| We hope to see all of you at the fall meeting of the Professional Development Council on Thursday, September 21, from 1:00-4:00, in room 330 at the Griggs Midway Building. (1821 University Ave W. St. Paul Mn ) The meeting topic this time will be trainer credentials. Katy Chase and Colleen Pachel from MECSATA will be presenting updates on the MECSATA’s Trainers Credential, followed by a discussion of Trainer credentials and where they fit into Minnesota’s professional development system.
As of 2001, 26 states currently had, or were developing trainer and trainer approval systems.
There are some very strong reasons for developing trainer approval systems. Asking trainers to be credentialed may allow us to create a system of mentors, pairing trainers with more experienced teachers and providers who know how to create training that meets the expectations for college credit. - Teachers and providers could come away from hundreds of hours of in-service with college credit, not just in-service hours. Credentialing trainers may allow us to provide more organized support for trainers. It could help us create a system that makes it clear to all teachers and providers just how you become a trainer. Credentialing trainers could help us raise expectations for all trainers, while avoiding the problems inherent in creating a different set of standards for every organization that hires trainers. In short, a trainer credential system strengthens our professional development system.
Minnesota already has a voluntary credential system, developed by the Minnesota Early Childhood and School Aged Trainers Association. To become credentialed under this system all trainers must have:
• Experience as a Trainer
• Knowledge about teaching adults
• Experience in Early Childhood or School Aged Education
• Knowledge of Early Childhood, School Aged or Youth Education, expressed either through a credential or degree in one of the above named fields or a portfolio documenting the individual’s knowledge of the field.
• A commitment to ethics.
• A commitment to professionalism
The MECSATA group, which is an unfunded group of volunteers, has worked hard to balance requirements for experience and requirements for particular kinds of knowledge. All standards carry equal weight. They are currently working on a set of endorsements for trainers, which would honor some of the specific kinds of knowledge and experience that make our training system strong. MECSATA also hopes to soon activate an apprentice or novice system that applicants can be in prior to meeting credentialed standards. If funded, MECSATA hopes to have a credential advisor position to help applicants meet credential standards.
There are many powerful reasons for developing a trainers’ credential, but I also frequently hear concerns about the idea. Some are based on misconceptions, such as the idea that you need a degree or credential to get a credential, others are based in the fact that many things we value in our trainers are difficult to quantify. Many practitioners who work directly with children and families put a high value on relevant experience in their trainers. They want trainers who have done their job, who have worked with children similar to the children they have worked with or who understand the issues that are important in their communities. While our college courses are working hard to ensure that course content addresses the broad diversity of our field, many practitioners feel that specialized experience or training are necessary in order to ensure that trainers who understand key components of our systemare available across the system. These key components include, but are not limited to: family child care, knowing how to teach children of color to guard themselves against racism, understanding how things are done in particular communities or speaking the home language of a group of providers. Trainers who have these skills are valuable assets to our training system and we must acknowledge that their special skills and knowledge are critical assets in any credentialing system. The endorsement process may address this concern, but in the meantime, this is an issue we must be aware of. As we raise the bar across the system for education we also need to pay attention to raising the bar for these harder to document, but still critical skills.
There are also concerns that valuable trainers who train infrequently will decide that it is too complicated to get the credential or decide that the fee is too high in comparison with the small amount they earn from training each year. These concerns will also need to be addressed as we move the system forward.
All of these issues make developing a state wide trainer credential system complicated and sometimes contentious. Most states have struggled with these issues and few have solved them. Still, the benefits can be well worth the difficulties involved in working it all out. In this situation where we see excellent reasons for having a statewide trainer credential system and also some reasons for concern, we are very pleased to be able to provide time and space for a broad dialogue about trainer credentialing systems. We hope that all of you will come and contribute to this critical discussion. The meeting will be held in the room 330 of the Griggs Midway Building on Thursday, September 21, 2006. This is the same building the MnAEYC offices are in. It is located at 1821 University Ave W. Come in the doors on the South side of the building, nearest University Ave and we’ll have signs up to direct you to room 330.
Please join us for an exciting and dynamic discussion. Your voice and perspectives are important and we are eager to have
you be a part of the dialogue.
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