Final Version May 5 07

Chapter One:
The Early Childhood Education Journey
[I]mages of teaching can fill us with awe, and we can
choose to see within them an abiding sense of challenge.
(Ayers, 2001, p. 1)
It is through others that we develop into ourselves.
(Vygotsky, 1981, p. 181)
Introduction to the Study
As I look back on the paths taken and those not yet traveled, I realize that my
journey as an early childhood educator would not have been possible a century earlier.
The term early childhood educator itself is only decades old. The occupational field
known as early childhood education is a recent addition to the teaching continuum, which
covers the spectrum from teachers of infants to teachers of adults.
What is it like to be an early childhood educator today? More than 96% of those
working with the youngest learners are women. The occupation is “still viewed as having
relatively low status even though the link has been made between quality and a qualified
and skilled workforce” (Beach, Bertrand, Forer, Michal, & Tougas, 2004, p. 5). A trained
workforce has been considered the most important variable in the provision of quality
child care.
Until recently, the field has focused on research and activity that centred primarily
on children and families. Turning the lens to the educator has been difficult when
traditionally “our values and concern for others is higher than our value and concern for
ourselves” (Chud, 2001, p. 21). Of all the critical issues facing the field, human resources
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