scholarly journals Professional learning and development in early childhood education: A shifting landscape of policies and practice

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Sue Cherrington
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Early Childhood Teachers ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Education Literature ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Early Childhood Professional ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Childhood Professional

This article traces shifts in the New Zealand early childhood professional, regulatory and policy landscape, and examines how these shifts create challenges and opportunities for early childhood teachers’ engagement in professional learning and development (PLD). It presents current understandings about effective PLD for teachers in the early childhood and wider education literature before arguing that professional learning communities offer promising opportunities to support early childhood teachers’ engagement in effective PLD in a shifting policy and practice landscape.

Supporting teachers’ practice through professional learning and development: What’s happening in New Zealand early childhood education?

2020 ◽  
pp. 183693912097906
Author(s):  
Linda Clarke ◽  
Tara McLaughlin ◽  
Karyn Aspden ◽  
Tracy Riley
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Early Childhood Teachers ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Quality Teachers ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Full Picture

Early childhood teachers’ professional learning and development (PLD) is a significant factor in the provision of quality early childhood education (ECE), yet gaining a full picture of PLD in the New Zealand ECE context is problematic. Information about government-funded PLD programmes is available through evaluations, however, teachers access PLD from a range of providers, many of whom are not government-funded, nor subject to regular monitoring for quality. Teachers’ reports, therefore, represent important sources of insight into PLD. We surveyed New Zealand early childhood teachers about their experiences of PLD, including topics, delivery, and facilitation. We analysed 345 responses. Workshops were the most commonly experienced PLD model. Many respondents had also experienced job-embedded support, but may not have experienced the types of facilitation strategies likely to prompt shifts in teaching practice. This article reports the survey results, examines implications and discusses features of PLD that support shifts in teaching practice.

scholarly journals Digitalisation in early childhood education: a domestication theoretical perspective on teachers’ experiences

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofie Lindeman ◽  
Maria Svensson ◽  
Ann-Britt Enochsson
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Digital Competence ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Teachers Experiences ◽  
Research Questions

AbstractThe aim of this study is to increase knowledge of teachers’ understanding and experiences of using, or not using, digital tools in Early Childhood Education (ECE). The study takes a domestication theoretical approach based on interviews with twelve teachers from nine ECE institutions working with play-based learning with children aged 1–5 years from four different municipalities in Sweden. The study answers the following two research questions: In what ways, and to what extent, do teachers integrate digital tools in their work? What practical, symbolic or cognitive aspects affect their work with digital tools? The teachers have integrated the digital tools to different extent. The most useful tools for working with the children are tablets and beamers, which are devices that can be used in various ways. Digital tools used for administration are domesticated to a greater extent than the tools teachers use with the children. The study further shows that important factors in the successful domestication of digital tools in ECE include digital competence, including pedagogical aspects, in combination with personal drive and professional learning and development.

Examining early childhood teachers’ attitudes and responses to superhero play

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-182
Author(s):  
Megan Wiwatowski ◽  
Jane Page ◽  
Sarah Young
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Early Childhood Teachers ◽  
Professional Knowledge ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Children’S Learning ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Teachers Attitudes

Research highlights that early childhood teachers (ECTs) hold varied opinions on the value of superhero play (SP) to young children’s learning and development. This study sought to investigate how ECTs in Victoria are responding to superhero play, and to examine the beliefs that underpin their responses. Interviews were conducted with eight ECTs from the Bayside area in Melbourne. The study revealed that while the majority of the teachers interviewed responded to children’s superhero play in a variety of ways, there were a number of barriers to supporting superhero play in early childhood education and care settings. This paper concludes by identifying the value of ECTs engaging in critical reflection to ensure that their responses to superhero play are based on professional knowledge that is informed by theory and research.

Envisioning the Impact of Decisions Made about Early Childhood Professional Development Systems by Different Constituent Groups

2007 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peggy Apple ◽  
Mary Benson McMullen
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Early Childhood Professional ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Childhood Professional ◽  
Principal Decision Making ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Joint Problem Solving

In this article the authors explore the need for early childhood practitioners and scholars to engage in joint problem solving to create and support early childhood education and care (ECEC) professional development systems in which all constituents benefit. Primary constituent groups and principal decision-making bodies are defined and analyzed, and the interrelated influences within professional development systems are considered. At the heart of the discussion is how decisions made by all constituent groups are interrelated and affect all parts of the system. For instance, decisions made about professional qualifications have an impact upon pre- and in-service ECEC professionals, current ECEC professionals, children and their families, and individuals within ECEC businesses and communities. Although the discussion in this article is about these issues as they are played out within the USA, the authors believe that the implications raised may be usefully considered by ECEC professionals and those engaged in professional development in other cultures and contexts.

scholarly journals Contesting early childhood professional identities: A cross-national discussion

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonja Arndt ◽  
Mathias Urban ◽  
Colette Murray ◽  
Kylie Smith ◽  
Beth Swadener ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Professional Identities ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Policy Context ◽  
Early Childhood Professional ◽  
Local Contexts ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Childhood Professional ◽  
Divide And Rule ◽  
Cross National

In this collective article, the authors explore constructions of early childhood practitioners and how they disconnect and reconnect in a global neo-liberal education policy context. The contributions to the conversation provide windows into shifting professional identities across five national contexts: New Zealand, the USA, Ireland, Australia and Denmark. The authors ask who benefits from the notion of distinct professional identities, linked to early childhood education as locally and culturally embedded practice. They conceptualize teachers’ shifting subjectivities, drawing on Kristeva’s philosophical conception of identity as constantly in construction, open and evolving. Arguments for the urgency to counter the global uniformity machine, streamlined curricula, standardized assessment and deprofessionalization are not new. However, the authors wonder whether these arguments are missing something. Does our localized and highly contextualized identity construction enable ‘divide and rule’ politics by global agents such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, World Bank and international corporations? The authors’ (preliminary) answer is to build individual and collective professional identities that are grounded in diverse local contexts and in a broader transnational professional (political) consciousness and collective voice.

scholarly journals The Effectiveness of Early Childhood Teachers

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 138
Author(s):  
Zulkarnaen Zulkarnaen ◽  
Zulfakar Zulfakar
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Effective Teachers ◽  
Early Childhood Teachers ◽  
Professional Organizations ◽  
Promising Practices ◽  
Early Care ◽  
Childhood Education

The complexity of teaching and the intricacies of the varied early childhood education systems contribute to the multiple considerations regarding development, method of delivery, intended and needed outcomes, and issues and next steps for professional development in early childhood education. There are several promising practices and directions currently underway for professional development and learning. Recommendations from professional organizations as well as emerging research are providing guidance for next steps. They are calling attention to professional learning and effective teachers and their essential role in the children’s high-quality experiences in early care and education settings and in developing early childhood education as a profession.  

Minority-world professionals in majority-world early childhood contexts: How do international field experiences promote intercultural competence or reinforce “professional” ethnocentrism?

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-205
Author(s):  
Samara Madrid Akpovo ◽  
Lydiah Nganga
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Field Experiences ◽  
Early Childhood Teacher ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Majority World ◽  
Early Childhood Professional ◽  
Childhood Professional

This colloquium problematizes the use of early childhood international field experiences as a tool for professional development with Euro-Western pre-service and in-service teachers. The authors critique experiences where minority-world educators teach or implement internships within majority-world contexts. It is critical for Euro-Western teacher education programs to provide pre-service and in-service teachers with opportunities to expand their global views of the early childhood professional through international field experiences. But how can this be done when conceptions of the “professional” are constructed in Euro-Western images, ideas, curricula, ideologies, and privilege? The authors make a call for early childhood teacher educators to reconsider, deconstruct, and re-examine themselves and their pre-service and in-service teachers’ rationale for engaging in international field experiences.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document