The challenge will be how to meet the demand for new teachers and assure quality teachers for all young children. Family education and support will be more of a public priority. More programs will be funded to provide families with child development and neuroscience information, parenting skills, and other resources that will help them get their children ready for school and learning. Wellness and healthy living will be a major part of the new curriculum of the 21 st century. Increased efforts will be targeted at helping to ensure that children are born healthy and stay that way throughout their lives.
Healthy living is seen as a way to control major childhood health issues such as asthma and obesity.
While there are many more future education trends I could talk about, the above are major ones facing the profession today. It will be interesting to see how various professionals choose to address these trends and their accompanying issues. The future of the nation's children depends on how well they respond. George S. Morrison is Professor of Early Childhood Education and holder of the Velma E. Schmidt Endowed Chair in Early Childhood Education at the University of North Texas.