Demographic changes since 2000
Currently, United States is the third largest populous country in the world with over 316.8 million people. In relation to the year two thousand, the population has grown by over 17%. The growths in population have been observed in all aspects. According to the Census Bureau statistics, over 80% of the US populations live in cities making US the most urbanized country (Beavers & Amico, 2005). Considering the fertility rates, it is estimated that every American woman have 1.8 children. In other words, supposing that all women belong to a household, then each household would have either one or two children. The fertility rate of over 1.8 is below the world average, which is approximated to be over 2.1% (Beavers & Amico, 2005).
In relation to other developed countries, the America fertility rate is still considered below average. However, growth in population is still higher. Immigrations contribute to considerable increase in population. In addition, the fertility rates in immigrant women are also high. Estimations are that in the next five decades, the immigrant and minority populations will contribute about 63% of the total children born in America (Guzmán, 2001). However, in the last decade, the number of children has increased by 17.7%. Under the category, minority groups including the Hispanics and Latinos have contributed 38.4%.
In terms of age, people below twenty years have increased by over 1.3% while people above sixty-five years have increased by about 0.8%. People under the age of twenty constitute a quarter of the total population. Whites comprise of the highest percentage yet have negligible increase in the population in relation to non-whites and the minority groups (Beavers & Amico, 2005). The populations of non-whites have doubled with an increase of over 1.3% since two thousand. Hispanic and Latino Americans contributed to the highest total growth of over 69% since two thousand and five (Guzmán, 2001).
The immigrants and their descendants are expected to contribute most of the population changes in the next decades. According to the estimations of the Census Bureau, about 53% of the children below 1 year are from the minority groups (Guzmán, 2001). The expected growth in the next five decades is over 38% with minority group contributing half of the total growth. The census bureau also indicates significant increase in the American birth rate in relation to death rates. High birth rates are observed among the minority groups. The containment of infant mortality and increased fertility rates particularly among the immigrant minority groups more children are expected to join schools (Guzmán, 2001). The changes in the population measures are critical for the policy makers to relook into the strategy framework emphasizing on the education programs for the expected-increased number of children.
Implications of population changes for early child educators
As can be observed from the demographic changes, minority populations have augmented by over 50% in the last decade. The increased birth and fertility rates among the Hispanic and Latino population indicate that populations of infants below three years will double in the next three years. In addition, the number of children accessing formal childcare arrangement is below 15% of the total average of children going through school (Beavers & Amico, 2005). The contrary is observed on the number of children attending informal childcare settings, which is approximated to be around 34.5%. However, the number of children accessing the early childhood education and care is high in relation to most countries. In terms of quality services, the Latinos receive poor childcare services in relation to the white counterparts. The expansion and spread of population among Latinos have significant effect on current and upcoming economic and social course of action with emphasis on early childhood education and care (Guzmán, 2001).
Following the demographic changes issues of early childhood education including needs and challenges as well as cultural issues in education are critical considerations. Early childhood education encompasses various stages in education system including head start, prekindergarten, kindergarten and childcare. To the early childhood educators, Latino populations are constantly underserved (Guzmán, 2001). Therefore, with the continuous increase in population, policy frameworks consisting of possible actions are needed to address and improve early childhood education and care services for the Latino populations.
The high growth in population of the minority groups are aggravated by the poor economic conditions worsening the situations of the early childhood education. According to the population census, minority populations have high rates of underemployment, unemployment and low-income in relation to other groups (Guzmán, 2001). The economic situation of minority groups increases the impossibilities of attaining the best services for early childcare and education. The census indicates that children under the age of five from the minority groups constitute about 30% of children living in poverty. Under such economic conditions, children are likely to get the best services particularly at the early stages of their education life (Guzmán, 2001).
In addition to the economic situations, the geographical dispersal of the minority groups also has implications to the policy makers and implementation process. The demographics indicate that some states have high populations of minority groups. The implication is that such states are likely to have increased number of young children (Guzmán, 2001). Therefore, State with high populations of minority groups need to increase funds as well as appropriate framework to address the challenges of early childhood education. In addition, almost all states have to include the provision of early childcare and education together with related services for the minority children that continuously increase in numbers (Guzmán, 2001).
Realities and issues for early educators
From the view of early childhood educators, increase in population will require solutions to immediate challenges facing the early childhood education sector. Policy issues such as cultural differences between childcare providers and parents, workforce status of families, convergence of immigrants and the economic hardship faced by immigrant families need more attention (Beavers & Amico, 2005). The confluence of immigrants will often affect Latinos in the whole of their lifespan while the cultural challenges will more often than not affect the English language learners. Most of the immigrant children have native languages other than the universally spoken American English. The Latino parents expect their children to learn English particularly as second language in early childcare schools. The care providers find it difficult communicating to children since being in school is their first time to learn English leading to the communication breakdown (Beavers & Amico, 2005). The diversity in terms of language and culture poses the greatest challenge to the care providers as well as children due to the communication breakdown.
The studies on early childhood education indicate that most parents struggle to find childcare units or institutions, which is ethnically and linguistically similar in temperament. As such, early childhood educators adopt diverse cultural systems in the provision of early education and care. In most cases, the dominant cultural groups other than the home cultures are espoused in the system (Beavers & Amico, 2005). Because of such cultural challenges, most parents opt for informal childcare arrangements instead of organized care systems defined in general education system and curriculum.
According to Census Bureau, the survey conducted on income and program participation included preschools, childcare centers, kindergartens and federal start programs as the formal organized care systems. The Census Bureau indicates that only about 15.5 % of the Latino children are in formal care units while around 34% are in informal care arrangements (Beavers & Amico, 2005). The situation is exacerbated by the rate of unemployment experienced by Latino families. The survey indicates that most families prefer informal arrangement due to their low-income status in addition to cultural affiliations (Guzmán, 2001).
Cultural and linguistic diversity
The statistics indicate that large numbers of young children under the age of three years joining preschool formal centers are from diverse cultural backgrounds. In addition, statistics indicate that about 52.3% of children joining childcare units do not speak English. In addition, majorities of young children are Hispanic and Latinos while whites and blacks combines comprises of about 34.8% (Guzmán, 2001). According to the Census Bureau, the number of early childhood teachers from the Hispanic and Latino backgrounds accounts for only 4.2% in relation to the number of children from similar background.
According to the census bureau, linguistic and cultural diversity accounts for greatest challenges teachers face in pedagogical practices. Cultural diversity accounts for over 43.2% while language accounts for 61.8%. Majority children joining childcare units speak their first language. Therefore, such children require teachers from similar background. Moreover, difficulties also exist in adopting diverse languages in the program. The problem is exacerbated by lack of educators who can teach in diverse cultural environment. About 2.8% of the early childhood teachers are equipped with necessary skills that enables them adapt to diverse environment (Guzmán, 2001).
The course requirements
Given the increasing number of children from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, there is need to put in place programs that increase knowledge and skills on cultural and linguistic diversities particularly in the provision of early childhood care (Beavers & Amico, 2005). Early childhood education teachers should be equipped with in-depth knowledge and skills to support the children’s understanding based on theoretical and empirical framework concerning the language differences, culture, race special needs and social classes. In addition, teachers should increase children’s knowledge on language acquisition as well as learning appropriate actions related to the acquisition of language (Guzmán, 2001). With the increasing number of monolingual children among the immigrants populations, the programs that will enable children be bilingual and speak the English dialect is necessary.
Further, the programs need to be included in the courses that will enable teachers as well as implementers of the programs to adapt to real issues of diversity and racism. In other words, childcare providers particularly teachers should be in a position to criticize individual knowledge concerning the complex areas of child development and diversity. Moreover, close links with the parents as well as families should be developed in order provide more understanding particularly on cultural issues (Beavers & Amico, 2005). Besides, teachers should also be in a position to adapt to diverse settings in order to provide required knowledge and skills in diverse settings. In essence, teachers should be equipped with skills and knowledge that would enable them provide knowledge to children from diverse backgrounds and cultures. The course should support the program through the provision of reflective advising, further reading and research materials (Beavers & Amico, 2005).
As indicated in the 2000 US census, the populations of children continue to be varied. As such, early childhood educators need to be equipped with diverse skills to work effectively in diversified linguistic and cultural backgrounds. In addition, institutions providing the essential skills for educators to work in diverse cultural backgrounds are less in relation to the required number of teachers and increasing population of children. Therefore, a lot are needed in terms of strategies, institutions and policy framework in order to address the challenges. Moreover, there is need for increased specificity around issues concerned with linguistic and cultural diversity. The statistics indicate that few teachers are equipped with specific skills regarding cultural and linguistic diversities of young children and their families. Even though the survey indicated existence of few programs geared towards cultural and linguistic diversities in children, there are needs to increase such programs to equip teachers with the necessary skills that enable them provide required standards of education and childcare particularly to the minority groups.
Statistics should form the basis of policy framework for early childhood education and planning. As indicated, the statistics point gaps and areas that need improvement in order to provide childcare services to the minority groups. Generally, the authorities at all government levels should develop programs that support the primary goal of early childhood education.
References
Beavers, L., & Amico, J. D. (2005). Children in immigrant families: U.S. and state-level findings from the 2000 Census. Washington, DC: Population Reference Bureau.
Guzmán, B. (2001). The Hispanic population, Census 2000 brief. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.