Professional Learning for the Care and Education Workforce (2015) / Chapter Skim
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Professional Learning for the Care and Education Workforce
Professional Learning for the Care and Education Workforce
Pages 1-16
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unifying foundation that encompasses essential The science of child development and early learning features of child development and early learning, makes clear the importance and complexity of shared knowledge and competencies for care and working with young children from infancy through education professionals, and principles for effective the early elementary years. It also illuminates the professional learning.
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Practice environments need to enable high-quality practice. Care and education professionals are best able to engage in high-quality professional practice when the settings in which they work are safe and well maintained, provide a high-quality learning environment for children, maintain a reasonable class size and ratio of adults to children for substantial and consistent group and individualized interactions to sup port learning, are well resourced with materials and supplies, and are guided by informed and competent leadership.
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that affect children's learning and development, and to adjust practice to help PRACTICES TO HELP CHILDREN LEARN children experiencing those effects. Ability to establish relationships and interactions with children that are consistent, nurturing, and use WORKING WITH DIVERSE POPULATIONS positive language.
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Designed to take into account challenges faced by Coherent and aligned in content and aims across the practitioners with respect to accessibility, afford full breadth of supports and mechanisms that con- ability, scheduling/time/logistics constraints, base tribute to improving professional practice, including line skills, and perceptions about professional learn higher education, ongoing professional learning, the ing activities and systems. practice environment, opportunities for professional 4 TRANSFORMING THE WORKFORCE FOR CHILDREN BIRTH THROUGH AGE 8: A UNIFYING FOUNDATION
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These challenges point to opportunities for improving professional learning through a more comprehensive approach for care and education pro fessionals who work with young children. Take a comprehensive view of the workforce across professional roles, settings, and age ranges.
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Embracing a broader and more unified concept of "professional learning" that encompasses all of the activities and opportunities that contribute to developing and sustaining quality professional practice will facilitate better consistency in care and education for children from birth through age 8. When all of these elements are mutually driven by the science of child development and principles of high-quality professional learning, and are supported through coherent systems of continuous quality improvement, they can work collectively toward the ultimate aim of ensuring sustained, positive outcomes for children.
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Based on the shared foundation of child development and early learning, all educators need to develop core competencies to move children along a continuous trajectory of learning and development. Greater consistency can result from aligning around a shared knowledge base, establishing shared expectations, using common tools where appropriate, building greater mutual understanding of language and termi nology across professional roles and professional learning systems, and participating together in some aspects of professional learning.
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Baseline requirements for core coursework, other learning activities, and cross-sector field-based learning experiences could serve as a prerequisite for further study or as a child specialization enhancement. Requirements that are designed to establish a more continuous and comprehensive understanding of child development would support preparation for various professional roles working with children from birth through age 8 in education, social services, and health/allied health professions.
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Recognizing the complex issues that accompany a minimum bachelor's degree requirement, the report emphasizes that a number of interrelated factors must be addressed together, and one of these is by necessity to strengthen the quality, availability, and accessibility of higher education -- not only to accom modate an increasing number of lead educators who will practice in settings prior to elementary school, but also to improve the quality of preparation for early elementary educators who, although already required to have a bachelor's degree, in many cases are not experiencing degree-granting programs that ensure they have the specialized knowledge of child development and competencies for instructional and other practices that are needed to work with children in the earliest elementary grades. Higher education programs for care and education professionals need to provide a formally defined, accredited course of study in child development, early learning, and instruction.
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• subject-matter knowledge; Provide high-quality practice-based and • pedagogical content knowledge, includ field-based learning experiences that enable ing all three aspects of learning trajecto students to apply and build instructional and ries and the connections among them -- other competencies; experience supportive the goal (the subject-matter knowledge) , supervision, mentoring, coaching, and reflec the developmental progression of levels tive practice; gain experience working with of thinking, and the instructional activi diverse populations of children and families ties corresponding to each level; and and engaging with families in practice set • competencies in child assessment (in- tings and through home and community cluding formative assessment)
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Building on existing initiatives and on resources already developed, this clearinghouse and quality assurance system should define local gaps and needs in the availability and accessibility of professional learning activities; provide guidance for individuals and employers or institutions on how to set professional learning objectives, select and prioritize professional learning activities, map out a sequence of professional learning activities, and access financial and other supports; coordinate with state accreditation or regulatory mechanisms for professional learning providers to create a quality assurance infrastructure; coordinate with state quality improvement systems that apply to programs and settings to ensure that standards and opportunities for professional learning and support for quality practice are aligned and strategically coordinated; promote joint professional learning opportunities among care and education professionals across roles, age groups, and settings, and provide a forum to facilitate collaborations; and develop assessment plans to monitor and continuously improve the availability and quality of professional learning activities and other services adequate to meet the needs of the workforce. Considerations for access to ongoing professional learning High-quality professional learning during ongoing practice needs to be not only available but also acces sible.
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instructional and other practices to foster de velopment and learning, as well as competen cies in effective coaching; Effective joint professional learning during ongoing practice promotes professional practice with greater continuity across age ranges and settings; promotes and provides incentives for partic ipation of professionals from different roles, settings, and age ranges in the same profes sional learning activities; offers activities specifically designed to pro vide training in better supporting children as they move from infant/toddler services to pre school to kindergarten to grades 1–3, such as continuous and aligned curricula and learning environments; and supports professional learning communities and other partnerships and convenings across roles, settings, and age ranges.
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Examples of such factors include overcrowded classrooms, poorly resourced settings, lack of access to professional learning supports, quality and quan tity of supportive community factors, and children's home environments. There is a risk that individual practitioners be held accountable for such factors, which can contribute to challenges with equitable recruitment and retention of quality professionals across diverse practice settings.
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As part of their own professional learning, these leaders need to be supported in developing the knowl edge and competencies in child development and early learning, instructional leadership, and organiza tional management that they need to be able to effectively hire and supervise educators who are capable of working with children in the settings they lead. These leaders also need to understand what constitutes appropriate assessment tools and multicomponent evaluation systems and how to use the information thus gained to improve the practice of the workforce they supervise.
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It is through the quality work of these adults that the nation can make it right from the very beginning for its children. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation REPORT RESOURCES The full report and additional report-related resources are available at: www.nap.edu/birthto8
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