At the beginning of the year, the French government changed the law concerning the mandatory age for school enrolment. Previously it was advised from age 3 but now it has become compulsory and that is because preschool is now recognised as the foundation that sets a child up for success for school by age 6. There is also the point of view that it would increase integration and acceptance and reduce the occurrences of radicalisation of young individuals, seeing as children start to get influenced and form opinions from early years.
Even though education in early childhood field from birth to age 6 are managed by 2 different sectors of the government, it still does not take away from the training and assessments that they all undergo. From birth to age three, the teachers in the early child care system may be required to have a 1 year professional training in nursing degree in addition to a bachelor's degree. This usually depends on the role of the individual within a child care program. While from age 3-6, it is required that the prospective preschool teachers participate in a competitive 2 year teacher training in addition to a bachelors degree.
The issue brought on is that there is a distinctive difference in the orientations, levels and lengths of training between these two workforce, which raises the concern for pedagogical continuity between these two services. This hindering the coherence and continuity in the child's experiences from birth to primary.
My professional goal is to become certified in the Montessori system of teaching, so that I can be more equipped to add value to children in any capacity that would suit each child's form of learning. My hopes and dreams is to acquire as much knowledge and experiences that would be useful to me on this journey, while my challenges so far have come from gaining access to information and establishments as a result of being a foreigner in a country where the language and bureaucratic system is different.
Hi, Adiele! I think it's wonderful that the French government has made preschool enrollment compulsory. This is something I would love to see happen in America, as more than one in three children begin kindergarten without preschool education. After researching the issue, it seems that countries with high rates of preschool enrollment tend to have five distinct policy features:
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2. There is strong public financial support
3. These countries engage parents at the birth of their child to offer services
4. There are extra efforts to engage parents and community stakeholders; active recruitment in underserved communities
5. Programs provide all children with the same level of quality, and promote social and economic integration
https://www.air.org/resource/five-things-we-can-learn-pre-k-other-countries
Adiele, I think that having alternate routes programs to getting teacher certifications are a great idea because of the lack of teachers in school districts. These type of programs allow future teachers to learn at their own pace and focus on subjects that they are interested in teaching.
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