Date of Award
12-17-2022
Document Type
Non Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Education
Department
Education
Program
Early Childhood Education
Capstone Instructor
Dr. Kelly Sadlovsky
Second Reader
Samantha Schack
Keywords
home-based child care, early childhood education, practical quality, process quality, professional development, structural quality
Abstract
Recent literature was examined to explore the relationship between professional development and quality interactions in home-based early childhood settings. Home-based child care was identified as a setting preferred by parents (Melvin et al., 2022). However, the educators in these settings often worked alone, worked long hours, and were less likely to have a degree than educators in other early childhood settings (Durden et al., 2016). The understanding of what constituted quality in these under-recognized settings was more challenging to quantify and less studied than quality in other early education settings (Han et al., 2021). A thorough literature review was conducted, and data was synthesized to extract information about home-based settings, degree attainment, professional development needs, quality indicators, and how educators in these settings defined quality. Other factors that may impact quality interactions were identified. Home-based early childhood educators overwhelmingly were found to view themselves as professionals and defined quality in home-based settings differently than measurement tool definitions (Hooper et al., 2021). Process and practical quality were surmised to be the niche in which home-based educators excel (Lanigan, 2011). It was found that supporting this subset of early childhood educators required regular and ongoing professional development that honored and acknowledged the uniqueness of this setting (Abell et al., 2014; Durden et al., 2016).