by Georgina Angélica
Is it possible to change the world through the personal and professional training of early childhood educators and thus positively impact children's lives? Much is said about the well-being of children, but little is said or acknowledged about the well-being of those who spend hours, days, weeks, years caring for these same children.
The creation of my business was motivated by a concern that had persisted in me for some time, and started from observations that without a continuous investment in the personal and professional training of educators, the quality of basic education is compromised. The early childhood education sector, for those who are unaware of it, is very demanding at all levels and unfortunately very devalued. It is common to hear derogatory comments about the hard work of educators or simply reduce all the benefits of PLAY to comments like "educators only play in daycare centers". Maria Montessori once said, ‘Play is the work of children’, because by playing the child learns about the functioning of the world and acquires skills that will be necessary throughout life. Neuroscience studies on brain development in the first years of a child's life prove the benefits of playing in its integral development. They also signal that it is possible to improve and enhance the educator's work, turning it to the child's development and learning through playing. Therefore, it is noticeable that the demand on the quality of educators is increasingly higher, and therefore the investment should also be.
In order to demand, one must have the clarity and awareness of what is being demanded, either because one has already been in that position or because one has the sensitivity to listen to what those on the ground have to say. It is undeniable that human capital only develops if there is a well thought out and structured investment, but it is also true that the recipient of that investment must have the will to progress and get out of his comfort zone.
If we stop to think about the challenges that the pandemic is imposing on us, the following questions have many chances to arise: what investment will be allocated to the ongoing training of Educators? What emotional support are they receiving? What reflections are being promoted about the future of early childhood education? Is online education viable for early childhood? Is there a market for the early childhood education sector after the pandemic? How are Parents being supported by their children's educational institutions? I have participated in several reflections on the sector of early childhood education and the questions that guide the discussions are all in order to find solutions to the current situation and predict what might happen. I think it is a laudable exercise, but exhausting to try to predict the future.
I feel that this crisis can be an opportunity to rethink the entire education system and create a public curriculum centered on the student. During these reflections, uneasiness common to all stakeholders was expressed, that is, concern about the challenges faced by educators, children and their families, particularly the most disadvantaged. Pre-school education that was no longer accessible to all families, although necessary, will now possibly become even more difficult to access. It is worth mentioning that in the last few months the role of 'pedagogues' has been relegated to Parents and many have been weakened by suddenly occupying a space that was given to the educators they trusted. As I have suggested several times in my consulting sessions, one of the solutions of the moment is to strengthen the school-home partnership and take the opportunity to 'train' parents in strategies on how to stimulate children's learning through play. We will see how educational institutions will react to new challenges and how they will take care of those who care.
The future cannot be predicted, but educational institutions are able to define and choose what their next daily steps will be, as Robin Sharma says “with greater awareness, we can make better daily choices, with better daily choices, we can achieve better daily results.”
Georgina Angélica is the founder of the company that shares her name, a consultancy and professional development project with the motto - “For every need, a resource”. After working for several years in a top school in Luanda, she became concerned about the professional development of local educators throughout Angola and how their lack of high pedagogical quality was affecting the children under their care. This led her to act for change by creating a transformational educational project with an initial focus on the foundation of all education- Early Years Education.