Early Childhood Teachers' Professional Development Experiences: Constructing a Model of Professional Learning

• In Event: Constructivist Theory, Research, and Practice: Perspectives and Insights From Preschool Through Adulthood

Abstract

This study examines early childhood teachers’ experiences of professional development in order to understand how professional learning occurs. Using a social constructivist framework, teachers are understood as active learners with ongoing development of pedagogical knowledge. Qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with community-based Head Start preschool teachers revealed findings examining a variety of professional development formats and activities. This coded data identified factors that promote or inhibit professional learning as a product of sociocultural contexts. This study provides teacher voice to the experience of professional development, and discusses how professional learning can be developed in meaningful ways to promote long-term, sustainable change and refinement in instructional practices.

Author

• David Banzer, University of Illinois at Chicago