Early childhood staff and family child care providers have stressful work lives, and turnover rates for early education staff hovers around 30% annually. Children in early education programs are suspended and expelled at rates estimated to be three times higher than children in K-12 programs. Research shows that teachers who are better able to…

High-quality family childcare (FCC) can positively influence all areas of a child's growth and development. Thus, it is important to invest in efforts to increase quality, including providing professional development to enhance the skills of those caring for children in their homes. This study explores the characteristics of FCC providers who…

This article explores the current status of professional development within the child and youth care field. Pre-service, in-service and professional development activities and systems are critically examined in residential and nonresidential contexts, and barriers to more effective training within the field are identified. While there has been…

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,…

In 2006, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Early Learning Initiative (ELI) to improve the school readiness of Washington State's children through three main strategies: (1) development of high-quality, community-wide early learning initiatives in two communities; (2) enhancement of statewide systems that support early…

This directory includes lists of people, agencies, and organizations that represent many of the key stakeholders in early childhood education career development and training work. It is intended to give activists from all walks of the early care and education field a place to start and a way to know to whom they should be talking both within and…

Last in four-part series on infant and toddler development, discusses professionalism in the context of required caregiving beliefs and practices in working with infants and toddlers. Presents four "common threads" of professionalism that transcend level of education and experience--specialized knowledge of children's development,…

Examines the job-oriented interpretative patterns, plans of action, and professional knowledge of sociopedagogical actors working with children and adolescents out of school. Concludes that actors working with children and adolescents out of school usually rely more on their own biographical resources than on academic or professional knowledge.…

In November 1993, the Canadian Child Care Federation (CCCF) surveyed the child care community to determine whether the Federation's services, publications, and programs were relevant to the providers of child care in Canada. A questionnaire was sent to Federation members, Canadian child care centers, the family day care network, and organizations…

Explains the definition and criteria of high quality in early childhood practitioners as the most important element in determining the quality of an early childhood program. Defines professionalism in the early childhood field and describes differentiated levels of professionalism, early childhood teacher certification from a national perspective,…

In order to successfully implement an early childhood career development system, it is necessary to coordinate funds and training opportunities from many different sources. This action pack is designed to help individuals involved in such statewide efforts learn how to navigate the financing system that currently supports training for early care…

This paper examines a comprehensive approach to training for child care practitioners and presents a framework for developing staff training. It considers each of the four elements essential to building training experiences: adult developmental change, growth in professional competence, characteristics of adult learning, and training options. Each…

Although child caregivers make a major contribution to children's development and to the health and well-being of their communities, they remain underpaid and undervalued. Written for entry-level and experienced child care teachers and providers, this book presents information on the child care occupation and includes tools to help teachers and…

Professionalising the early childhood workforce in terms of improving pay and conditions of work and employing male workers can be seen as independent trends: there is no necessary relationship between the two. However, when the definition of professionalism is extended to include the scope and quality of practice, the experiences and views of…

Training for child care center directors should involve experiences that are coherent and connected in a logical or cumulative fashion. Twelve key elements can serve as a framework for planning professional development training experiences for early childhood center directors. These elements relate to the content, structure, and delivery of…