ECE Career Paths Part 1: Career Research

Lesson Content

• Lesson Plan Template:

  CTE Lesson Plan

• CTE Course Info and Benchmark Notes

  
  

  Course Title: Early Childhood Education 4

  Course Number: 8405140

  Career Cluster: Education and Training

  CIP Number: 0419070913

  Course Type: Career Preparatory

  Standard(s) or benchmarks

  Focus

  41.03 Examine licensing, certification and industry credentialing requirements.

  Focus

  41.01 Identify and demonstrate positive work behaviors needed to be employable.

• Unit Outline

  
  

  This lesson will fall under a unit on effective employability skills and requirements in early childhood education. The unit will focus on identifying a career path and planning goals to achieve chosen career path. This lesson is the first in the series in which students will research early childhood education career paths and identify industry certifications and/or degrees required. Students will use this information to present careers to the class in part two, develop a career plan in part three, and plan for professional development in part four.

• Career Connection

  
  

  This lesson includes the skills of career planning, specifically related to early childhood education. Students will explore a variety of early childhood education career paths and explore training and skill requirements of early childhood professions.

• Learning Objectives

  
  

  Students will be able to:

  • Identify an early childhood related career
  • Research related career requirements for skills, training, and education
  • Share and compare information with a peer

• Prior Knowledge

  
  

  Students should be familiar with:

  • Career paths related to early childhood education
  • Using the Internet to gather information on a specific topic

• Guiding Questions

  
  
  • What career paths are available to those interested in early childhood education?
  • What skills and behaviors are important for various early childhood education careers?
  • What responsibilities do individuals in various early childhood education careers perform?
  • What training (including licensing, degrees, or industry certifications) is required for various early childhood education careers?
  • How does an individual earn the required training (including licensing, degrees, or industry certifications) for various early childhood education careers?

• Procedure

  
  
  1. To introduce the lesson, brainstorm a list of careers that are related to early childhood education. Write ideas on chart paper or white board. Some career opportunities include preschool teacher, childcare center director, elementary teacher, teacher trainer, child life specialist, nanny, early interventionist, etc.
  2. Provide students with the Career Path Research handout (see attachment). Allow students time to conduct research about the skills, knowledge and training required for various early childhood career paths. Students will select one career path to research and gather information about. See the Teacher Notes below for pacing and grouping ideas.
  3. As students work, provide support and research recommendations. See Teacher Notes below.
  4. To bring the lesson to a close, pair students and have them compare their gathered information. Guide students to discuss the various career paths using the discussion questions below.
  • • Why do some career paths require different types of education? (i.e. an industry certificate versus license versus degree)
    • Does the type of educational requirement correlate to the average salary? Does the timeframe to earn the required education correlate to the average salary?
    • Which skills and behaviors are common among different career paths? What skills or behaviors are more specific to different career paths?

• Teacher Notes

  
  
  • Teachers can allow students to choose a career path that they are interested in pursuing or assign students to a career path. Allowing students the opportunity to choose a career path provides motivation, but may not provide the class with diversified information to share.
  • Teachers can allow students to use personal electronic devices as available or access school computers for conducting research.
  • Some recommended resources include the Florida Department of Children and Families, Florida Division of Early Learning, local early childhood coalitions, National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and community college and state university systems.

• Optional

  
  

  Extension Ideas:

  • Ask students, “What else do you want to know about the given career path?” and provide time for them to add to their research.
  • Students can contact an individual working within the given career path and interview them using similar questions to the Career Path Research handout. Likewise, students could contact an organization that employs individuals within the given career path, or an organization that provides education to those seeking a career within the given career path.