Enticing new practitioners to enter the early care and education or out-of-school time field requires removing barriers and providing support through an individualized approach, especially when recruiting New Mainers or other underrepresented groups. Learn how we applied both Human Centered Design and Universal Design frameworks, guided by our work as participants in the 2023-2024 Bank Street ECE Apprenticeship Action Research Fellowship program. Discover how we explored how to successfully recruit and connect with potential early childhood and school-age workforce candidates by collaborating with many partners and trusted messengers, culminating in the development of our competency-based pre-apprenticeship model. Utilizing the advantages of registered apprenticeship including on-site mentors and incremental wage increases, our design provides opportunities for successful assimilation into the field in a variety of settings (license-exempt care, family child care home business or licensed child care centers) that include pathways for earning Maine credentials or an Associates Degree in ECE or related field.
