Who We Are and What We Know: Stories From the Early Childhood Workforce

• In Event: Early Childhood Workforce and Leadership

Abstract

This qualitative research study provides narratives from the complex and diverse workforce in the field of early childhood education. This paper reports on a collaborative project that examined the connection between (1) the shared knowledge and skills across multiple early childhood roles and (2) the construction of a professional identity in the early childhood workforce. We asked: What skills, knowledge and dispositions are required to provide high quality care to young children? And how do our personal experiences in the workforce and our professional identities, relate to that core set of competencies? Data includes stories from a series of focus groups, written surveys and interviews with early childhood professional from across the field.

Authors

• Margaret Clark, University of Hartford

• Paige M. Bray, University of Hartford

• Deborah Adams, CT Office of Early Childhood

• Lynn S Johnson, CT Office of Early Childhood