Born to Read Trainers

Susan Bennet Armistead, co-author of Literacy and the Youngest Learner (among other books) and professor of Early Literacy at the University of Maine, recently contributed this comment to an e-mail exchange among literacy trainers:

I want to add to the discussion going on about center-based vs. family child care providers. I STRONGLY urge us to consistently use the language of “early childhood professional” to refer to either group. We have to assist people in identifying themselves as professionals (since the world doesn’t) and avoid distinctions of locale. The work we do is (or should be) fundamentally the same, regardless of our setting. When we wrote Literacy and the Youngest Learner, we intentionally included group homes, child care centers and 1/2 day preschool programs. Throughout the book, we refer to the professionals and their settings as “teachers” and “programs.” The objective is to make sure that every person in an early childhood setting perceives the work they do as providing a caring educational environment. “Program” promotes the notion of intentionality. As leaders, we can model the shift of vocabulary to help people see themselves in a new light. I also don’t think it’s a bad thing to have this discussion openly and early in the training series, so your participants can discuss the similarities and challenges of their work as equal colleagues.

Born to Read struggles constantly with this question of language. Late last year, when we surveyed the early childhood educators who have reading volunteers through our partnership with RSVP, we asked them, What do you usually say when someone asks “What do you do for work?” Here’s the list of responses we got:

Child Care [or childcare] (8)
Child Care [or childcare] Provider (7)
Day Care [or daycare] Provider (4)
Child Care Director (4)
Preschool Teacher (4)
Preschool Director (2)
Day Care (2)
Childcare Teacher (2)
I own my own daycare (2)
Family Child Care Provider (2)
Child care/ teach children
Early Childhood Education
I am a preschool teacher
Teacher/caregiver
Program Coordinator for Pre-K
early education
I am a home childcare provider
home childcare
family child care services
Grow responsible children
watching children grow
Take care of children
I Love my Job
I run a family child care and preschool
I run a preschool
Executive Director of a non-profit
Family Service Worker
Educator
I’m an early childhood educator
Head Start
I work with children and families
small business owner
pre-school
Preschool\Head Start
pre school teacher and director
I’m an early childhood educator. We learn social and independent skills with a focus on literacy.

Please weigh in! What terminology do you think is best? How can a shift in language be accomplished?