In my daily work with child care providers I often speak with people who struggle to earn sufficient on- going professional development. It's a delicate balance because I believe in the extensive research that shows children and families benefit from teachers who are consistently improving their skill set. I also know all to well how physically and emotionally draining it can be to work with young children for eight to ten hours per day and that sometimes the idea of spending 2-3 extra hours in a workshop is just too much to bare.
The trick, I believe, is to find professional development activities that challenge you to move beyond your comfort zone while engaging your spirit as well as your mind. A dynamic presenter who also has a firm grasp on the topic at hand can help you to increase your level of understanding of a topic and help you begin to think of new ways to faciliate the learning and overall development of the children in your care.
One of my favorite topics to present on is, perhaps surprisingly, preventing child abuse and neglect in the child care environment. Often times early childhood professionals are so focused on identifying possible abuse that occurs outside of the child care program - they completely forget that a significant amount of abuse occurs right within our own centers. Although the topic itself is quite horrible, I enjoy helping people to create plans to avoid abuse from occuring and also practice how to appropriately handle situations that do occur.
At the end of this particular type of training participants tend to feel both educated and empowered. As a facilitator I couldn't ask for anything more!
As most professionals know, the NH Child Care Licensing Unit will begin requiring early childhood professionals to earn 18 hours of professional development within a 12 month period beginning July 1, 2012. Although that number might seem daunting, it's important to seek out high quality trainings and plan to earn a few hours each month to ensure not only that you are meeting the requirements but, more importantly, that you continue to grow as a professional and increase the quality of care you offer children and their families each day.
"The greatest sign of a success for a teacher...is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist." -- Maria Montessori
The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
