New challenges for pre-school day-care institutions: Professionalization of personnel in early childhood education

Most experts would agree that early education is an important foundation for later school achievements and employment prospects over the life course. One way of achieving this goal is to provide high quality education in the early years which gives young children access to diverse learning opportunities. The practitioners in early childhood institutions play a key role in this process. This paper summarizes the most important recommendations of a 2012 report published by Aktionsrat Bildung (Action Counsel for Education) on the professionalization of educators in early childhood institutions. Following a brief outline of the increased societal expectations in terms of the educational role of early childhood provision, a research review focuses on issues of quality. The formal level of staff qualification and staff competences are shown to be central dimensions of overall quality. Relating these research findings to the situation in Germany, the paper asks what kind of professional workers are needed in early childhood institutions, and at what level and with what particular focus these practitioners should be educated and trained, bearing in mind the current capacities. It seems that in the intermediate future, the majority of personnel will continue to be trained at vocational school level, with a (growing) minority following a higher education course of studies. The paper identifies priorities for policy makers relating to these different levels of initial training and to the continuing professional development of the early years workforce.