Today is the 26th Early Childhood Educator & Child Care Worker Appreciation Day.
For the last 26 years, families in child care centres, schools, family support programs, and many other early childhood settings, have taken this day as an opportunity to express gratitude to the professionals caring for the youngest members of our communities. Municipalities, school boards, unions, and organizations across sectors have marked this day with proclamations, flag raising ceremonies, and landmark illuminations. As the professional association for ECEs, the AECEO knows the best way to show appreciation for the workforce is with compensation that reflects the importance of ECEs and child care workers, but these symbolic demonstrations are important ways to observe Appreciation Day, not only because early years professionals deserve to be celebrated, but also because they can play a key role in raising public awareness of the ECE profession, presenting a pathway for our advocacy to grow.
The world, the ways we live, and the field of early childhood education have changed dramatically in the almost 80 years since the AECEO was founded in 1950. In recent years there’s been an important shift in the understanding of what early childhood education is, and why its benefits can be felt not only by individual families with young children, but also in the economy, and the general well-being of communities.
When announcing the introduction of the Canada-Wide Early Learning & Child Care program in the Spring of 2021, then Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland described child care as “the care work that is the backbone of our economy”, framing it as a critical element of Canada’s economic recovery plan following the Covid-19 pandemic. Ten years prior to that historical budget announcement, Ontario was rolling out full-day kindergarten, shifting away from approaches that focused on academic readiness towards play and inquiry based learning, a move that recognized the impact of early years programs on children’s development, emphasizing the vital role ECEs play in delivering quality educational programs.
These two policy decisions signal that, at least to some extent, governments have started to see the advantages in investing in early learning and child care. While we are still far from where we need to be, we sure have come a long way since the wartime day nurseries from the 1940s that are closely tied to the beginnings of the AECEO.
On this Appreciation Day, we hope you feel seen and appreciated in your community, and that you are able to give yourself and your colleagues the flowers you deserve, because every day you show up you are making a difference. You are the ones who make early childhood education and care possible. You are the foundation of our education system. It is your care that transforms mere spaces into enriching learning environments.
Whether your role is directly with children in school boards, child care or family support, or indirectly through teaching in post-secondary programs, the work of educating and caring for other humans is very demanding, and you deserve to be supported in your work. A rise in narratives that undermine the value of education and care has led to years of shortfunding education. From the infant room to community college, educators at all levels are constantly being asked to do more with less.
A special invite
The AECEO & the OCBCC teams always put a lot of effort into getting the word out about Appreciation Day, so we can have as many communities as possible celebrating their ECEs and child care workers. This year, thanks to the AECEO and the OCBCC bringing the CN Tower into the community illuminations initiative, one of the most iconic Canadian landmarks will glow purple in honour of ECEs and child care workers for the first time ever. Sharing this announcement has our social media reaching audiences it never had before.
We’re going to use this boost in our online presence to do a quick advocacy action: flood the comments with ECE Power! Share a few words about why being an ECE is important to you, or something you wish families and communities knew about the early years workforce. Click here to leave a comment on the AECEO Instagram and here to do it on Facebook.
Want to do more? You can:
- Share your own post about Appreciation Day on your platforms (tag us so we can see and amplify it!);
- Encourage your peers to support our efforts by engaging with our social media;
- Participate in (and share) our Appreciation Day Giveaway;
- Check out one of the community illumination spots and post about it;
- Or simply have a conversation with someone close to you who might not be exactly sure what you do as an ECE.
Any progress towards the early years being seen as an essential component of education, like the two examples mentioned in this message, did not come from thin air. It came from educators, families, and community members’ relentless advocacy. It will take time and effort from workers, families, and communities to achieve the systemic transformation early childhood educators and child care workers needed to deliver decent work, professional pay, job security, and support for all early years professionals, no matter where they work in the Ontario ECE sector. Happy ECE Appreciation Day!
With love, care, and ECE Power,
The AECEO