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few (the professional group). With a process approach to professionalism the emphasis is
on multiple points of view. “The essence of this approach is that there is no single best
practice; rather many good ways. In practice, it means that early childhood education
professionals must learn to share power” (p. 96).
Before sharing power, there is a need to understand relationship dynamics within
the economic, political, and sociocultural frame that creates the current context of early
childhood education. Hearing the voices of others is irrelevant if the voice of the educator
is left unheard. The early childhood educator must become aware of the obstacles and
opportunities that define the journey. From this knowledge base, a collective voice that
advocates for occupational validation could resonate and redefine the course of the
journey. Griffin (2002) addresses the fear of professionalization as a challenge to
overcome as the practitioner is the fulcrum on which quality rests:
Why is the practitioner the fulcrum? Because the practitioner has the
opportunity to be both an actor and a director in the play – the person who
delivers the service and the person who is or can be the change agent in
the quality of the service delivered. And professionalism is the
determinant. (p. 3)
Educational background.
Early childhood educators and those who work in positions as assistants to early
childhood educators generally have more education when compared to the broader
public. However, the level of education in the general population is growing at a faster
rate than it is for the early childhood education sector. In 2001, 60% of early childhood
educators and assistants had a post secondary education (up from 54% in 1991),
compared to 53% in the general working population (up from 43% in 1991) (Beach et al.,
2004). Still a number of the positions within Canadian child care centres are filled by