Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/knowledge-and-competence-of-early-childhood-leaders/5022692/
The newly released Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation by the National Academy of Sciences (http://iom.nationalacademies.org/Reports/2015/Birth-To-Eight.aspx) has provided a much overdue in-depth report on the demographics, policies, and practices in early childhood education in the United States. Of particular interest to Exchange is the attention paid to the importance of leadership in crafting quality environments. Valora Washington noted at a recent presentation by LaRue Allen, who chaired the panel that put this report together, this is the first time a major report on early care and education acknowledged the vital role of leadership.
Chapter 7 of the report focused on “the knowledge and competencies needed by adults to more seamlessly support the health, learning, development, and school success of children 0–8 by providing consistent high-quality care and education.” The report first identified the competencies needed by adults (directors, teachers, family child care providers) in early childhood settings (see box).
Foundational Knowledge for All Adults
with Professional Responsibilities for Young Children
All adults with professional responsibilities for young children need to know about:
- how a child develops and learns, including cognitive development, specific content knowledge and skills, general learning competencies, socioemotional development, and ...