An Early Childhood Professional Development Model for Technology Integration

This chapter shares the experiences of two early childhood educators as they participated in an early childhood professional development model focused on overcoming the barriers that often impact the integration of technology in PreK-K classrooms. The professional development model attended to three external barriers (i.e., lack of time, lack of access, and lack of support) and three internal barriers (i.e., teacher readiness, teacher attitudes, and teacher pedagogical beliefs). The experiences of these two educators indicated the following: 1) when the external barriers to technology are adequately addressed, more space is provided to attend to the internal barriers; 2) the barrier of readiness may be more easily overcome when teacher attitude is not a barrier; 3) overcoming the barriers of readiness and attitude precedes a change in pedagogical beliefs and practices; and 4) teacher attitudes are more likely to change when teacher learn from their respected colleagues. The chapter concludes by offering ideas for ECE leaders to consider as they plan and implement PD models.

Early Childhood Programs as Professional Development Schools

The focus of this chapter is on the establishment and maintenance of early childhood Professional Development Schools (PDSs). While the advent of PDS partnerships goes back to the 1980s and 1990s, very few of the PDSs have involved university partnerships with early childhood (pre-K) programs. This chapter outlines some of the opportunities and possibilities that early childhood PDSs offer, as well as some of the unique obstacles that are encountered when working with pre-kindergarten programs. Specific examples are provided of work in three different early childhood PDSs. The chapter concludes with an examination of future directions for early childhood Professional Development Schools.

Early Childhood Programs as Professional Development Schools

The focus of this chapter is on the establishment and maintenance of early childhood Professional Development Schools (PDSs). While the advent of PDS partnerships goes back to the 1980s and 1990s, very few of the PDSs have involved university partnerships with early childhood (pre-K) programs. This chapter outlines some of the opportunities and possibilities that early childhood PDSs offer, as well as some of the unique obstacles that are encountered when working with pre-kindergarten programs. Specific examples are provided of work in three different early childhood PDSs. The chapter concludes with an examination of future directions for early childhood Professional Development Schools.