“It’s Not Just About the Kids”: Adult Learning Environments in Early Childhood

• In Event: Adults and Families in Early Childhood

Abstract

Much of the conversation about improving quality has focused on measures of program quality that embed teachers and what they do within classrooms and programs or as variables to be regulated through policies such as teacher qualifications, class size etc. These conversations, however, have not considered the contexts that shape practitioner learning (Whitebook & Ryan, 2011) and how the adult work environment in which teachers operate supports or undermines their ability to learn and improve their practice. This paper reports the findings of a focus group study of the perceptions of directors, teachers and teaching assistants as to what makes a workplace a learning environment for adults.

Authors

• Sharon Ryan, Rutgers University

• Marcy Whitebook, University of California - Berkeley

• Fran Kipnis, Center for the Syudy of Child Care Employment

• Mirella Almaraz, Center for the Study of Child Care Employment

• Lea J.E. Austin, Center for the Study of Child Care Employment

• Laura Sakai, Center for the Study of Child Care Employment