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those employed in child care are essentially constrained by what families can or will pay”
(Ferguson, 2002, p. 1).
While many teachers and directors of child care programs recognize the need for
improvement, few are actively involved in advocacy efforts to work with governing
bodies to direct more funding to the sector (Whitebrook & Sakai, 2004). Increased
professionalism and professionalization of the field cannot take place without concurrent
government support. The field cannot tolerate increased parent fees and so without public
funding, wages and subsequently quality of the programs offered, will continue to be low.
The question becomes, does the educator wait or advocate?
Working conditions.
Staff working in child care centres are expected to include children with
special needs in their daily program, work with children with challenging
behaviours, assist immigrant children from different cultures to learn
English or French and adapt to new ways of doing things, provide
information and support for immigrant and other families and support
employed parents struggling to balance work and family responsibility.
(Doherty & Forer, 2005, p. 7)
Studies such as Who Cares? (Whitebrook, Howes, & Philips, 1990), and You Bet
I Care! (Doherty et al., 2000), show that early childhood educators stay in the field
longest when they have appropriate training, wages commensurate with their training,
and good working conditions. Early childhood educators choose to leave the field when
their needs are not being met. “By failing to meet the needs of the adults who work in
child care, we are threatening not only their well-being, but that of the children in their
care” (Whitebrook et al., 1990, p. 3).
In Improving the Quality of Work Life, Jorde Bloom (1997) identifies a number of
factors affecting the quality of the work environment and, ultimately, the quality of care.