Four compelling reasons why child care educators require ongoing professional development

Millennials are becoming parents.  In fact, not only do millennials make up roughly 90 per cent of the childbearing population, but by 2025, they will also account for a whopping 75 per cent of the workforce. 

Chances are right now you are creating a marketing strategy to entice millennials through the door by a) enrolling their children in your centre, or b) joining your team of educators. 

What are they looking for in both of those scenarios?  Professional development.  In education, the term ‘professional development’ speaks of various professional training, formal qualifications, further education and advanced online learning, intended to extend the knowledge and skills of educators.  Millennials not only value professional development for themselves in the workforce, but also for their children. 

No matter the age group of your team, educators require ongoing professional development.  And here’s the top four reasons why:

1. Developing the skills to grow your career

The rapid pace of technology means that even the most proficient educators require ongoing training.  Interactive whiteboards, apps, projectors, smart TVs and devices are all commonplace in child care centres nowadays.  Reliance on course management systems and customer relationship management programs for communicating with parents is vital to running a centre efficiently.

Empowering educators to develop the technical, quantitative and analytical skills to analyse student performance and behavioural data, provides the opportunity for teaching modes to be adjusted based on the outcome.  Not only does this create an effective curriculum and learning environment, but also frees up time management can better spend elsewhere. 

2. Improving teaching effectiveness

Online learning gives educators the chance to learn skills that they may not have been exposed to in a practical setting.  For instance, learning effective ways of teaching children with learning disabilities, speech impairments or limited language - before the educator encounters the situation in a practical setting - allows them to be better prepared and more competent.  According to the Education Reform, by improving these fundamental teaching techniques, educators are more adept at framing questions that provoke deeper thinking and meaningful responses from young children.  

3. Greater job satisfaction

Empowering educators through training and opportunities for career progression creates a positive culture that attracts and retains high-quality staff.  As mentioned above, by 2025, millennials will make up 75 per cent of the workforce.  According to Childwatch, not only are millennials more educated than any generation before them, they are keen to continue learning.  Over 50 per cent stated that they would sacrifice a higher salary for a job that offered personal growth potential and educational opportunities.  

Supporting both personal and career growth through online training programs makes staff feel valued.  According to research, millennials crave constructive feedback, leadership skills development and job satisfaction.  Millennials who are happy with the development opportunities on offer are twice as likely to remain working for a company than otherwise. 

4. Increased lead generation

In 2017 millennials made up 90 per cent of all new parents.  Having grown up connected, 85 per cent use social media, answer texts within three minutes and admit that technology and the internet have fundamentally influenced how they think, communicate, work, problem solve, buy and parent.  Staying up-to-date with successful online marketing techniques is crucial to lead generation, as more and more parents rely on social media to source, compare and register for centre tours online.  Millennial parents stay close to their phones, with 81 per cent sharing photos of their children on social media.

Scrolling through the referrals of high-quality centres during the lunch break or work transit is quick and efficient.  To target your audience effectively, a digital marketing strategy driving lead enquiries and enrolments is necessary.  Learning strategies of marketing automation, effective CRM platforms and copywriting can all increase the ROI and overall profitability of your centre

Go1 is committed to helping child care centres succeed.  With on-demand courses taught by industry experts and available at leisure, Go1’s online learning portal is changing the game.  Go1 offers a wide range of professional development courses for child care educators.  Learn more about how Go1 can help your child care centre grow through training.

For more insights, be sure to subscribe to the Go1 newsletter to stay on top of all the latest L&D trends. Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs.