Training Early Childhood Leaders: Developing a New Paradigm for Professional Development Using a Practice to Theory Approach

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2020

DOI

DOI: 10.1080/09243453.2020.1803924

Publication Title

School Effectiveness and School Improvement

Volume

32

Issue

2

Pages

173-196

Abstract

Given the predictive nature of high-quality early childhood programs on children’s social and learning outcomes, effective leadership is critical to facilitate program improvement. Recognizing the need for cohesive conceptual frameworks that undergird research-based practice, a 5-year training institute for early childhood program directors was evaluated to assess training effectiveness. Moreover, we developed a model of early childhood leadership professional development grounded in our iterative analysis of data from this study and guided by theory- building methods. The findings show positive impacts on leaders’self-reported facilitation and implementation of developmentally appropriate strategies in positive discipline and prosocial skills in early care and education settings. The practice-to-theory training model developed provides a theoretically cohesive framework to guide the professional development of early childhood program leaders that repositions the theory/practice binary by helping leaders problematize issues of practice and infuse theory as necessary tools and pragmatic anchors for solving real-world problems.

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0747-8982 (Myran)

Original Publication Citation

Myran, S., & Masterson, M. (2020). Training early childhood leaders: Developing a new paradigm for professional development using a practice to theory approach. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 32:2, 173-196. DOI: 10.1080/09243453.2020.1803924

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