ED379064 PS022673
Title: The Early Childhood Career Lattice: Perspectives on Professional
Development.
Author(s): Johnson, Julienne, Ed.; McCracken, Janet B., Ed.
Author Affiliation: National Association for the Education of Young
Children, Washington, DC.(FGK56164)
Pages: 196
Publication Date: 1994
Sponsoring Agency: Carnegie Corp. of New York, NY. (QPX12280)
ISBN: 0-935989-60-9
Available from: EDRS Price MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from
EDRS.
Availability: National Association for the Education of Young Children,
1509 16th Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20036-1426 (Catalog No. 792,
$8; discount on quantity orders).
Language: English
Document Type: Collected works--General (020)
Geographic Source: U.S.; District of Columbia
Journal Announcement: RIEJUN1995
Target Audience: Practitioners
The goal of
NAEYC's National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development
is to improve the quality of services provided to young children
and their families by enhancing the quality, consistency, and accessibility
of early childhood education professional preparation. In this compilation
of presentations, key leaders offer their perspectives on achieving
the Institute's goal of an articulated professional development
system, represented by the early childhood career lattice. The first
article presents the conceptual framework for this professional
development system and outlines the official position of NAEYC.
The remaining articles are the opinions of the authors and are presented
in four parts. Part 1 indicates the different kinds of programs
from which early childhood educators enter their careers and the
resulting inequities in status, differences in standards for programs
and practitioners, various program delivery mechanisms, and lack
of consensus on cherished values. Part 2 opens with five descriptions
of various components of the profession's core knowledge and emphasizes
the need for specialized professional development options that build
on this knowledge. Also included are articles that discuss the knowledge
base for the Baccalaureate Early Childhood Teacher Education Program
and a contextual model to promote professionalism in early childhood
education and care. Effective strategies that can improve the day-to-day
skills of professionals who are engaged in fostering each other's
learning are explored in part 3. The volume concludes with practical
and policy implications of this vision of a coordinated professional
development system and shifts the focus to financing for professional
development and compensation of early childhood staff. (BAC)
Descriptors: *Child Caregivers; Early Childhood Education; Educational
Policy; *Professional Development; *Teacher Education; Teaching
(Occupation)
Identifiers: *Caregiver Training; National Association Educ of Young
Children; *Professionalism
