Professional Development Needs as Determinants of Early Childhood Educators’ Effectiveness in the Motheo District

Okeke Chinedu Ifedi, Akobi Thomas Ogbeche

Abstract


The existing situation in the majority of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) centres in the Free State Province raises serious concerns. Given this, the present study has investigated professional development needs as determinants of early childhood educators’ effectiveness in the Motheo District. Four specific purposes have guided this study. The study adopted a correlational survey research design. Utilizing convenience sampling, a sample of 211 ECCE educators participated in the study. Two instruments were used for the data collection. They are the Early Childhood Professional Development Needs Questionnaire (ECPDNQ) and the Early Childhood Educators' Effectiveness Questionnaire (ECEEQ). The instruments' face validity and reliability were established by consulting experts for validation and obtaining Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient values of 0.89 for the ECPDNQ and 0.85 for the ECEEQ. Regression analysis was utilized for data analysis using the Statistical Package for Social Science version 25. The findings revealed that in-service training, individualized coaching, and workshops each have a statistically significant predictive effect on the effectiveness of early childhood educators in the Motheo District. Furthermore, the combined impact of these professional development methods is also statistically significant. Based on these results, it was concluded that professional development through in-service training, individualized coaching, and workshops plays a crucial role in determining the effectiveness of early childhood educators. It is therefore recommended that early childhood educators should participate in regular professional development to keep pace with the best practices in the field of early childhood care and education as a way of enhancing their job effectiveness.

 

https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.23.11.4


Keywords


Professional Development Needs; Early Childhood; Educators; Effectiveness; In-service Training; Training Needs

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References


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