The manifestation of practice-based continuous professional development in ECEC: qualitative insights from an Abecedarian initiative in Denmark.

The study investigates how practice-based continuous professional development (KPU) can help strengthen the quality of work for kindergarten staff. The study focuses on how the Abecedarian-inspired Educational Quality in Daycare (EQD) initiative influences employee reflection and practice in interaction with children. By analysing how leadership support and reflective cultures influence learning processes, the researchers seek to identify conditions that facilitate sustainable professional development.

The EQD initiative shows that a practice-based approach to continuous professional development promoting reflection on professional practice can support lasting change in the kindergarten sector. Leadership support and the establishment of a reflective culture within the PLC groups contributed to staff gaining new insights into their work with children. The study shows that staff appreciated the initiative’s focus on integrating theory with daily practice, although they faced challenges such as time constraints and technological barriers to resources. However, the initiative led to an increased sense of mastery and strengthened professional identity, particularly through reflection methods such as video analysis.

The study uses a qualitative ethnographic approach inspired by multi-sited ethnographies to investigate the implementation of the EQD initiative in three selected Danish municipalities. The data collection includes observation of workshops, meetings in professional learning communities (PLC), daily activities in kindergarten, and interviews with both managers and employees at the start and end of the initiative. Qualitative data were analysed systematically using Nvivo to identify factors that either support or hinder learning processes and changes in practice.

Walker, R., & Jensen, B. (2024). The manifestation of practice-based continuous professional development in ECEC: qualitative insights from an Abecedarian initiative in Denmark. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 32(2), 248–265.

Online year: 2023

Issue year: 2023

Review year: 2023