If you are on the path to working in education, then there can be some decisions to make about what you want to focus on, even after you have begun to work towards your bachelor or postgrad degree. One of the first of these is naturally what age group you want to teach. Some people already have this in mind when they decide to become educators. For instance, some people only want to work with adults, whereas others love the idea of primary education. For others though, who simply want to teach wherever they can offer the most value with their own skills, knowledge, and traits, deciding on a path to follow can be less cut and dried.
Early Childhood Education is Interesting
Early childhood education is an area that is often overlooked by people thinking of becoming educators because it is very different in nature to teaching older kids or adults. Here is where you teach the very fundamental things that will allow the kids to interact with the world, rather than imparting your specialist knowledge. However, it is exactly this that can make working in early childhood education particularly interesting, especially when you have a role that is involved in planning the curriculum and deciding how these vital things will be taught.
Childcare And Education
Another interesting facet of working in early childhood education is that while all educational facilities that teach minors are providing childcare in some sense, it is during the pre-school stage that the link between childcare and teaching is closest. This means that you are not simply providing lessons with the objective of your pupils being able to do, remember, or know certain things by the end, but also looking at ways this can be integrated into other parts of their routine while they are with you. Play, social time, eating and even rest are a part of the school day that you need to design, manage and oversee, and this can give interesting new ways to incorporate learning. Older children have more independence and when not in formal lesson periods, tend to only need supervision.
A Key Community Role
Early childhood education also tends to be the time when the educator works most closely with the parents and can also have an important role in the community. Raising the standard of education at this early stage can have incredible knock-on effects, as can providing a safe and fun environment that the children love and that parents can rely on. If you want to work in a sector of education where you make a difference to families, while you will be doing this at any stage if you work with kids, there is no doubt that it will be most noticeable in early childhood teaching and supervision.
Of course, working with very young children isn’t for everyone, but if you enjoy the company of kids, then this can be something you can do with your educational credentials that can be massively rewarding, as well as interesting.
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