Training & professional development

The aim of this paper is to supports the ways countries may go about developing or strengthening their pre-primary workforce. There are multiple pathways to competent and effective workforce that may be relevant to different country context and that may combine different level of qualifications, with training and retention strategies in support of developing adapted career trajectories for pre-primary teachers. Our focus in this paper is to summarize the background evidence and research available in the area of pre-primary workforce development that can in turn support the outline of options and pathways to be developed further through in the next part of the work.

UNICEF/Jan Peeters, Ayça Alayli, Marilou Hyson and Hsiao-Chen Lin

2019

This guide has been designed to strengthen the competencies of child protection actors. The term "child protection actors" covers three categories of actors: social workers, para-social workers and community actors.

The goal of this guide is to develop the basic professional competencies of child protection actors, particularly social workers and para-social workers. This guide will also help trainers develop training content and ensure that child protection actors acquire the required information (knowledge), know-how (skills) and interpersonal skills (attitudes). The first part of the guide is intended for those who train child protection actors and is based on a child protection competency matrix. The second part of the guide includes sessions on themes specific to Terre des hommes.

Terre des Hommes / Didier Sevet, Claudie Ouedraogo, Saïdou Chojnowicz, Gaele Bertrand, Sara Lim

2018

Informing and guiding the development of a Framework to Strengthen the Capacity of “Tipat Halav” nurses in Israel is a qualitative research study on behalf of Goshen Institute, with the overall objective to generate in-depth data that unveil effective processes and strategies which need to be in place in order to achieve a practice-change among Parent and Child Health ("Tipat Halav") nurses in Israel. Specifically, the study, which is part of a larger initiative pursued by Bernard Van Leer Foundation, the Rothschild Foundation Foundation and Israel’s Ministry of Health, aimed at mapping:

1. the strategies and processes that need to be in place in order to successfully achieve a practice-change among nurses in working with parents;
2. the common elements among successful programs;
3. the barriers and challenges in program implementation.

Interviews with 9 training providers and practitioners from across 6 countries, highlighted the complexity of the field and of nurses’ role and revealed the necessary knowledge, skills and attributes that effective nurses should possess. In addition, the interviews revealed the key challenges faced by the profession, the professionals and the training programs, as well as the success factors and recommendations about how challenges can be tackled. Research results highlight that practice-change is inseparably linked to the system in which practitioners operate and that in order for practice change to be achieved it is important to recognize the importance of the field as well as the uniqueness of this field. Thus, interviewees highlighted the need to focus on the social aspects of health and move beyond hospital-oriented practices and theory as well as the need for more innovative, practice-based approaches and experiential learning and for common standards of practice and common standards among training providers.  

2020

This report sheds a light on some of these disparities for the early years workforce. It includes a review of the relevant literature; an analysis of quantitative data covering a large representative sample of workers in England; and 40 interviews with early years practitioners, setting managers and local policy-makers. The most common barriers identified in all three strands of research were pay, work demands, certain demographic characteristics, training and the organisational climate of the early years provider. 

The study addresses the following research questions:

• How stable is the EY workforce in England?
• What are the main barriers to stability?
• How do these barriers vary by region?
• How do these barriers vary by provider type?

Social Mobility Commission

2020

Connecticut Voices for Children released a second crisis response report, as part of a series of reports, that outlines what the state can do to support children and families during and after the COVID-19 crisis. The report, entitled “The State of Early Childhood: Can Connecticut’s Struggling Family Child Care Providers Fill a 50,000 Child Care Gap Amidst the Coronavirus Recession?” examines the status of Connecticut’s child care industry, specifically family child care providers, before the coronavirus pandemic and finds the state continues to see the following: a shortage of child care slots, high child care costs that are not affordable to most families, and a continuing divide between preschool experience between higher- and lower-income towns. The report explores responses to the pandemic that can help state policymakers create a stronger early childhood environment necessary for rebuilding Connecticut’s economy.

Connecticut Voices for Children

2020

Although much emphasis has been given to the professional development of ECEC professionals, limited attention has been given to the availability and quality of the professional development for home-based child care (HBCC) providers. Taking into account the unique needs this professional group has and with the ultimate aim to  ensure that HBCC providers receive the support they need to successfully foster learning and development for children in their care, early childhood education systems and agencies must explore new professional development methods that align more closely with HBCC providers’ needs. Some state agencies and home visiting model developers have begun to explore home visiting as a professional development approach to support HBCC providers. To explore the potential for scaling up this model of professional development for HBCC providers, Child Trends, with funding from the Foundation for Child Development (FCD), examined home visiting models and curricula, state- and federal-level policies related to early care and education and home visiting, funding streams to support early care and education and home visiting, and the perspectives of HBCC providers and parents.

The key conclusions of the report are:

• Implementing a home visiting model as a professional development strategy for HBCC requires coordination among multiple entities. 
• Expanding the evidence base for using home visiting to support HBCC may facilitate efforts to scale up the model.
• Improving professional development for HBCC providers may help improve quality of care for children and families who have been historically disadvantaged.
• Home visiting is a feasible strategy for supporting HBCC, but implementing it at scale in states and communities will require additional research, funding, and professional development system infrastructure.

The report concludes with suggestions for ways that organizations that fund research, technical assistance, and other activities to support HBCC providers can support this work.

Chrishana M. Lloyd, Maggie Kane, Deborah Seok, Claudia Vega

Child Trends

2019

This INEE Guidance Note addresses a gap in the tools that are currently available to educators and professionals operating in emergency and crisis contexts. This INEE Guidance Note encourages more intentional and consistent implementation of practical, goodquality psychosocial interventions on the education frontlines by teachers, education administrators, parents, counselors, peers, ministries, and other education personnel in three concrete ways:

• The Guidance Note clarifies the education sector’s importance in supporting the psychosocial wellbeing of children and youth.
• The Guidance Note provides educators with practical tips and advice about how to integrate PSS into formal and non-formal education efforts.
• The Guidance Note highlights linkages between PSS in education and other sectors. This Guidance Note was developed for all professionals who carry out or support formal and non-formal educational activities for children and youth during humanitarian crises. It is also useful to government entities, policy-makers, community groups, humanitarian workers, parents, peers, and families for planning, programming, policy, and advocacy purposes, and to mechanisms such as the Education Cluster and other education coordination or working groups.

The INEE Guidance Note on Psychosocial Support can be found in Arabic, English French, Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish via the link below.

This presentation outlines the Medak Early Childhood Education Initiative and it presents the results of a study that aimed at:  understanding the awareness of Caregivers (AWWs) understanding on importance of ECE; understanding their perception towards ECE in the context of Child Development; planning interventions to improve understanding of AWWs about ECE by the efforts of the Foundation and the ICDS department. The implications for training are presented and discussed.

Azim Premji Foundation / M Sreenivasa Rao

Fourth Childhood Development and Poverty Reduction International Conference and ARNEC's 2015 Asia-Pacific Regional ECD Conference

2015

There is mounting evidence on the positive link between high quality early childhood development (ECD) personnel and the physical, social, and cognitive development of young children.

To bring light to these challenges, and potential responses to them, the Early Childhood Workforce Initiative (ECWI) has developed 6 country briefs which highlight efforts to support the workforce across different geographies and services.

These country briefs were informed by desk reviews and information collected through key informant interviews (KII) with country experts from implementing NGOs, multilaterals, and research institutions, as well as program managers and government officials across 15 countries. After identifying six promising country approaches to highlight, we conducted further desk research and interviews to inform the country briefs. These interviews were particularly helpful for clarifying the key enablers and barriers to implementation in each country as well as the policy lessons for other countries.

The sixth of these briefs focuses on Singapore. Developing Career Pathways for Early Childhood Care and Education Workers highlights the Government of Singapore’s efforts to support career advancement in the early childhood care and education profession by creating and investing in competency-based trainings, professional development frameworks, and career pathways.

Michelle Neuman, Results for Development

2019

There is mounting evidence on the positive link between high quality early childhood development (ECD) personnel and the physical, social, and cognitive development of young children.

To bring light to these challenges, and potential responses to them, the Early Childhood Workforce Initiative (ECWI) has developed 6 country briefs which highlight efforts to support the workforce across different geographies and services.

These country briefs were informed by desk reviews and information collected through key informant interviews (KII) with country experts from implementing NGOs, multilaterals, and research institutions, as well as program managers and government officials across 15 countries. After identifying six promising country approaches to highlight, we conducted further desk research and interviews to inform the country briefs. These interviews were particularly helpful for clarifying the key enablers and barriers to implementation in each country as well as the policy lessons for other countries.

The fifth of these briefs focuses on Philippines. Combining Training with Job Security to Improve the Quality of the Childcare Workforce analyzes nationally supported training efforts to improve the knowledge and skills of personnel, as well as local efforts to address working conditions and job security.

Vidya Putcha, Results for Development

2019