Gaining Insight Into Inquiry-Based Professional Development in Early Childhood Education and Care Programs: A Multiple-Case Study

• In Event: 28.063 - Early Childhood Teacher Preparation and In-Service Professional Development

Abstract

Professional development (PD) in early childhood education and care is at a critical juncture within the current accountability and standards movement. Various stakeholders position PD as a necessity to ready children within a neoliberal framing of the education process and posit universal training/PD as a solution. Conversely, many scholars continue to call for more critical approaches such as inquiry-based PD to better support the diverse linguistic and cultural talents of the early childhood landscape and address social inequities. Yet, little is known about the mechanisms responsible for sustaining such inquiry-based PD practices. This research therefore explores how directors and teachers of three ECEC programs made sense of enacting and engaging in varying forms of inquiry-based PD.

Author

• Joanna Englehardt, The University of Texas at Austin