| For Immediate Release: March 8, 2010 |
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NAEYC Radio presents…
Curtailing high turnover among early childhood educators
(Washington, D.C.) – This month’s NAEYC Radio segment features Holly Elissa Bruno, an author, teacher, and keynote speaker in early childhood education leadership, and former Assistant Attorney General for Maine, who discusses the reasons behind high teacher turnover in early childhood education and what can be done to retain teachers.
Rae Pica and Mark R. Ginsberg interviewed Ms. Bruno in this month’s segment of NAEYC Radio, a program brought to you by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the BAM Radio Network.
In this segment, Ms. Bruno says that low wages are only part of the reason for a high turnover rate among early childhood educators. Another important factor behind the struggle to retain teachers in the field is the lack of motivation. Early childhood educators should feel motivated to go to work for things other than pay, Ms. Bruno says.
“Just doing what we do well will not keep people at work,” Ms. Bruno says. “What motivates people to stay at work and stay happy at work is the following -- doing work which is aligned with our deeply embedded life interests. If we are doing what we love to do, that will motivate us more than the money.”
Ms. Bruno offers some tips to employers and program administrators about how to make teachers and staff happy enough to stay. She says to make sure that each teacher is a good fit with his or her role in the classroom, to confront behavior that is inappropriate and unprofessional, to work with the entire staff to improve communication, and to work together to end gossip and negativity.
Additionally, Ms. Bruno urges teachers and directors to remember how the children feel about staff turnover. Children often have a hard time understanding why educators leave and take the transition personally. It is important to make sure the children know that the teacher still cares about them even if they are leaving the program, Ms. Bruno says.
Ms. Bruno is an alumna of Harvard University's Institute for Educational Management and has been published in Exchange, a magazine for early childhood leaders, and NAEYC's Young Children journal.
Mark R. Ginsberg, Ph.D., is the executive director of NAEYC.
The BAM Radio Network was originally launched as a resource for parents, aimed at delivering the most reliable information on early childhood development and developmentally appropriate parenting to busy moms and dads. Created by leading early childhood experts, the programming quickly became a popular resource among teachers and educators and was expanded to include an Educators' Channel.
Founded in 1926, the National Association for the Education of Young Children has nearly 90,000 members worldwide. The association is the largest and most influential voice for early childhood education professionals and the field of early childhood education in the United States.
Founded in 1926, the National Association for the Education of Young Children is the largest and most influential advocate for high-quality early care and education in the United States.
