What do teachers need? Practitioners' perspectives on early childhood professional development

By Debra J. Ackerman (2004)

Summary
While the many topics related to implementing a bachelor's degree requirement for early childhood teachers are fodder for research, this article takes a lot at an often neglected aspect related to teacher's professional development. This articles, published in the Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, Volume 24, Issue 4, offers perspective from the early childhood practitioners themselves. Using conversations with both a certified, public school teacher and a non-certified teacher in a private child care setting, the author reports on these teachers' professional development experiences, noting the implications of these two professionals experiences for future considerations of what teachers need in order to increase their effectiveness as educators.

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