ECEBC History

Early Childhood Educators of British Columbia (ECEBC) is the professional association of educationally qualified individuals who work with children in early childhood settings in the province of BC. ECEBC changed its name from British Columbia Pre-School Teachers Association (BCPSTA) in 1988. ECEBC is popularly known in the early childhood field as the ‘Association’.

The Association was established in 1969. The constitution was written and adopted by the membership at the first Annual General Meeting (AGM) May 23, 1970. The AGM was held at the Challenges of the 1970s at the BC Institute of Technology. The first president of BCPSTA was Joyce Brown. In a series of interviews in 1997 of all the past presidents, Joyce told the story of a small group of pre-school teachers and day care workers who came together to both support pre-school teachers and to work toward better educational preparation. She described how “children needed something better and teachers needed to know what that ‘better’ was...teachers ...were out there working on their own in isolation”. Joyce described how she “...never felt we reached that level of teachers feeling their own prefessionalism. That just was always a fire in my heart... that this should be a profession because it was such important work!”

The preamble to the Constitution, spelled out the rationale for the formation of the organization and its purposes:

BCPSTA (1969)
In recognizing there are thousands of BC children in pre-school and in day care centres,
In knowing that there are hundreds of teachers involved in teaching these children,
In believing that these teachers of young children need support, encouragement and unification throughout BC
We hereby seek to build together this Association dedicated to the varying interests of pre-school teachers who serve young children and the community in which they live.

One of the earliest issues faced by BC Pre-School Teachers was the name they had chosen for themselves as workers in the preschool and day care system. Both government and public school teachers resisted them calling themselves 'teachers'. Hannah Polowy, the second president argued that “people that work with young children whether they are daycare or whaetver... they are teachers. They are teaching every minute they are with children!”

Issues that faced later Presidents and their board were not unlike the issues faced today. In an article for the Government of BC Magazine People in 1975, Kay Britton (President 1974-1976) stated,

We are determined that the children entrusted to us shall be housed in quality facilities that meet the children’s and teacher’s needs... We are determined that our salaries shall rise above the poverty level... We are detemined that support services for children, parents, and teachers should be available immediately on request. Too many of us have seen one or two years go by with nothing, except the teachers’ efforts, being extended to help and rehabilitate a child in need...

The Constitution was revised in 1984. The core purposes remain relevant today.

• To provide a network for preschool teachers that will function as an advocate, a support, and a resource for the professional well-being of its members;
• To promote the continuing professional development of preschool teachers in British Columbia;
• To promote a high standard of educational preparation for preschool teachers in British Columbia;
• To promote programs for young children that will provide for their optimum development through a high standard of care and education;
• To communicate and work with such persons, to further the puposes of the society.
  (BCPSTA, 1983 Annual Report, 1984, p.4)

Over the past thirty-five years the organization has focused much attention promoting professionalism and improved educational preparation for its members as well as on the development of professional support and resources to improve the quality of early childhood experiences for the children with whom they work. While the Association has worked diligently on behalf of its members, benefits have also extended to everyone working in the early childhood field.

BCPSTA was an invited contributor to the DACUM (Developing a Curriculum) process in 1978 that resulted in guidelines for our post-secondary early childhood programs; in 1979 the organization was invited to sit on the newly established Provinicial Child Care Facilities Licensing Branch Advisory Committee; and in 1982 on the Early Childhood Education (EC) Articulation Committee. More recently, ECEBC has maintained membership on the EC Articulation Committee; has had several presidents sit on the Provincial Child Care Council (set up by the BC government in 1994); successfully lead numerous contracts to research educational needs of practitioners (Blueprint, 1992), revise the ECEBC Code of Ethics (1994); and undertaken several projects and contracts(1989-2002) to advance the field’s professional status through self-regulation. Self-regulation would allow the profession to determine entry requirements to the field and provide direct input into the approval of post secondary early childhood programs.

ECEBC has held conferences annually since 1970 (except for 1984 and 2000). The first three conferences were held in the lower mainland. Beginning in 1973, with Focus on the Teacher in Kelowna, locations alternated from outlying Branches to the lower mainland. In 1990, Expanding Horizons held at Vancouver’s Westin Bayshore was the beginning of a new pattern. The numbers of delegates attending conference has grown so quickly that conference facilities outside the lower mainland were unable to provide adequate facilities. Moreover, the organization was becoming increasingly dependent on conference revenue to meet increasing organizational costs. Thus, a decision was made by the Board of Directors to keep conference in the lower mainland for an extended period. With the exception of Together: 25 Years of Stories to Tell in Whistler in 1995 and Together: Valuing the Early Years in Victoria in 1998 this has continued.

BCPSTA/ECEBC has been through many ups and downs over the three and half decades it has existed. Membership has grown from 118 members in the constitutional year to over 500 in 1982 and continuing to grow until 1987 when a sudden drop occured again to 357. Numbers shot to 2013 under the direction of our first Executive Director (hired in 1992), Joyce Branscombe, in 1996, after which a slow decline again occured. Since 2002, numbers have hovered around 800. The challenge of membership is thought to be largely the result of the low wages typical of Early Childhood Educators. While fees increased in small increments from early in the 1970s until 1998, fees have remained static since. This has been done in hopes that keeping fees low would create stability in membership. As a result, there continues to be a tension between keeping fees affordable and meeting the demands of a vital, growing organization.

Early Childhood Educators of British Columbia
2774 East Broadway  ·  Vancouver, BC  V5M 1Y8
Phone: (604) 709-6063 · Toll free: (800) 797-5602 · Fax: (604) 709-6077 · Email: membership[at]ecebc.ca