Early childhood care and development caregiver …...Early childhood care and development caregiver training ! • • • There is a stated need for more comprehensive overviews of

Early childhood care and development caregiver

training Building an Evidence Base for Save the Children’s Training

Programmes for Early Childhood Care and Development Caregivers

By Anna C. Wadsworth, MSc

October 2014

Early childhood care and development caregiver training • • •

!!Table of Contents

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Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) 2 .....................................................................................ECCD in developing contexts 2 .......................................................................................................................The Save the Children Signature Approach 3 ...................................................................................................Methodology 4 ..................................................................................................................................................Discussion 6 ......................................................................................................................................................

ECCD caregiver education and training in developing contexts 6 ..............................................................Training and education has an impact on student outcomes and classroom quality 8 ................................Threshold standards for ECCD caregiver training will enable the provision of quality care 12 .................The curriculum of ECCD caregiver training should be holistic— in addition to the provision of devel-opmentally appropriate practices, it should address the trainees academic and social skills 14 ................Training should be community-based and sustainable 16 ............................................................................

Recommendations 18 .......................................................................................................................................Identifying standards 18 ...............................................................................................................................Providing support 19 ....................................................................................................................................Ongoing training and development 20 .........................................................................................................ECCD specific knowledge 21 ........................................................................................................................The need for monitoring and evaluation 21 .................................................................................................Sensitivity to context 22 ................................................................................................................................Government partnerships 22 ........................................................................................................................

Conclusion 23 ...................................................................................................................................................Appendix A 24 ..................................................................................................................................................Appendix B 26 ..................................................................................................................................................Appendix C : Training programmes 29 ............................................................................................................References 35 ....................................................................................................................................................Additional Bibliography 39..............................................................................................................................

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Early childhood care and de-velopment caregiver training

Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) The importance of the first six years of a child’s life cannot be understated; these critical years can lay the foundation for a healthy and successful life. 1

The provision of appropriate care at the early stages of life provides a plethora of benefits: children involved in early childhood care and education are less likely to fall behind in primary and secondary school, less likely to become involved with the criminal justice system, and less likely to need intensive special education later on. Strong evidence in favor of early 2

childhood interventions has emerged across diverse populations and con-texts. For children from marginalized and vulnerable populations, the posi3 -tive results have proved even more dramatic.

ECCD in developing contexts ECCD has begun to receive greater attention and funding from lower and middle-income country governments, NGOs and other international actors. A growing body of evidence shows that early intervention in developing contexts serves as a gateway to better health, education and life outcomes for children. 4

Caregivers that are capable and knowledgeable form a vital cornerstone of effective ECCD programmes. Indeed, it can be argued that without profi-cient caregivers, the provision of quality childcare is hindered. Globally, the development of a workforce capable of providing developmentally appro-priate care has proved especially difficult in developing contexts, due to a variety of factors:

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“Early childhood development: the key to a full and productive life,” UNICEF, accessed June 3, 2014, http://www.unicef.org/dprk/ecd.pdf1

Karoly, Kilburn & Cannon (2005)2

“Benefits of Early Child Development Programmes,” World Bank, accessed August 13, 2014, htp://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/3

TOPICS/EXTCY/EXTECD/0,,contentMDK:20259127~menuPK:527099~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:344939,00.html

Pence, Evans, & Garcia (2008)4

• • •

“Children are central to sustainable develop-ment. The early years of life are crucial to estab-lishing a sound founda-tion for cognitive, social, emotional and physical development for the rest of their lives. Events in the first few years of life are formative and play a vi-tal role in shaping social, emotional, learning and health outcomes and in building human capital, thereby promoting eco-nomic productivity later in life.”


!The Save the Children Signature Approach !The Save the Children ECCD Signature Approach looks at early childhood development from the posi-tion that the early years of childhood are couched within a complex ecological system of family environ-ment, care environment and political environment, a position that is favored by current research. Factors 5

such as parental involvement, government policy and curriculum content have been examined, however many facets of this ecology remain understudied in developing contexts, among them caregiver training.

Shortage of teachers in primary and secondary education

The chronic global shortage of primary and secondary education teachers is slated to continue and it is estimated that an extra 3.3 million teachers will be needed by 2030. With demand for teachers at higher educational levels not being met, the ability to attract and train ECCD teachers could be impacted by this shortage.

Perceptions of ECCD

In developing contexts, the care and education of pre-primary school age children is seen as custodial. ECCD may be considered too expensive to implement, culturally incompatible, or intruding on the family’s role in a child’s early years. Consequently, the need to train and educate caretakers isn’t perceived to be of critical importance. Early childhood caregivers may be seen as less ‘professional’ than primary and secondary teachers and this is often reflected in ECCD salaries.

Lack of education/professional development for caregivers

Individuals may work as caregivers after completing a minimal level of education. In Pakistan, many caregivers in private institutions lack any training, while caregivers in the public system must only be educated to a tenth grade level, the equivalent of secondary school.many countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. The nature and extent of training may matter less if countries are already be overwhelmed with the demand for caregivers and primary and secondary teachers. Teachers and caregivers, even if educated and/or trained, may rely on teaching methods and materials that are not age appropriate.

Lack of standards in training and modes of delivery

What constitutes an appropriately trained caregiver varies widely, accordingly there is no agreed upon ‘gold standard’ for caregiver training or ideal level of educational attainment. Furthermore, training and modes of delivery that are considered best practice may simply not be feasible in lower and middle income countries.

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Harvard Center for the Developing Child, 20145


There is a stated need for more comprehensive overviews of the content, mode of delivery and standards for caregiver training that go beyond the descriptive and look at the processes involved. As practitioners 6

and researchers look for what constitutes best practice in developing ECCD caregivers, they are faced with an abundance of information but a lack of evidence-based models. 7

Assumptions behind conceptual framework i. Establishment of threshold standards for inter-professional ECCD training is required to

enable trained ECCD caregivers working in centre-based, community-based and home-based to meet children’s developmental and learning outcomes.

ii. The ECCD curriculum content, threshold standards and expected competencies for ECCD trainees are expected to include topics on child development and health, hygiene and sani-tation, child rights, protection and positive discipline, indigenous knowledge and practices, culture and gender sensitive and inclusive practices, early learning and stimulation includ-ing emergent literacy and math, transitions from ECCD to school and school readiness, disaster risk reduction, quality learning resources and environment, management of ECCD services, ECCD trainees’ own literacy and math skills, emotional literacy and social skills. The mode of will follow a work-based model, investing on reflection and on the job coach-ing and mentoring.

iii. Building inter-sectoral cooperation per the Moscow Framework for Action and Coopera-tion by expanding knowledge of child development knowledge for medical professionals, 8

social workers, parents, caregivers and other professionals working with young children.

Methodology !A literature review was undertaken to better understand the content of caregiver trainings, their mode of delivery, and threshold standards in education, training, and professional development. Information was drawn from peer-reviewed publications, reports by organizations such as UNESCO and other NGOs who are active in the field of ECCD. Additional sources such as website publications and program evaluations were assessed in order to contextualize the review.

Assessing the validity of references was based on the following set of criteria : 9 10

1. Is the study question/research question clearly defined?

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Zaslow, 20096

Sheridan, Edwards, Marvin & Knoche, 20097

“Moscow Framework for Action and Cooperation Harnessing the Wealth of Nations”, UNESCO, accessed June 28, 2014, http://unesdoc.un8 -esco.org/images/0018/001898/189882e.pdf

Bland, Meurer & Maldonado, 19959

Glende, 200810


2. What is the quality of the basic components of the study design? 3. Is the data analysis accurate and relevant to the study question/research question? 4. Are the conclusions rooted in the data and analysis provided? 5. What are the strengths and limitations of the study?

Inclusion criteria

▪ Peer reviewed qualitative and/or quantitative original research OR systematic review and/or meta-analysis concerning the training, education, and professional development of ECCD care-givers for care of children ages 0-6

▪ Research published from 1998 to 2014. The rationale behind this time frame is the emergence of early childhood care and development over roughly the past 20 years as a key concept in the health and well-being of children

▪ English language publications !Initially the inclusion criteria also aimed to look at research exclusively from low-income and middle-in-come countries, however, there is a notable absence of such research that would fit all parameters of the inclusion criteria. Due to this, evidence was included from all contexts, with an eye towards low-resource and low-income settings in the Global North that might share a similar set of challenges as those faced in the Global South. Studies were drawn from two primary sources: Taylor and Francis and ERIC (US De-partment of Education).

Additionally, searches were conducted evaluations and assessments of training programmes in lower and middle-income countries (Appendix A).

Terminology

The abundance of different terminology in this field must be noted. There is a wide universe of terms used for the care and education of young children. Save the Children uses ‘early childhood care and develop-ment’, referring to the education and care of pre-primary aged school children. This is by no means a blanket term, nor does the terminology engender the same meaning. ECD refers to early childhood devel-opment, ECCE refers to care and education of children and ECE education alone. Often these terms are used interchangeably or a certain term is favoured by one organization while not being used by another. It is often unclear what the term ‘early childhood care/education/development’ captures. In one context it may be the provision of basic skills such as learning to count and read; in another, it may be encouraging children to play and develop social skills.

This continues with the terms used for those caring for children. Those providing care for children range from teachers who hold specialized post-graduate degrees in early childhood care to untrained caregivers who lack an education but have many years of experience. A provider might be referred to as teacher, ed-ucator, para-professional, caregiver, caretaker, care-provider or child-minder. These terms can be used interchangeably and often do not indicate the level of education, training and experience the caregiver possesses.

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Discussion !Overall, literature on this subject provides support for the assumption that there is a need to educate and train caregivers in order to procure better outcomes for children participating in early childhood education and development programmes. Caregivers with more education, training, and access to professional de-velopment are better able to create quality classroom environments and provide better quality care than those who these attributes. However, this is by no means a straightforward observation. As the bulk of evidence currently available pertains to the developed world, the studies supporting this evidence may not be appropriate and relatable for other contexts. Furthermore, studies vary in terms of their sampling de-sign, sample size, methodology, focus of analysis, and in the definition of what ‘training’ and ‘education’ entails in that specific study. There is a lack of a systematic approach for looking at what exactly is need-ed in training and education to produce desired effects and what conditions need to be in place in order for caregivers to be sufficiently trained. With the current research that is available, it is difficult to argue that there are adequate guidelines in place for those seeking guidance on how to institute effective ECCD caregiver trainings or improve existent trainings.

Zaslow (2009) notes that while there is material available about the many formats of early childhood caregiver training (i.e. higher education, professional development), there is a serious lack of information about what actually takes place: ‘We are lacking a detailed description of the processes that are followed in the professional development itself to help early educators take the tools being provided to them through new curricula and actually put them to use. We need a common vocabulary for these underlying activities and a protocol for reporting on them in some detail in our research reports. It is only through a common vocabulary and adequate description of underlying processes that we will be able to move to-ward appropriate attribution of the bases for effects and aggregation of findings’ (529). 11

ECCD caregiver education and training in developing contexts !The issue of qualified caregivers is by no means limited to developing contexts: the lack of caregivers who possess basic knowledge of child development is an issue in many developed countries including the US and UK. In the US, the annual early childhood educator turnover rate averages 30%, exceeding the turnover rates in every other industry in the national economy. The struggle to attract and retain skilled caregivers has led many states in the US to introduce the regulation of ECCD standards and policies, in addition to providing easily accessible training opportunities to enable the professional development of caregivers. 12

Unfortunately there appears to be a dearth of empirically grounded research available on caregiver educa-tion programmes and professional development in lower and middle-income countries. Much like in high-income countries, a person seeking an education or training in ECCD faces a bewildering array of choices

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Zaslow, 200911

“Building an Early Childhood Professional Development System,” NGA Center for Best Practices, accessed June 30, 2014, http://www.n12 -ga.org/files/live/sites/NGA/files/pdf/1002EARLYCHILDPROFDEV.PDF


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Ghana • • •

As of 2014, only the University of Education, Winneba, offed a degree in early childhood education, with seven colleges offering a diploma in basic education focusing on early childhood. Additionally, the National Nursery Teacher Training Center provides an eight-week in-service training program certificate. However, only 31 percent of caregivers in ECD settings (children ages 4 to 5) have received any type of formal training in education.

The majority of teachers receive they training through in-service. The Ministry of Educa-tion provides in-service training ranging from 1 to 8 weeks in length serving personnel ranging from those with degrees to assistants without education to those working in gov-ernment-supported facilities, whereas private care providers must pay for the training. All levels of education in Ghana are free, yet the costs associated with tertiary education re-mains prohibitive for many.

In 2003, the Ghanaian Ministry of Education suggested that early childhood education join the country’s formal education system. The sector has reached out by forming formal link-ages with other ECCD training institutes, in Kumasi, experts from Israel’s Mount Caramel Training Center worked with ECCD educators to develop a child-centric curriculum that focused on learning through play and used the native Asante language, Twi, instead of English. Using the training of trainers model (ToT), a group of Kumasi educators were trained as master trainers for 3 weeks. Master trainers were then responsible for training other teachers.

Several training programmes are available through less formal avenues— the International Child Resource Institute provides an ECCD teacher training and has trained over 3,500 teachers. In 2010 a program using the Montessori method of training and awarding a cer-tificate was established, and several programmes exist that are run in conjunction with out-side organisations. Yet according to a 2011 evaluation by UNICEF, the systems for teacher training to adequately prepare early childhood educators—including national plans and institutions—are not yet in place.


ranging from private, short-term courses to multi-year university degrees. Even in countries with a strong history of providing education for ECCD caregivers, there is a lack of evidence supporting the efficacy of one mode of training over another. Kenya was one of the first developing countries to establish ECCD programmes and formally incorporate them into the country’s education system. In 1972, in conjunction with the Bernard van Leer Foundation, the Ministry of Education began to develop training models for caregivers. Subsequently, a national training center was established— the National Center for Early Childhood Education (NACECE), followed by local training centers (District Centers for Early Child-hood Education-DICECE) and universities offering a variety of degree programmes. Training and educa-tion offerings include short courses, two-year diplomas, two-year degrees, bachelors and masters degrees. These options vary widely in terms of the quality, length of training/education, cost and content taught. Perhaps in an attempt to get a handle on the offerings available, many descriptive studies exist to parse the current programmes available in Kenya and what they entail, however, in terms of the study of pro-gram efficacy, there is little available.

In high-income countries, skilled teachers are identified as being one of the principle elements for effec-tive center-based programmes, including those serving low-income children, yet it remains to be seen if 13

this remains applicable in low and middle-income countries. Regardless, what evidence is available does strongly assert the essential role of skilled caregivers in ECCD programmes.

Training and education has an impact on student outcomes and classroom quality !The benefits of caregiver training, education, and professional development has been documented as hav-ing a significantly positive impact on children. In a 2003 study across 9 states in the US, teacher educa-tion showed positive associations with children’s 54-month outcomes in math, reading, and language skills. Of the three indicators of classroom quality examined— teacher education, staff/child ratio, and 14

group size, a teacher’s education showed the strongest association with positive achievement outcomes for children in the study. Other similar studies have followed suit, indicating that teacher education was positively related to greater sensitivity with children and the provision of more developmentally appropri-ate care.

Evidence for the importance of education and/or training The provision of high quality early childhood care is intrinsically linked to teacher education and training. Teachers with higher levels of training and education are more attuned to the needs of 15

young children than their less educated counterparts, and are able to create a more child friendly 16

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National Forum on Early Childhood Program Evaluation, 200713

Duncan, 200314

Pianta, Mashburn, Downer, Hamre, & Justice, 200815

Saracho & Spodek, 200716

http://www.bernardvanleer.org/


caretaking environment, which can in turn create better outcomes for children in their care. 17

Caregivers with more education and specialized ECCD training have more positive teacher-child interactions, encompassing behaviors such as praising and being responsive to children. 18 19

A caregiver’s ability to create an ECCD environment that meets the needs of children is con-strained when caregivers have inadequate, insufficient, or incorrect pedagogical knowledge. 20

In a 2007 meta-analysis, Fukkink and Lont (2007) examined the impact of caregiver training, with researchers concluded that specialized training increased caregiver competencies, leading to an increase in the provision of quality care. According to the analysis, caregiver education and training appeared to be a better predictor of the quality of childcare provided than other factors such as provider experience, though this review was limited to examining training that addressed teacher-child interactions.

Identifying different pathways to achieving caregiver competence Many studies involving the professional development of ECCD caregivers examine caregivers who already have a high baseline level of education, such as a bachelor’s or master’s degree. Pro-fessional development and training is often used to refine the skills of these caregivers, adding to the body of knowledge they already possess. Alternatively, professional development and training can be looked at as a means to build caregiver competencies that is external to formal education. It is important to make the delineation between when education, professional development and training is conducted for caregivers with previous education and those without. Regardless, when caregivers receive professional development, in the form of either formal or informal training they become more sensitive to the needs of children. 21

Bachelor’s Degree As the professionalization of the ECCD workforce in Europe and the US continues, there has been an intensified focus on what type of education will guarantee the best outcomes for children. In a meta-analysis examining the relationship between the educational status of teachers and classroom quality and child development, Kelley and Camilli (2007) found that positive out-comes for teachers with a bachelor’s degree were significantly greater than for their less educated counterparts. Their findings supported previous evidence regarding ECCD caregivers educated 22

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Sylva et al., 200617

Samuelsson & Carlsson, 200818

Howes, James, & Ritchie, 200319

Taguma, Litjens & Makowiecki, 201220

Ghazvini & Mullis, 2002 21

Barnett, 200422


to a bachelor’s level. However, in addressing the limitations of their study, they observed that 23

there is a lack of data regarding the specific behaviors and approaches used by degreed caregivers in high-quality classrooms. They argued that if this information was available, it could be used to identify the specific skills that are associated with better child outcomes, and whether or not these skills would be transmittable to teachers without a BA.

A bachelor’s degree can be a factor in teacher effectiveness, but a degree alone may not be suf24 -ficient to ensure that caregivers are providing quality care. In a comparative study of caregivers with differing levels of education, caregivers with a bachelor’s degree or higher were found to be more sensitive and engaged with children, in addition to providing more developmentally appro-priate care to children. However this study also hinted at the importance of specialized training; 25

teachers who did not complete a bachelor’s degree but had received some university-level train-ing that was ECCD specific still possessed greater teaching skills than teachers who had complet-ed a two-year associates degree. Additionally, researchers found that a teacher’s exposure to 26

ECCD specific curriculum in their education was associated the ability to enact better social-emo-tional practices in the classroom.

Certificate While evidence suggests that a bachelor’s degree is the ideal level of educational attainment for ECCD caregivers, obtaining this degree remains an unviable option for many. In the US, the state of California developed an alternative to the bachelor’s degree via a credentialing system that gives weight not only to a degree, but also to the content of the training that caregivers undertake. The California Child Development Permit does not require that practitioners have a BA, but par-ticular courses in child development and early childhood education are required. A study explor-ing the impact of the permit on teachers behaviours found that there were only slight differences between lead teachers with a permit and those with a bachelor’s in state and school-district preschool programmes. The key difference appeared to be the setting. In classrooms where 27

there might be less support— private, nonprofit, and Head Start classrooms, teachers with a bach-elor’s were more effective. However, in school district or state pre-school classrooms, caregivers with less education and lower levels of credentialing received teaching support, which enabled them provide care that was on par with teachers possessing a bachelor’s degree.

Professional development There is strong evidence in favour of professional development as a mechanism to develop com-petent ECCD caregivers. Professional development has been shown to increase teachers’ knowl-

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McMullen & Alat, 200223

Darling-Hammond & Youngs, 200224

Howes, 199525

Howes, 199726

Vu, Jeon & Howes, 200827

http://www.ctc.ca.gov/credentials/creds/child-dev-permits.html


edge and skills through improving teaching abilities. Specialised training influences how care28 -givers interact with children and leads to an increase in quality of care. Though caregivers with 29

comprehensive education continue to be linked to better child outcomes, both informal training 30

and concurrent training are correlated with higher quality care, regardless of the level of a teach-ers training or education. In a 2002 study, the best predictor of higher-quality childcare was 31

found to be specialized ECCD training for caregivers. 32

The research available suggests that professional development should be a continuing process with teachers, especially when the aim of the professional development is to help caregivers change their teaching practices to practices that are different than their own. A survey assess33 -ment ECCD caregivers in Bermuda found that caregivers that had completed at least half of their two-year early childhood education training programmes were found to be less punitive and to have more positive interactions with children than counterparts who had received no training. 34

Coaching and mentoring Coaching or mentoring support to caregivers appears to be a possibly vital but unexamined aspect of efficient training and education. In a study of caregivers in a low-income setting in the US, re-searchers found that, although caregivers possessing a bachelor’s degree tended to be more effec-tive than their less-educated counterparts, when less-educated caregivers were exposed to reflec-tive supervision and mentoring early on in their careers, their levels of responsive involvement and ability to engage children in emergent literacy was no different than teachers educated to a bachelor’s level. Coaching support helps teachers retain information while simultaneously pro35 -viding constructive feedback that can be conducive to improved teaching. What does effective 36

coaching usually entail? A study exploring the impact of professional development on school readiness for low-income preschool students in the US maintained that Head Start teachers would benefit from in-service training that focused on individual teachers and provided ongoing coach-

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Pianta, Mashburn, Downer, Hamre, & Justice, 200828

Campbell & Milbourne, 200529

Burchinal, Cryer, Clifford & Howes, 200230

Vandell & Wolfe, 200031

Ghazvini & Mullis, 200232

Timperley & Phillips, 200333

Mccall, Groark, & Fish, 201034

Howes, James, & Ritchie, 200335

Hyson, Tomlinson, & Morris, 200936


ing support. The study confirmed earlier findings that such support helps caregivers develop the 37

skills to institute effective classroom processes and classroom organization. Darling-Hammond, Wei, Andree, Richardson and Orphanos (2009) suggested that effective coaching occurs on the job and takes a collaborative approach between the caregiver, mentor, and school administration. 38

!Threshold standards for ECCD caregiver training will enable the provision of quality care !In order to assess standards for training, it is necessary to look at standards of care for ECCD classrooms, and what comprises quality childcare in a particular context. Multiple indicators can be used to determine the impact of caregiver education and training, but caregiver quality is seen through the lens of the class-room and positive child development outcomes. In order to ensure that the caregiver’s level of education-al attainment and training is sufficient, there is a need to establish what standards of care are expected in a caregiving setting.

Identifying needed caregiver characteristics that meet classroom benchmarks can help guide the curricu-lum for caregiver education programmes, and can help enable them to meet those standards in a class-room setting.

Measuring teacher quality and assessment instruments Teacher quality is a subjective matter and the definition of what constitutes quality can vary im-mensely. ECERS (ECERS-R) is one of the most common assessment instruments for caregiver interactions with children. Using subscales to measure environment quality, ECERS looks at caregiver responsivity in addition to examining classroom space, furnishings, play materials and activities available. ECERS or a modified version of ECERS has been used in over 20 countries, many of those in the developing world. Many other assessment instruments exist, some of the 39

most common being the High/Scope Program Quality Assessment and the NAEYC measure for Developmentally Appropriate Practice. All of these assessment instruments contain common fac-tors for evaluation, measuring teacher quality among them.

Creating a tool that is flexible enough to take into account differing international viewpoints while remaining locally relevant has proved challenging. In response to the need for an assess-ment tool that would be reliable and globally applicable, the Association for Childhood Education International developed the Global Guidelines Assessment, which aims to be culturally sensitive in addition to using constructs that reflect global commonalities in quality ECCD care.

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Son, Kwon, Jeon & Hong, 201337

Darling-Hammond, Wei, Andree, Richardson & Orphanos, 200938

Clifford, Reszka & Rossbach, 201039

http://www.highscope.org/Content.asp?ContentId=116

http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSDAP.pdf

http://www.acei.org/global-resources/global-guidelines.html


UNICEF uses the International Step by Step Association’s list of seven practices and principles 40

as the indicators of a successful educator:

1. Interactions: Educator provides opportunities for children to interact with other chil-dren and adults in a meaningful and respectful manner

2. Family and Community: Educator partners with families and communities to support children’s learning and development

3. Inclusion, Diversity and Values of Democracy: Educator’s practice reflects beliefs from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and promotes diversi-ty

4. Assessment and Planning: Educator uses assessment-planning cycle and systematic observation to support each child’s development and learning

5. Teaching Strategies: Educator uses teacher strategies grounded in care and nurturing while promoting curiosity, exploration, critical thinking, and cooperation

6. Learning Environment: Educator offers a learning environment that is safe, stimulat-ing, and welcoming

7. Professional Development: Educator engages in ongoing professional and personal development, uses critical reflection and partners with others to improve their per-formance ▪ !

By using the Step by Step Association’s approach, UNICEF believes that quality caregivers using child-centered teaching approaches can facilitate learning and reduce disparities among children in their care. 41!

Caregiver education and quality

The content and quality of a caregivers education programme may be a more crucial element of positive caregiver impact that the level of educational attainment alone. A 2007 meta-analysis 42

addressing the correlation between the level of education and field of study of early childhood teachers, and outcomes with 4 year olds in their care, found contradictory associations between teacher’s education and classroom quality, suggesting that focusing solely on ensuring that care-givers obtain a bachelor’s degree is not enough to reach desired outcomes. If the quality of the caregiver’s degree programme was poor, it is unlikely that the caregiver will be able to deliver adequate care and therefore, benefits for children in their care. The analysis concluded that a

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International Step by Step Association, 201040

UNICEF, 200041

Nutbrown Review, 201242

http://www.issa.nl/content/issa-quality-principles


broad range of professional development and support for teacher-child interactions would aid ECCD effectiveness. 43

Implementation of standards In 2000, Mauritius established regulations for the governance of day care centers and teacher training. Institutions providing courses on ECCD must be registered with Mauritius Qualifica-tions Authority (MQA), who, since 2008, have consulted the Ministry of Education ECD division when processing requests from institutions providing training. In 2009, the Ministry organised a course for caregivers who lacked professional qualifications in ECD, which was made mandatory in 2000. The Ministry has also worked with the Mauritius College of the Air to implement a dis-tance-learning programme for those wanting to qualify to be caregivers. This course leads to a Certificate of Proficiency on ECD 0-5 years. Additionally, workshops are held throughout the year with managers and staff of day care centers, where the focus is on capacity building practices regarding the development, care, safety and hygiene of children. 44

From a national standpoint, program standards can be difficult to impose. Many training colleges or programmes are privately run, and operate with limited regulation and involvement of gov-ernments. In Uganda, the majority of ECCD caregiver training programmes and colleges are pri-vately owned, and vary widely in terms of acceptance policies, curriculum, and student assess-ment, which led to variations in the quality of ECCD caregivers produced. In 2008, Uganda 45

passed an education act that stipulated the registration and accreditation of training centers, in addition to setting benchmarks for all ECCD training, regardless of whether the training is for parents or ECCD caregivers outside the home. The ‘benchmark’ programme is a 3 month, 5 unit training course, and frameworks were set for additional one and two year programmes, which result in a teaching certificate. As of 2009, the Ministry of Education found that most training col-leges were not following or using the ECD teacher training framework.

!The curriculum of ECCD caregiver training should be holistic— in addition to the provision of developmentally appropriate practices, it should address the trainees academic and social skills !Moss (2003) argues that the education and training of ECCD caregivers is bound to a country’s construct of what early childhood care provision is. For some countries, early childhood care institutions are seen as places to instill a set of values and pre-determined knowledge, alternatively, the child is seen as a citizen in the making and a ‘co-constructor’ of knowledge, and the approach is often manifested in how care-

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Early et al., 200743

Gobin-Bheenick, 201044

Ejuu, 201245


givers are trained. Regardless of the approach a country may take, most countries are aiming for more 46

comprehensively educated ECCD caregivers.

Developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) What is considered best practice for the care of young children inevitably influences what care-givers learn, according, ECCD approaches and vary immensely.

Developmentally appropriate practice is an approach developed by the US-based National Asso-ciation for the Education for Young Children, which seeks to guide caregivers working with young children. This approach rests on three core concepts: caregivers take into account their knowledge of the different stages of child development and learning, caregivers approach the care of each child as an individual, and the caregiver must seek to understand the social and cultural contexts each child lives in. These guidelines are widely accepted and considered best practice 47

in the US, however, there may be a greater need in developing contexts to focus on cultural and societal practices. Criticisms of the DAP concept often focus on a perceived lack of consideration of cultural and family traditions and the need to consider these traditions prior to pushing the DAP approach to ECCD in classrooms outside of the US. 48

Context-specific The PIN training program was developed to help caregivers in urban, low-income settings devel-op a quality classroom environment that is also appropriate for young children with disabil-ities. Consisting of classroom-based training and in-service training over the course of 3 t o 4 months, PIN was found to effect small changes in classroom quality. In an evaluation of 129 49

staff in 29 classrooms, the number of classrooms ranking as ‘inadequate’ under ECERS subscales decreased three percent following the training.

PIN’s approach includes building the competencies of childcare staff by providing training that relates to a caregivers education and training level. Caregivers who participated in this training re-ported improved childcare practices. Training participants completed five 3-hour sessions, partici-pated in two on site sessions, and additional consultation was provided for supervision of caregivers who were implementing the practices in their classrooms. In a study of 166 early childhood care providers in 92 classrooms who completed First Beginnings, the PIN curriculum, observable change occurred in 17 of the classroom, where quality changed from by at least one ITERS point. T h e

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Moss, 200746

NAEYC, 201447

Pence & Marfo, 200848

Campbell, Milbourne, Silverman & Feller, 200549

http://www.naeyc.org/DAP

http://jeffline.tju.edu/cfsrp/products/materials-pin1.html


number of classrooms rated as inadequate before training (n=34; 35%) was reduced following train-ing (n=28; 29%). 50

Incorporation of indigenous knowledge and practices The need for integrating indigenous knowledge has begun to receive more attention as it is seen as way to address cultural needs and include the diversity of communities that need to be served by early childhood care and development programmes. Incorporating indigenous knowledge is a practical way to address the socio-cultural needs of both children and caregivers, and can lead to greater community ownership of ECCD programmes. 51

Incorporating indigenous knowledge draws upon the pre-existing experiences of caregivers and has the capacity to involve them more deeply in their training. The Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) program offers distance-learning courses and uses indigenous knowledge to build teacher capacity in ECCD in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. The program’s curriculum is built on ‘the participation of student-practitioners who draw from local knowledge and draw upon the experience of others to learn and disseminate what they learn…Learning becomes a multi-directional process of interaction and exchange that builds the capacity of participants to make new and unique contributions to the body of knowledge on African early childhood development.’ For example, storytelling was identified as one of the important vehi52 -cles for transferring information about locally relevant cultures and beliefs. Program participants collected indigenous stories from their home countries of Malawi, Lesotho, Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania and used the stories to explore the traditions and beliefs that they transmitted to chil-dren.

!Training should be community-based and sustainable Accessing training remains a persistent barrier. Education and training throughout the world continues to be focused around institutions, which are either inaccessible due to geographical constraints or are finan-cially prohibitive for many. The lack of educated and capable trainers to deliver trainings presents a seri-ous obstacle in ECCD caregiver training programmes. Onsite training programmes and distance learn-ing are important resources in extending training and educational opportunities to early childhood care-givers. 53

!!

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Philadelphia Inclusion Network, 200250

Owuor, 200851

Pence & Shafer, 200652

NGA Center for Best Practices, 201053


!

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!Kenya

• • •

As Kenya aims to integrate ECCD classrooms into the country’s primary school system, the training of ECCD caregivers has begun to receive intensified attention. ECCD training is usually offered through regional District Center for Early Childhood Education (DICECE) offices, which offer short certificate courses, 2 year diploma courses and occa-sionally 4 year degrees. Though caregiver’s in Kenya have many options for training, they receive limited government support. Many caregivers may be linked to District Center for Early Childhood Education (DICECE) offices, which provide regional support centers for training and assistance on how to work with children.

DICECE offices appear to trains the majority of the ECCD caregivers, as this is the most cost-effective route for most students who are looking to enter the teaching field. In spite of the provision of government-regulated training options, caregivers appear to receive little support beyond what is available at DICECE offices. Professional development op-portunities beyond the basic training are available at DICECE centers, but many caregivers are unable to afford the costs of traveling and other costs associated with training. ECCD caregivers are not paid by the government, and rely upon the community they live and work in to pay them.

Parents of preschool children consider the ECD classrooms to be a form of childcare and as a necessary preparation for the first grade entrance-screening test. “The main challenge facing early childhood care and education today is that of harmonizing curriculum and teaching methodologies to help ease children’s transition from kindergarten to the primary grades” (Mbugua, 2004a, p. 196). Best practice for teachers includes a curriculum that fo-cuses on the holistic and culturally appropriate instruction of children. While these prac-tices appear to be successful, it is unclear which teaching route has enabled such practices make it to the classroom.


Taking into account caregivers personal and professional needs, learning opportunities should be context appropriate and relevant to the needs of teachers and students. Training should be applicable to the 54

classroom environment, and the provision of support and guidance can help caregivers retain informa55 -tion.

Training can be provided on the job or at a training center, through meetings, workshops, conferences, field-based training by consultants, or supervised mentoring, and it is important that caregivers have ac-cess to long-term opportunities to develop their skills and build their knowledge base. 56

According to an OECD review, subject training, field-based consultation and professional workshops are all effective ways to improve knowledge and skills. Caregivers without a degree who attend profession57 -al workshops are found to provide higher quality care than their counterparts who do not attend. 58

Using the community as a resource

The Education for All initiative (UNESCO) profiled programmes that use the ‘complementary education model’, which rests on the premise that within communities, there are individuals who are capable of teaching primary school, and that they can be effective teachers with training and regular support. By sourcing teachers within the community, they bypass the issue of inadequate 59

teacher supply. As these teachers are from the community, it is likely that they have already es-tablished relationships with children and families and will therefore be more accountable. Addi-tionally, as they already live in the communities, they do not need to be enticed to stay in the community. Presumably, this could also be extended to the recruitment of early years caregivers.

Recommendations !Identifying standards !

▪ In ECCD, there is a lack of consensus regarding how outcomes should be defined and measured. Additionally, there is difficulty in translating these outcomes from one language to another, which

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Yuen, 2011 54

Baumfield & Butterworth, 200555

Litjens and Taguma, 201056

Taguma, Litjens & Makowiecki, 201257

Burchinal, Cryer, Clifford, & Howes, 200258

Destefano et al., 200759


can in turn make cross-cultural comparisons unsound. This also extends to teacher-training out-comes. Identifying outcomes that are centred around core principles yet remains fluid enough to 60

capture cultural differences can help the development of a standards framework. The overview of research suggests that common elements do appear in programme quality instruments, and that it may be possible to identify what outcomes should be assessed in relation to ECCD caregiver char-acteristics.

▪ The standards of training programs will be subject to different cultural and social viewpoints, therefore it is important to identify if a country has already developed standards for teacher train-ing, and how those standards are attained and assessed.

▪ Fitting training standards to a national agenda can strengthen a program’s ability to be utilized, and creates continuity for monitoring and evaluation purposes. If a country lacks standards regarding the training of ECCD caregivers, establishing standards enables the development of monitoring systems.

Providing support

▪ What emerges from many of the studies is the importance of providing mentoring and supervision to caregivers. Regardless of the level of educational attainment of a caregiver, providing guidance offers a pathway to effective teaching. Recognisably, this is not widely available in many devel-oping contexts, and research into support provision and its efficacy would be invaluable in order to provide further insight into the development of caregiver competencies.

▪ Providing ongoing support to teachers, in the form of mentoring or training helps teachers under-stand the material they have been taught and helps them navigate challenges and develop the skills that are required to meet them.

▪ Programmes that offer practical training paired with in-service support have been found to be helpful. Supervision and continued training means that caregivers have a chance to address 61

knowledge gaps and have access to feedback. An evaluation of a madrassa pre-school programme found that caregivers being mentored by trainers in the form of on-site support visits, accompa-nied by weekly centre-based trainings, helped to reinforce positive caregiver behaviors.

▪ Mentoring can be adapted to fit the context, for example, new caregivers can be paired with more experienced teachers or student caregivers can work with supervisors. Induction programmes, which involve ongoing training and support, can help increase caregiver competence by support-ing caregivers in developing classroom curriculum and evaluation.

▪ The presence of well-trained caregivers can have a positive influence on their less trained coun-terparts. One study by the Effective Provision of Pre-school Education Project found that the be-havior of less trained caregivers was positively impacted by working with skilled caregivers. 62

!

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Groark, 200760

DeStefano, Schuh-Moore, Balwanz, & Hartwell, 200661

Sylva, Melhuish, Sammons, Siraj-Blatchford & Taggart, 200462


Ongoing training and development !▪ Evidence from Bangladesh, Botswana, Guatemala and Pakistan suggests that ongoing profession-

al development, starting in a teacher’s early years and continuing throughout the course of their teaching career can contribute to student learning and the retention of students in classes. 63

▪ The question of what constitutes effective and sufficient professional development remains. UNICEF recommends that it should not be limited to formal programmes, less-formal develop-ment such as reflectionary feedback from colleagues and keeping journals can help caregivers overcome shortcomings in their training.

▪ The Mombassa School Improvement project in Kenya used in-service support and external work-shops to help teachers develop child-centered teaching skills, this approach helped them improve their abilities significantly. 64

▪ It’s important to take a stance on what approach caregivers should take towards children, yet this may vary according to country or geographic region. Existent evidence supports an approach that is child-centered, respecting the rights of the child and approaching child development from a holistic viewpoint. Training should be presented in a manner that is congruent with the care that caregivers will be providing, i.e., child centered and relevant to the situations teachers will en-counter in class.

▪ UNICEF uses the concept of ‘life skills’ for caregivers and teachers, which refers to the develop-ment of psychosocial and interpersonal skills, and refers to the process of simultaneously learning and teaching these skills, so that as the teacher is helping impart life skills to her charges, she is also actively learning and using them herself.

▪ Technology can play a role in professional development that can help bridge gaps created by geo-graphic inaccessibility. The Early Childhood Development Virtual University uses internet-based courses to educate caregivers, and in India, the use of an interactive video technology led to an improvement in understanding of pedagogical issues for a group of teachers who were dispersed over a wide geographical area.

▪ Technology potentially offers a cost effective way to reach a greater number of caregivers and those who live at a distance. Distance learning needs to be complemented by mentoring and face-to-face support in order to be successful. 65

▪ Donor attitudes may also have an effect on teacher training. From 2008 to 2011, donors spent USD 567 million on pre-service and in-service teacher education programmes, yet the recipients who received the majority of the aid were middle-income countries such as Brazil and China.

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Craig, Kraft & du Plessis, 1998, Education for All63

Anderson, 2000, EFA64

“Teaching And Learning: Achieving quality for all,” UNESCO, accessed August 2, 2014, http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/65

0022/002266/226662e.pdf


!!ECCD specific knowledge !

▪ Specialised training in ECCD for caregivers appears to enable the provision of care that is suited for the needs of young children. Continuing education and training are important, even for trained caregivers, and professional development has the ability to fill out a caregivers knowledge and skill gaps. A study in Zimbabwe found that unqualified teachers lacked the knowledge and skills to provide care that was in line with the government’s ECCD policy. In the absence of spe66 -cialised training, caregivers resorted to formalised teaching methods that were not developmental-ly appropriate for children younger than 6.

!▪ In UNESCO’s 2013-2014 Education for All report, only 17 countries had plans that included

some strategy for improving teacher education programmes, and only 16 included further training of current caregivers. Kenya, Naimibia and Timor-Leste plan to provide in-service education, and Rwanda includes the use of mentors in schools to support teacher development.

!▪ UNESCO suggests a four-pronged approach to addressing the need for quality teachers, including

providing competitive salaries and better teacher governance, acknowledging that a key compo-nent of the provision of quality education lies with teacher quality. Part of this is ongoing training that helps to reinforce skills and knowledge, all the more important for those who lack training or are undertrained.

!!!!!The need for monitoring and evaluation !!

▪ It is essential to have strong monitoring and evaluation mechanisms built into any training pro-gramme. The current Save the Children assessment framework will enable the use of both quali-tative and quantitative data to assess outcomes for caregivers and children, ensuring that the pro-gramme will be seen from a holistic viewpoint.

o Qualitative data tools: documentary evidence (e.g. research evidence, policy documents, statistics);

o focus groups and/or individual interviews child-friendly visual and/or play-based partici-patory methods for collecting data from young children

o interviews with key stakeholders including parents/carers, community leaders, govern-ment department and district/local officials, training providers and recipients.

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Moyo, Wadesango & Kurebwa, 201266


o Quantitative data tools: ECCD caregivers knowledge, skills and competencies check-lists;

o Parent knowledge and home practices checklist;

o The Quality Learning Environment tool (QLE) for ECCD;

o Develop child developmental and learning checklists;

o School readiness checklists

!▪ The ACEI Global Guidelines Assessment (GGA) potential as an international assessment tool is

promising. In a 2013 pilot study in four countries, China, Guatemala, Taiwan, and the United States, GGA displayed strong internal consistency for each subscale as well as moderate consis-tency for five subscales. A comparison of item ratings, in addition to the qualitative evidence sug-gested that GGA possessed moderately acceptable congruence between the ratings and evidence to support the ratings. According to the authors of the study, ‘these results suggest that the GGA has potential as a useful and effective tool both for understanding early childhood program quali-ty within and across countries and as a means of helping practitioners to establish and/or improve the quality of their services’ (Hardin, Bergen & Hung, 2013).

!Sensitivity to context !

▪ The Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) in Africa used country commit-tees in to develop country specific goals, to accept and review applications, and then to suggest applicants for the programme. ECDVU’s approach rested on the concept of a participant’s respon-sibility to his/her country, that participants were undergoing training on behalf of their country, and that the completion of the programme was of importance to their communities and countries. The ECDVU felt that this approach contrasted with the individualistic approach commonly found in university systems.

!Government partnerships !

▪ Despite the acknowledged importance of training staff, governments may oppose training as care-givers with better qualifications may in turn ask for higher wages; therefore enlisting the support of government institutions is essential.

▪ ECCD has shown to be cost-effective and to generate ample social and economic returns, yet many governments underinvest in ECCD. Due to the centrality of competent caregivers in effective early years care, governments must acknowledge the importance of investing in caregiver training and creating an environment that is amenable to caregivers seeking education and training.

!

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!!Conclusion !Caregivers play a unique and deeply influential role in early childhood care, development, and education. However, there exists no consensus on how to best produce good caregivers. The education and training of caregivers is inherently tied to the context and the resources that context offers. Additionally, it is tied to the conceptualization of what constitutes early childhood care and development in different communi-ties and countries; therefore it is very difficult to draw generalizations. This reality necessitates the exam-ination of a core set of issues:

▪ What qualifications should be given to caregivers? Should these qualifications be rooted in com-petency or reflective/critical practices?

▪ Should training and education attempt to provide basic skills that would encompass caregivers in centers, childcare institutions and home-based care, or do these different settings mean that dif-ferent modes of training are needed?

▪ How can caregivers receive the support that is needed to ensure that they enact the practices that they learn?

▪ Is it possible to establish a basic set of standards for training and education? What is the time-frame and minimum amount of education/training that is needed to produce proficient caregivers?

The Signature Approach provides an exciting opportunity to produce robust, rigorous research on the effi-cacy of caregiver training and education in developing contexts, of which there is currently a notable lack of.

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Appendix A !

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Descriptors Initial results

1 Teacher Training Early childhood 424

2 Teacher Training Early years 878

3 Teacher Training Pre-school 757

4 Caretaker Training Early childhood 528

5 Caretaker Training Early years 1,057

6 Caretaker Training Pre-school 457

7 Caregiver Training Early childhood 928

8 Caregiver Training Early years 447

9 Caregiver Training Pre-school 424

10 Educator Training Early childhood 615

11 Educator Training Early years 416

12 Educator Training Pre-school 706

6,181

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Independent searches

“early childhood care and development teacher training program” systematic review only: 54

“early childhood care teacher training program”: 33

In-depth review of evaluations

!

!

Study/Report Country Key words Theoretical model – implicit, explicit, or implied?

Type of training Who is for (characteristics of participants)

Where it takes place? Who is the p ro v i d e r & being involved

Study Uganda Assessment, early childhood development teacher, education, teacher training curriculum, training framework

Not discussed

Survey of framework implementation for ECD

Sample size: n=106

Sex: 78% female, 22% male

Institutional 5 3 principals a n d 5 3 tutors from c o l l e g e s providing E C D training

Key characteristics of training

Details and conditions of intervention

Theory behind the intervention

Is there an evaluation component? Is there pre-intervention data and outcome data

Ethics, strengths & limitations

discussed

Authors judgments & conclusions

Evaluators judgments: how does this relate to an integrated ECCD program (SELF)

When

For how long

What happens

Not explicitly stated

This study discusses the implementation of a streamlined framework for the training of ECCD caregiver and whether educational institutions can support it

Yes ECD educational institutions have adopted the new guidelines for

Discusses the important step of institutions beginning to adhere to training guidelines and standards for ECCD caregivers, in this case in Uganda: programs must take 2 years to complete, have uniform admission requirements. Training content and adherence to timelines is not discussed.

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Appendix B

Comparative programmes with equivalent organisations Comparable ECCD programmes exist within other major international organisations. Notably, the majori-ty of programmes are holistic and are couched within approaches that encompass child health, child rights, nutrition, and working with parents.

Plan International Australia- Enhancing Child Protection Through Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Plan International’s approach to ECCD consists of four interrelated stages, one of which is “Making Schools Ready for Children”. Contained within this cornerstone is training of caregivers, including in-service training.

Plan lists five core topics that should be addressed in any basic ECCD training:

▪ Setting the Context

▪ Understanding Child Abuse and Child Protection – and how this connects to:

▪ Child Development

▪ Roles and Responsibilities for Protecting Children

▪ Proactive Actions to Increase Protection

In addition to these five core areas, Plan suggests additional trainings on Child Friendly Protection Pro-cedures, Developing Child Protection Policies for Projects and Developing Self Protection Activities for Children, in order to further develop caregiver skills. Plan makes the assumption that trainers will be ed-ucated or sensitized to the material to a degree and will be able to facilitate trainings that meet the needs of participants.

UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education- Parenting Education Pro-gramme The Parenting Education Programme aims to educate parents and caregivers in non-formal ECCD set-tings. Trainings are led by facilitators in community learning centers, and are based on a handbook that contains guidelines both for facilitators and participants. The practices encouraged in the guidebook are grounded in research conducted in 5 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The training is based on nine module workshops, and includes a training manual for the workshop facili-tator. The facilitator handbook covers the responsibilities of a facilitator, and includes information on how to engage participants and strategies for planning and conducting workshops.

The nine modules consist of:

▪ Caring for children

▪ A child is born

▪ The developing child

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http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002140/214007E.pdf


▪ Health and nutrition

▪ Play in the lives of children

▪ The many languages of children

▪ Young children’s behavior

▪ Children with disabilities

▪ Going to school

All the modules taught include concrete actions and activities for facilitators to use in the course of train-ings, and they range in length from 1.5 hours to several hours.

UNICEF- Care for Child Development The Care for Child Development (CCD) intervention was developed in conjunction with the WHO as an ECD intervention integrated with child health. The CCD package guides caregivers within and external to the family unit to develop basic care-giving skills and sensitivity to child-specific development needs. 67

The intervention is general, and while developed for families, can be used to train extra-familial care-givers. !The Care for Child Development package consists of:

▪ Simple recommendations health workers can make to families to improve the development of children.

▪ Training materials for health workers and community providers. ▪ Support for families to solve common problems in providing good care for young children. ▪ Advocacy materials. ▪ A monitoring and evaluation framework. !

Training materials include a participant manual, counseling cards, facilitator notes, and clinical practice guide for medical providers. !CCD uses the ToT method in the hopes of creating a global pool of trainers that can teach and adapt the intervention to their home countries. !The implementation approach of CCD involves mainstreaming into national delivery systems by identify-ing the most appropriate and efficient channels to deliver the intervention. The basic nature of the package means that it can be adapted to local contexts. !Unicef identified that a challenge to expanding this intervention is the limited number of master trainers available to facilitate trainings and to implement activities. !A 2013 report on an inter-agency workshop reported that Save the Children has used components of the CCD package, most notably in Bangladesh. An informational card with 6 key messages on nutrition, 68

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“Care for Child Development Package,” UNICEF, accessed August 2, 2014, http://www.unicef.org/earlychildhood/index_68195.html67

“Building Global Capacity for the Implementation of the WHO/UNICEF Intervention Care for Child Development, REPORT on the Intera68 -gency Workshop, ” UNICEF, accessed August 2, 2014, http://www.unicef.org/earlychildhood/files/CCD_workshop_June_24-29_2013-_Fi-nal_Report_2.pdf

http://www.unicef.org/earlychildhood/files/3.CCD_-_Participant_Manual.pdf

http://www.unicef.org/earlychildhood/files/4.CCD_-_Counselling_Cards.pdf

http://www.unicef.org/earlychildhood/files/5._CCD_-_Facilitator_Notes.pdf

http://www.unicef.org/earlychildhood/files/6._CCD_-_Clinical_Practice.pdf


hygiene and communication/play was distributed to mothers and caregivers. Save the Children compared two approaches to service delivery: volunteer run community-based groups and home visits by govern-ment service providers. Both approaches were found to significantly improve children’s cognitive devel-opment, with effect sizes of d= 1.52 and 1.34 respectively, in addition to a marked improvement in chil-dren’s receptive and expressive language skills.

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!Appendix C : Training programmes !Implemented by: International Child Resource Institute (ICRI)

Country: Kenya

Program Established: 2012

Length of program: 18 months

Mode of delivery: center-based

Certificate/Degree granted: Early Childhood Development diploma

M&E strategy: In-class assessment and standardized assessment performance

Website: ICRI

Program Description:

Program provides ECD training to caregivers most of whom are working with low-income communities and vulnerable children. 15 trainees are currently enrolled in the training course across the three sites. The majority of trainees have no formal training in Early Childhood Education and Care but are already teaching (often in ICRI sponsored ECD Centres). The training costs are subsidized by ICRI and in some instances donor support.

The training is designed to suit teachers' schedules, allowing them to attend classes outside their teaching hours, for example during school holidays. The program advocates for a holistic approach to Early Child-hood Education and Care that places emphasis on the learning and development abilities of young chil-dren regardless of what socio-economic challenges they face. The course runs for 18 months, and at the end students sit an examination by the Kenya National Examination Council. Upon completion, candi-dates are accredited with an Early Childhood Development diploma. ICRI training centers currently host visiting trainers from ICRI offices around the world to enhance and share the ECD best practices.

!Implemented by: Madrasa Resource Centre-Kenya/Aga Khan Development Network

Country: Kenya


Length of program: 18 months

Mode of delivery: enter-based

Certificate/Degree granted: unknown

M&E strategy: internal assessment performance, user satisfaction, standardized assessment performance

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Website: MoCeDET


The Model Centre for Deaf Education and Training (MoCeDET) was formed as a center for ECD and early primary school aged children with the aim to improve the quality of education for deaf children in the Kajiado region. The region has over 500 registered deaf children (they have been tested by the Min-istry of Education) who do not receive quality education because of a lack of specialized schools. Social workers from MoCeDET liaise with local government to identify the children that they can support through the ECD center.

The ECD center follows the government curriculum and teachers place emphasis on learning sign lan-guage and English language to ensure that the children are able to communicate and therefore learn better. The teaching model involves professionally trained deaf teachers to deliver quality education and better understand the needs of the students. MoCeDET recognizes the importance of community engagement for sustainability of the program and partners with the Kenya National Association for the Deaf to offer regu-lar workshops to sensitize the community of deafness. They also tried to host weekly sign language cour-ses for the families of students but were unable to sustain this as parents were unable to make the weekly trip. One of the main challenges faced by the ECD center is lack of teaching and learning materials that are developed for the deaf and is an area they are keen to develop through partnership.

!Implemented by: Model Centre for Deaf Education and Training (MoCeDET)

Countries: Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya


Length of program: 1 year

Mode of delivery: Classroom and in-service

Certificate/Degree granted: unknown

M&E Strategy: Internal assessment performance, User satisfaction, Graduation or promotion rates, Teacher retention, Student retention

Website: MECP-K


MECP-K emphasizes the Professional Development of preschool teachers through tailor made training and support. MECP provides 1815 hours of pre-service teachers training in an in-service mode (both classroom and field-based learning) to certify pre-primary teachers in Early Childhood Development (ECD). Teacher training is part of the 5 phases of madrasa (ECCD class) development that includes de-veloping a curriculum and working with local communities. Teachers undergo a one-year training period

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that beginning with introducing the basic concepts of active learning, demonstrating how to set up an ap-propriate learning environment and showing how to develop low-cost classroom materials. The trainees come together for three-week sessions in April, August and December for a total of nine full weeks.

The training in the Madrasa Programme involves an introduction to theory combined with opportunities to apply that theory in the classroom under the regular guidance of a mentor trainer. This has provided trainees with the opportunity to work with children at the same time as learning about child development and being introduced to the curriculum.

MECP-K also provides tailored refresher courses for in-service pre-primary teachers. Overall, MECP-K puts significant emphasis on coaching and mentoring of teachers to continuously improve teaching prac-tices in lesson delivery. The Centres train teachers and school management committee members to deliver continuous on-site support

!Implemented by: Centre for Early Childhood Development

Country: South Africa


Length of program: 24 months/other

Mode of delivery: work-based

Certificate/Degree granted: certificate/other

M&E strategy: ECERS, Standardized assessment performance, Internal assessment performance

Website: The Centre for Early Childhood Development


The Centre for Early Childhood Development facilitates several Integrated ECD Programmes throughout South Africa by providing ECD centers with a range of support services including teacher training, equipment provision, building upgrades, governance training, and family and community outreach. Trained field workers from the Centre for Early Childhood Development work alongside each ECD cen-ter's governing body, principal, and teachers to enhance the center's operations. The Integrated ECD Pro-gramme also assists in registering each ECD center with provincial authorities and helps it to access pro-vincial ECD subsidies, both of which are critical to sustain the function of each individual ECD center and ensure that all operation costs are covered.

ECD qualifications are offered through the Centre: including the Further Education and Training Certifi-cate: Early Childhood Development (NQF Level 4) as well as the Higher Certificate: Early Childhood Development (NQF Level 5).

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These qualifications are part of a government-led training called “Learnerships”, which are work-based learning programmes, combining formal learning components with practical work experiences. A student who is enrolled in a learnership is required to complete his/ her classroom-based learning at a college or training centre and to do on-the-job training in the workplace. People entering a learnership do not have to pay anything for the programme, Some learnerships have entry requirements that relate directly to the field of study. In some instances learners could finish a learnership in a shorter time through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), whereby learners will be able to get formal recognition for parts of the pro-gramme they have already completed through previous learning or work-based experience. At the end of a learnership a participant will receive an official and nationally recognized SETA (Skills, Education, Train-ing Authority) certificate.

The Further Education and Training Certificate: Early Childhood Development (NQF Level 4) is a 24-month course based on 4 modules. This qualification provides a means for formal recognition of those who are already practising in the field, without ECD qualifications, as well as for those who wish to enter the field. This qualification will also provide a basis for further professional development for experienced practitioners in the field who have had limited or difficult access to further career development opportuni-ties.

Course content:

Module 1 (PECD01-4):

Theme 1: Orientation to teaching the young child,Teaching in ECD: Outcomes and teaching approach. Theme 2: The creative Arts Programme Theme 3: Language and Literacy

Module 2 (PECD025)

Theme 4: Movement for young children and music in the Early Years Theme 5: Numeracy and the young Child Theme 6: Life Skills and Exploring Science

Module 3 (PECD03-6):

Theme 7: Planning for Health and Safety Theme 8: Management Issues Theme 9: Assessment and reporting Identifying and accommodating children with Learning and Devel-opment Barriers

Module 4 (PECD04-8): Practical Teaching

Theme 10: Practical teaching (Workbook). Three weeks practical teaching at an ECD centre under super-vision of a qualified teacher.

!!

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Implemented by: ELIMU Community Light (ECOLI)

Country: Tanzania


Length of program: unknown

Mode of delivery: Course based

Certificate/Degree granted: none

Website: ECOLI


ECOLI runs model ECD centers that seek to provide a holistic approach to early childhood development and care. Through these centers, ECOLI seeks to develop best practices among ECD teachers and care-takers, working closely with parents in order to improve early childhood development and learning out-comes both at home and in the school environment. ECOLI is also running an ECD program in Maasai communities, where it is supporting pastoralist communities in improving their ECD services. This is done through disseminating knowledge among community members regarding the importance of ECD.

ECOLI provides ECD teacher training through its ECD Teachers and Caretakers Capacity Building pro-gram, where training courses cover several distinct areas related to early childhood care and development. Overall, the course could be seen as divided into six primary units: these include an overview of child psychology, an in-depth teaching of the ECD curriculum, training in community-based early childhood care and development, organization and administrative training, human resource management training, and training in basic health education, national child policy and rights, as well as basic research skills. Once teachers have completed the training course, they are supported by ECOLI to open and improve ECD centers within their communities.

!Implemented by: Khululeka

Country: South Africa


Length of program: unknown

Mode of delivery: Workshop/centre-based training

Certificate/Degree granted: NQF Level 5/unknown

Website: Khululeka

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The goal of the Khululeka program is to empower families and educators in Eastern Cape communities to become actively involved in the education and care of young children through a multi-disciplinary and holistic approach. One of the programmes offered is a teacher training program— the High Scope Train-ing of Trainers Program. The HighScope model was developed originally for underserved communities US. The model calls for adults to participate in children’s play and learning activities, rather than acting as supervisors. The High Scope programme is aimed at practitioners who do not possess the formal quali-fications (Grade 12) or the numeracy and literacy skills to complete a Level 4 ECD practitioner training course. The course consists of around 15-25 participants and sessions are conducted in multiple locations in South Africa. A four week intensive course in the High Scope Active Learning approach includes prac-tical implementation exercises and observations of the High Scope preschool at Khululeka. Once they have qualified, these trainers are able to offer the four week long course to their ECD practitioners or offer the same program in a workshop format of 20 workshops over the course of one year.

In a 2013 evaluation of the programme, the six pronged approach adopted from HighScope was found to be more easily understood by unskilled and less skilled practitioners than other pedagogies: “that ToT manages to convey this practice in a way that unlocks teacher motivation and mobilises their own re-sourcefulness is a rare and essential contribution to ECD in South Africa. HighScope and ToT truly is an example that showcases ‘best practice.” (Soal, 2013)

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