The suitability of training and professional learning communities for professional development in early childhood education

Samenvatting

This study examines how two contrasting professional development(PD) formats for daycare practitioners – a traditional expert-led train-ing program and a Professional Learning Community (PLC) – enactedcore PD principles and supported practitioners’ abilities to foster high-quality play and dialogic interactions in early childhood education andcare (ECEC). Five PD groups (N = 49 practitioners) participated in eithertraining or PLC sessions comprising 20 hours of workshops and coach-ing. Video-recorded sessions, participant evaluations, and observationtools were analyzed to compare program structure, educator andparticipant roles, and theory–practice integration. Results show thatthe training model provided strong structure, expert PD educator, andpre-designed tools based on theory that facilitated rapid uptake intopractice. PLCs, in contrast, fostered ownership, collaboration, andreflective inquiry but required more time to establish shared goals,inquiry routines, and participant-led use of theory. Across formats,collaboration and reflection emerged as universal mechanisms ofprofessional learning. However, the relatively short duration of bothprograms raises questions about the sustainability of improvementswithout ongoing organizational support or continuous PD structures.Findings suggest that training and PLCs offer complementarystrengths – precision versus agency, structure versus reciprocity –and highlight the potential of both PD approaches to cultivate lastingimprovements in interaction quality.