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Walker, S. (2002). Predictors of family child care providers' intentions toward professional development. Child & Youth Care Forum, 31(4), 233-255.
The author studied the likelihood of family child care providers pursuit of professional development opportunities.
The Study
- Family child care providers have many opportunities to pursue professional development. The National Association of
- Family Child Care offers accreditation. Professional certification can be gained by earning a Child Development Associate (CDA). There are also several organizations that offer support to family providers.
- The number of family providers is decreasing. Many cite low wages and difficult working conditions as main reasons for high turnover. Finally, regulations vary greatly from state to state.
The Methods
- Five hundred family child care providers were surveyed. (30% response rate equaled a final sample of 133.) Demographic data, job commitment, job satisfaction, personal stress, and interest in professional development were collected.
The Findings
- The sample was drawn from two regions in Maryland. Of the sample, 33.8% had a high school degree and 35.4% had some college. The average number of years in family care was 9.11. Fifty-five percent indicated that family child care was their chosen profession and 44.3% said they would work in the field indefinitely.
- Professional development aspirations showed that respondents were “most likely” to participate in professional development association activities. Almost one-half of respondents were “least likely” to pursue accreditation or earn a CDA.
- Those who showed the highest professional development aspirations were most likely to have higher job satisfaction (p<.001), not feel over worked (p<.10), viewed family care as their career (p<.01), and intended to stay in the field (p<.01).
- Those who said they had high stress (p<.001) and role overload (p<.001) were least likely to have high professional development aspirations.
- Overall, family child care providers were most likely to accomplish professional development tasks if they were low cost both in time and money and associated with local professional development associations.
Implications for the field included: providing flexible training opportunities, providing training that will lead to higher job satisfaction, encouraging professional development through professional associations, and improving conditions that will highlight the payoff of training and education.
R2P Evaluation
This study indicated mostly low levels of response toward professional development activities. The findings suggest some ways that leaders in the field might re-conceptualize professional development in family child care.
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