The Early Childhood Education and Care profession has seen considerable change in recent years, this change has required Educators to critically reflect on themselves as professionals and what it means to be professional. ECEC is paramount in the development of young children, professionals have been under pressure to develop practices and core beliefs that will effectively enable educators to provide high quality care and education services to all children and families and to successfully meet all outcomes for children. This paper will discuss the attributes I believe best identify me as a professional in this field and how they have shaped me as an educator.
To be a successful educator one must be a successful …show more content…
The ECEC profession is ever changing and has recently seen some big changes and with the implementation of the National Quality Framework, Standards and Early Years Learning Framework. Many ECEC professionals have retrained or upskilled to meet new staffing or qualification requirements while others have made the difficult decision to move on from the field not possessing the ability to embrace change. The ability to adapt to change to look outside of the box, to see change as a new avenue of possibility is one of the greatest skills an ECEC professional can possess. Krogh and Slentz (2011) discuss effective teachers and the many ways in which they grow personally and professionally “They remain open to innovation and positive change, while being aware of the difference between important breakthroughs and momentary fads.” (p. 57). If I were to be honest I can say that I have not always been accepting of change and have at times been intimidated by the idea of change. It is very easy to become comfortable and fear the unknown. I have reflected on what it means to be to be professional and how I can contribute to the growth of my service and my own professional development. I have taken on a new position in my service and can feel myself grow. I no longer feel tired and bored with my job but fresh and eager. When I look around my environment (Figure 1) I am reminded of the power of change and my ability to create