What are we……???

Lately there has been a discussion about whether we who are trained preschoolteacher and work in day care centers should be called preschool teacher, teacher or nursery teacher. The result is most likely nursery teacher, although this proposal has received the least votes. When I heard the name nursery teacher, I got the chills. I automatically thought back at the time when anyone who worked in the nursery was called kindergarten aunt. Kindergarten Aunt has a demeaning tone, I think, and certainly don’t give us the respect that I think we deserve. Still there are people who look at us as kindergarten aunt because they linger in the old term. A kindergarten aunt was previously working in the nursery as a storage place for the children. Today, it is not so. Working in day care is certainly not relaxing. We want to ensure that children receive the right care and the proper development and learning. It requires us to teach children respect, appropriate language, interaction, social competence, compassion, motor development. Working as a preschool teacher requires 3 years of education at college, and I can tell you that it is not just a picnic. Many people still believes that working in day care center is the eassiest thing to do, that we “just” look after the children. I challenge those who believe this to work in a nursery for 1 week, then you can come back to me and tell me if you still mean that we "just" watch the cute little ones, or if it is a demanding job. I think that the term pre-school teacher or educator is best for us with this education. We work with children of preschool age, thus fits the best. So what the result will be remains to be seen. What do you think?