re working with the future – that’s what children are.”

Learn more about Early Childhood Studies at the University of Guelph-Humber