Purpose
The study investigates whether professional development provides a genuine competence boost for educational staff in nurseries and daycare centres/kindergartens in their work with toddlers’ motor development. Investigations also took place on how the staff experienced the implementation of this professional development. The research questions are: 1) What impact has the professional development had on the educational staff’s competence in working with toddlers’ motor development? 2) What does the staff perceive as promoting and inhibiting elements regarding the implementation of this professional development update?
Result
The results show that the professional development has strengthened the staff’s competence in practice. The staff experience promoting elements (the professional development is carried out as practical exercises and is easy to implement) and inhibiting elements (staff turnover and lack of interest) in the implementation of the professional development update.
Design
The data material includes the staff’s assessments, observations, interviews and staff responses to questionnaires from 20 kindergartens in Høje-Taastrup Municipality in Denmark, where the fieldwork was carried out.
References
Pedersen, M. R. L., & Ibsen, B. (2022). Evaluering af styrkelse af det pædagogiske personales kompetencer til at fremme småbørns motoriske udvikling. CEPRA-striben, 31, 62–77.
Financed by
The Health Foundation, Denmark; Høje-Taastrup Municipality, Denmark; University of Southern Denmark, Denmark