Stages of Professional Development in Early Childhood Education

Teachers learn too--through professional development.

Early childhood educators play an important role in shaping the future. They work daily to help educate and prepare the youth of today for the opportunities of tomorrow. Early childhood educators have many different roles to play and duties to fulfill. One of the most important duties that an early childhood educator must fulfill to maintain their licensure is participation in continuous professional development.

Function

Professional development is required of nearly everyone in the field of education. The impetus behind this movement is the belief that for too long teachers have been allowed to achieve certification and then stagnate in their positions without seeking improvement or looking for novel methods of educating their pupils. To prevent this, departments of education nationwide now require teachers to continue growing, learning, and innovating by participating in professional development and implementing the techniques learned in their classrooms.

Process

Professional development is an ongoing process that early childhood educators will continually take part in throughout their career. It is not something that is completed and then set aside, but instead a continual movement towards the improvement of the educator's teaching techniques and effectiveness. An early childhood educator entering the process of professional development should expect to progress through a series of steps. Professional development programs traditionally consist of the following stages: planning, selecting, participating and using. All of these stages are pivotal to the professional development process as they combine to create an effective and useful professional development program.

Planning

The first step an early childhood educator must complete to fulfill his professional development requirement is planning. While the requirements vary from state to state, most states require licensed educators to complete some form of a professional-development plan. This plan will outline what goals the educator has and how they intend to go about achieving those goals. Aside from being a requisite in most places, this plan can be useful to teachers because it provides them with a direction in which to focus their professional development choices. Without this plan, the selection of programs would be random and the effect on education haphazard. To achieve optimal results, solid planning is essential.

Selecting

After an early childhood educator has planned her professional development goals, she needs to select programs in which to participate that will help her reach these goals. When selecting programs, educators should make sure that the program in which they are going to participate is evidence-based. This will ensure that there is a link between the completion of the program and positive educational outcomes with students. Teachers should also seek programs that align strongly with their professional-development plan. This will ensure that all of the training an early childhood educator receives during her professional development will work toward achieving the same goal.

Participating

Once an early childhood educator has located a program that will help him reach his goal, the educator needs to participate in the program and gather the information presented. While participating, teachers should be sure to think continually of ways that they can use the information in their personal teaching. By taking into account their personal teaching styles and the specific needs to their student bodies, teachers can ensure that the information they are receiving can effect change and improve the education of their students.

Using

It is important for early childhood educators to take what they have learned in their professional development and use it back in the classroom. To achieve the goals laid out in their plan, teachers need to modify their teaching techniques and implement the modifications and innovations discussed in their professional development. By doing this, teachers will allow their teaching techniques to change with the times, and they will ensure that they are optimally successful in educating their students.

References

• Centers for Early Childhood Professional Development
• National Association for the Education of Young Children