I would like to highlight that the article could cause somewhat confusion between Early Years Teachers and Early Years/Nursery Teachers with QTS. This is by no means the fault of the author, but of the governments decision to change the name of Early Years Professionals to Early Years Teachers, that is - Early Years Teachers without Qualified Teacher Status.
For those of you who don't know - I am an Early Years Professional (EYP) who gained the status in 2010 before the current government responded with 'More Great Childcare' to Cathy Nutbrown's 'Foundations for Quality' review by changing the Early Years Professional status to Early Years Teachers Status to 'raise the status and quality of the workforce'. However this was not without disappointment from the Early Years sector, especially those with EYPS, along with Cathy Nutbrown's response. I was pleased to see that the government acknowledged the need to raise the standards however I failed to see the point of changing the name change if it would not result in gaining QTS.
I must re-visit these terms Early Years Professional Status v Early Years Teachers Status. I feel that the government should have kept the name 'Professional', as we are trained professionals in our own right and not trained teachers. This is both misleading and confusing, especially to parents/carers who want to make informed decisions about their children's early years and childcare arrangements.
The article highlights a statement from the DfE in that QTS is not necessary and that they (Early Years Teachers) have a specialist role in working with babies and children from birth to five years. I have spoken about this in my previous blog but I will highlight again that if we are specialists in working with the under 5's, why not allow us to work, with equal pay to QTS, with the 2 year old's accessing Free Early Education within schools (and beyond). Aren't we best placed? The former education minister thought not, which leaves me to wonder if the new education minister will follow suit or take a step back and listen to the sector, the experts, the professionals? We will see...