This descriptive case study's purpose is to describe family child care providers' unexplored experiences as early childhood entrepreneurs while simultaneously addressing their (in)equitable representation in early childhood curricular programming in higher education. Additionally, the objective is to prime program leadership, such as lead faculty,…

Leveraging digital technology for practice innovation is a compelling challenge. Limited education and training prevent human service practitioners from incorporating technology into practice. Progress in this area will be achieved when significant changes to pedagogy support technology integration with teaching/learning partnerships in higher…

In the 2017-2019 operating budget, the Legislature appropriated $5,000 to create a child care workforce development technical workgroup (Workgroup) and directed the Department of Early Learning (now the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, or DCYF) to convene a group consisting of 13 stakeholders to develop recommendations for the…

"Voices from the Field: Collaborative Innovations in Early Childhood Educator Preparation" is jointly published by the Illinois Education Research Council (IERC) and the Illinois Board of Education (IBHE), and highlights the accomplished work of many of the state's two- and four-year faculty to redesign early childhood educator…

This paper reports on research from a small-scale project investigating the vocational training of students in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in England. We draw on data from interviews with 42 students and five tutors in order to explore the students' understandings of professionalism in early years. In the paper, we discuss first, the…

This paper deals with the professionalization of human service work. It analyses learning processes and identity development in the emerging profession of child care with concrete examples from empirical research, based on a life history approach. It discusses examples of careers mainly based on students' life experience, pointing out that their…

Research messages 2010 is a collection of summaries of research projects published by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). The summaries are clustered under five broad themes used by NCVER to organise its research and analysis: Industry and employers; Students and individuals; Teaching and learning: VET system; and VET in…

This article draws on two small-scale pieces of research that investigated the views of twenty-five final year students in the BA Early Childhood Studies programme at a Scottish university, and the views of ten recent graduates about early years job titles and perceptions of professionalism. Pen-and-paper questionnaires were used in both studies,…

As the world economy continues to evolve, businesses and industries must adopt new practices and processes in order to survive. Quality and cost control, work teams and participatory management, and an infusion of technology are transforming the way people work and do business. Employees are now expected to read, write, and communicate…

Official accounts of learning in vocational education and training emphasise the acquisition of technical skills and knowledge to foster behavioural competence in the workplace. However, such accounts fail to acknowledge the relationship between learning and identity. Drawing on detailed case studies of three vocational courses--in childcare,…