Issues and Controversies in Early Childhood Development

Issues and Controversies in Early Childhood Development 2
Table of Contents
Part 1................................................................................................................................................3
Introduction..................................................................................................................................3
Issues and Controversy................................................................................................................3
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................7
Part 2................................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................12

Issues and Controversies in Early Childhood Development 3
Part 1
Introduction
Early childhood education is that branch of education in which young children, usually up to the
age of eight are taught. The early childhood development is very crucial as the emotional,
physical and social development of the young children has a direct impact on such child’s overall
development and on their transformation as adults (CEECD, 2011). This is the age when the
children go through the most rapid growth in the development of their brain; and in this, a key
role is played by the surrounding environment. Thus, in order to maximize the future well-being
of the young children, it is important to invest in early childhood development. There are a
number of factors which have an impact on the early childhood development and these are due to
the technological changes, global issues and the social factors which affect the lives of the
children, as well as, their families (Penn, 2005). In the following parts, an attempt has been made
to discuss some of the issues which can be raised in this context; including the educator training,
parent engagement, and other related issues, which often become a source of controversy in this
field.
Issues and Controversy
As has been stated in the introductory section, educator training is one of the key issues in early
childhood development. In order to incorporate the learning in such young children and to do it
in most skilful and apt manner, the person providing such education needs to have the necessary
skills and education for playing their role efficiently and effectively. There has been a marked

Issues and Controversies in Early Childhood Development 4
increase in the enrolment in pre-primary education between 1999 and 2009. Even though there
has been a rise in the early childhood education workforce, an issue of controversy remains the
quality associated with this increase in quantity of services, particularly when the same is
decreased with such increase. There is also a shortfall in the properly trained early educators
which puts a negative impact on the early childhood development. The problems are raised when
this factor is coupled with political and social factors. There are some nations in which the
expansion has been beneficial for the urban population, which is an easier to reach population, in
comparison to the ones from rural or poor areas. Thus, there is an uneven concentration of
quality early educators for the disadvantaged and most vulnerable (UNESCO, 2015).
The staffs included in early education programmes consist of care staff, educational staff,
administrative staff and assistant staff. The early educators have lower professional and
education qualifications, along with getting lower wages in comparison to the primary school
teachers, irrespective of the nation being developing and developed. This is an apathetic situation
as the most important people are given less significance thus de-motivating the quality staff from
being indulged in such services. This raises the question on the state and federal governments in
their need and support of the professionals of early childhood, particularly when it comes to
ensuring the specialized training and development which is of high quality for the child care in
meeting the needs of the children (National Louis University, 2017). When this is such a crucial
stage for the development of future leaders of any nation, the failure of the governments in
providing relevant funds for quality education to be provided, in terms of equalised if not high
pay for early educators, raises question on the commitment of the governments on this aspect of