Professionalism in early childhood education: doing our best for young children

About the author

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Professionalism as a topic of study

1: What Is A Profession?:

Historical context for understanding professions

What do the terms mean in popular culture?

What do the terms mean in scholarly literature?

Criteria for determining if an occupation is a profession

Continuum of occupations

How do we expect professionals to behave?

Issues regarding professions

2: Is Early Childhood Education A Profession?:

Factors that have influenced the professional status of early childhood education

What is the professional status of early childhood education?

Where do we stand?

Prospects for the future

Which way should we go from here?

Professionalism as individual practice

3: Knowledge And Skills:

Historical influences on programs for young children

Influence of programs for low-income children

Standards movement

Early childhood teacher preparation standards

What should early childhood educators know and be able to do?

How do knowledge and skills come together in practice?

4: Behaving Like A Professional:

Communication and relationships

Work ethic

Moral and ethical behavior

Behaving ethically

Advocacy

5: Personal Attributes:

What personal attributes are desirable?

What educators bring into the world

What educators are like as people

What educators bring to the workplace

Self-knowledge

6: Doing Your Best For Children:

Looking backward

Discover your calling

Take a development perspective

Continue to learn and grow

Looking forward

Appendices:

A: Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment

B: Recommended resources

C: Self-assessment

D: Professional development plan

Index.