This is the second in a series of guest blogs by Coalition members Male Childcare and Teaching Jobs, an organisation that tackles gender stereotypes and male underrepresentation within the teaching workforce.
As a job seeker who is looking for a new career opportunity, you could either give up your profession, ease back into it as you get older, or follow a new different path. You’re likely reading this article today because you’re a job seeker who is considering a new career opportunity and is looking to make a real impact into our new generations’ lives.
If you are thinking of looking for a new job, have you considered working in Early Years? Some of you might have not thought of it, but it makes perfect sense. At Male Childcare and Teaching Jobs, we have put together a list of 7 reasons why starting a career in Early Years is rewarding:
1. A Satisfying Career
As a teacher or Early Years practitioner, you play a huge role in shaping the lives of children and young people. The Early Years, which cover birth to 5-year-olds, are the most crucial time for the cognitive and emotional development of any child. Children will often spend a lot of that time with you, their qualified carer.
This means you can make a real positive impact on their lives by inspiring their love of learning and helping them develop those significant social skills. As a teacher or Early Years practitioner, you can get creative on how to provide quality experiences that encourage positive outcomes for children’s learning and development.
2. Endless Career Opportunities
Professional roles within the Early Years industry are endless. There will always be room for growth and new challenges. Moreover, you can cater your career to your personal interests, goals and lifestyle.
You might choose to work in day nurseries and pre-schools, primary schools, creches, breakfast and after school clubs, or, as a private tutor or childminder.
While some roles will involve working directly with children, such as nursery practitioners or early years teachers, others will sometimes not involve a direct contact with the classroom, such as nursery managers – who oversee the day-to-day running of the setting – or operations managers – who control and overlook essential tasks and duties, like administration, consultative, recruitment, training and development, quality and compliance.
3. Expanding your own knowledge
The best part of contributing to a child’s learning journey is that you will learn new things along the way just as well. You may expand your knowledge on different aspects of childcare and education, such as working with children with special educational needs, managing children’s behaviour, health and safety, and many more.
4. Working patterns that suit your lifestyle
While working in Early Years offers you the precious opportunity to work across several roles, it also allows you to work a variety of schedules. In fact, most day nurseries and pre-schools in the UK are open 11-12 hours a day, making it the perfect career opportunity to say goodbye to the rigid 9-5 schedule.
5. Studying and becoming qualified for free
Ofsted require nurseries, pre-schools, and other early years settings to adhere to adult-to-child ratios, ensuring that a certain number of staff members within each classroom holds a level 2 or 3 childcare qualification in early years.
For this reason, it is in the best interest of nurseries and other educational settings to encourage those practitioners who do not hold a childcare qualification yet to enrol in a level 2 or 3 course in early years.
If you start a career in early years as an unqualified nursery assistant, chances are you might be able to study and become qualified for free. Very similarly, you could apply for apprenticeship roles and enrol in a 12 to 18-month learning programme towards your qualification.
6. Job Security
Starting a career in Early Years is a safe choice, due to the very fast growth of the childcare and education industry. But why is this sector growing so fast?
Day nurseries and Pre-Schools are responsible to adhere to adult-to-child ratios. With the increase in the number of children attending educational settings, there is higher demand than ever for teachers and early years practitioners.
Early childhood is one of the most in-demand professions. In fact, several studies from the Marian University show that teaching is expected to grow 4 percent or more as a profession worldwide. Therefore, there will be plenty of opportunities to get into teaching careers in the years ahead.
7. Becoming a Better Parent
Your job will make you a better parent. You will gain valuable experience and professional expertise, which will give you significant insight into how you can be a better parent to your own children over the years.
For instance, you might learn how to deal with challenging situations, such as biting episodes, disputes over toys or tantrums.
Similarly, you might find out what is the best way to discuss certain issues with children in ways that are more understandable to younger children.
Starting a Career in Early Years
Do you want to make the switch and become an Early Years practitioner? You can find available roles on Male Childcare and Teaching Jobs’ website or get in touch with our team if you are seeking advice on how to start a career in childcare and education.