Training & professional development

The National Association of Social Workers, has developed the Practice Standards & Guidelines which provide benchmarks that describe the services that social workers should provide; that employers should support and that consumers should expect. Standards/guidelines reflect current and emerging best practice trends and are a critical component of the professional social worker's toolkit. They are useful for both new and experienced practitioners, and can be effective advocacy tools. The Association has developed different sets of Practice Standards and Guidelines, in order to present the sector that social workers are working.

NASW - National Association of Social Workers

NAEYC formulated this state professional development systems policy blueprint as part of the Early Childhood Workforce Systems Initiative. This initiative focuses on the underlying state public policies that support integrated early childhood professional development systems. This blueprint focuses on the policies that connect professional development activities and that support and make possible effective implementation of a state system of professional development. It highlights principles and six policy areas that build or sustain an integrated system—a system that ensures quality in all settings in which early childhood professionals work. These principles and highlighted policy areas look beyond the status quo; they are aimed at the development and retention of a competent and stable early childhood workforce—a skilled cadre of effective, diverse, and adequately compensated professionals. This policy blueprint also includes a listing of sample state strategies in each of the six key policy areas. Since state policies do not begin—and will not end up—in the same place, this tool is intended to serve as a starting point for states to expand, change, and adapt for their own political and professional contexts and needs.

Sarah LeMoine

NAEYC - National Association for the Education of Young Children

2008

This article describes an initiative that extended the Investigating Quality (IQ) Project’s model of pedagogical development to a partnership between local ECE programs and their ongoing professional learning and an ECE training institution and its preparation of student educators. We begin with an overview of the project and pedagogical development model, describing how it conceptualizes and promotes professional learning as co-constructed in socio-material-historical-cultural-political contexts. We follow this with an analysis of the model’s three key conditions: inquiry based learning, making learning visible, and pedagogical facilitation support. We conclude with considerations for what this model of pedagogical development might mean for the ECE profession.

Kathleen Kummen and B. Denise Hodgins

Journal of Early Childhood Studies

2019

This induction support pilot project involved 22 early childhood educators in the interior of British Columbia who had a range of experience, from just beginning to 29 years in the field. Participants in the project were offered opportunities for peer mentoring, professional development, access to university faculty, visits to early learning programs, and online support. The results from the study include greater awareness on the part of participants of the value of peer mentoring and connection to community, increased knowledge, and increased sense of efficacy. At the end of the project, participants reflected on their experiences in semistructured interviews and focus groups. They also shared ways the pilot project could be improved, and the project is being revised based on their feedback.

Laura K. Doan

Journal of Early Childhood Studies

2019

There is broad consensus that high-quality environments for young children depend on teachers who are skilled at nurturing their development and learning, yet low pay and inadequate working conditions routinely hamper teachers in their efforts to apply their skills and knowledge. Yet, the voices of early educators — those working with children from infancy through preschool — are rarely heard, and public awareness of the challenges facing this workforce remains low. Compared to their K-12 peers, early educators are less organized and vocal about their situation, but a persistent state of teacher crisis casts a pall over efforts to ensure high-quality early care and education for all children prior to kindergarten. This study captures the perspectives of early educators about their working environments in one state, New York, and how these environments impact teaching staff practice and wellbeing. In order to teach to the best of their ability, educators require work environments that support their ongoing learning, emphasize time without child responsibilities for professional activities, and offer dependable benefits that ensure their well-being. With prioritization of workforce supports, quality improvement initiatives can make substantive progress towards a system that is equitable, efficient, and effective for children, their families, and educators alike. Capturing the experiences and perspectives of early educators working directly with children as a component of evaluating QUALITYstarsNY presents an opportunity to further refine and strengthen the policies, practices, and resources necessary to facilitate a high-quality system that supports children and their teachers alike.

Alaina Roach O’Keefe, Sonya Hooper, and Brittany Jakubiec

Journal of Early Childhood Studies

2019

These Guidelines are the first international text dealing specifically with the status of early childhood education personnel. The Guidelines set out principles for the promotion of decent work for ECE personnel as a means of ensuring universal access to high-quality ECE services. In this respect they
cover conditions of work and employment of ECE personnel and related issues. More precisely, the issues covered are:

1. General roles, rights and responsibilities
2. ECE objectives and policies
3. Preparation for the profession
4. Recruitment, deployment and retention
5. Professional and career development
6. Employment terms and conditions
7. Learning and teaching conditions
8. Social security and social protection
9. Evaluating ECE personnel to support quality practice
10. ECE governance and social dialogue

The Guidelines are meant to serve as a reference tool on principles that should be reflected in the design and implementation of ECE measures such as policies, strategies, legislation, administrative measures and social dialogue mechanisms, including collective bargaining agreements. The Guidelines can be implemented progressively to achieve their objectives so as to take account of different national settings, cultures, and social, economic and political contexts.

International Labor Organization

2013

Interactive Audio Instruction (IAI) is a distance learning technology that can deliver low-cost, culturally appropriate education via radio or mobile audio technology. It is a highly effective tool to reach children who can be hard to reach through conventional programs, including the rural poor and children with disabilities. IAI can also be an effective form of service delivery in unstable and conflict-affected regions.

This document provides guidance for program designers and managers who may be interested in using IAI for early childhood development programming, it provides solid evidence for the viability of the IAI approach and outlines the process for designing and implementing an IAI program specifically for early childhood contexts – from initial start-up in a given community, to large scale expansion in a country. It highlights the main steps in the production cycle, the roles and responsibilities of government and communities, and provides useful tips for practitioners at each stage of the process.
The toolkit outlines the four phases in the IAI program cycle as they pertain to ECD programming in a facilitated group setting (early childhood classrooms, non-formal community learning centers, or other adult-led group childcare settings), with a particular focus on community-based early learning initiatives as a means of increasing access. Annexes provide more detail on processes, players and costs of an ECD IAI program, as well as a list of common pitfalls and means of avoiding them or minimizing their impact.

This case study is part of a larger effort to document and increase understanding of the various approaches for supporting children affected by HIV and AIDS in South Africa and around the world. The role of the child and youth care workers (CYCWs) who provide programs to those children and their families is of significant importance. Although they report high levels of job satisfaction they role is very demanding. Believing that offering enhanced psychosocial support to CYCWs would prove critical to the program’s success, in 2007 The National Association of Child Care Workers (NACCW) facilitated the development of an innovative model called Care for Caregivers (C4C). The model brings clinical psychologists directly to CYCWs for a six month program of professional psychosocial support through individual and group counseling.

This case study offers a detailed examination of the C4C model. The report provides an overview of the strengths of the C4C program, recommendations for the future implementation and extension of the program, as well as specific priorities.

Programs and policymakers face numerous challenges as they develop and implement professional development strategies for the early childhood workforce. The field lacks consistent standards and requirements for professional preparation, and, as a result, low levels of education and a minimum of specialized training in early childhood education are the norm. In addition, current strategies of professional development do not adequately prepare all educators for the array of responsibilities, knowledge, and skills they are expected to demonstrate in their work with young children and their families.

This review incorporates findings from research on four targets of early childhood professional development: 1) strengthening human or social capital; 2) strengthening practices at institutions or organizations providing professional development; 3) strengthening early educator practices related to specific child outcomes; and, 4) strengthening overall quality in classroom or group settings. The literature review analyzed the research on professional development of early childhood educators to work toward identification of a set of core features that characterize effective professional development. A number of gaps were identified in the research on early childhood professional development that need to be addressed.

In light of the current policy context, early childhood educators are being asked to have a complex understanding of child development and early education issues and provide rich, meaningful educational experiences for all children and families in their care. Accountability for outcomes is high, and resources for professional support are limited. As such, the early education field needs well-conducted empirical studies on which to base professional development practices. In this paper,the authors offer research directions associated with the processes underlying professional development, including areas in need of investigation that can inform the early childhood education field in terms of how professional development efforts exert their influence and produce meaningful change in practitioners’ skills, behaviors, and dispositions. The paper highlights representative research from the professional development literature on its various forms/approaches and offers an agenda for research on the professional development process. Broad issues associated with the conduct of research on professional development, including considerations of professional development processes, participant characteristics, relationships, and sustainability are discussed.