Raising the Educational Requirements for Teachers in Infant Toddler Classrooms: Implications for Institutions of Higher Education

Abstract

Repeated calls have recently arisen for increasing the educational level of early childhood teachers in all early care and education settings including classrooms for infants and toddlers. Since the majority of teachers in early child settings do not have a college degree, higher educational expectations could place a strain on early childhood teacher preparation programs. Implications of increasing educational expectations of teachers for the higher education institutions that prepare early childhood educators are presented. Challenges related to both the needs of the institutions as well as the needs of the students are addressed. The successful utilization of online courses is explored as one solution to meeting some of the challenges. Recommendations are summarized for policy makers, institutions of higher education, teacher education programs, and faculty.