Helping Providers to Improve Quality of Day‐Care Provision: Theories of Education and Learning

Abstract

This paper argues that continuous training for child care staff is an important element in improving quality of day care provision. Evidence from the day care field, the school effectiveness literature and adult education is cited. Theories of education and learning are used to examine the design of effective approaches to training for day care providers. More specifically, Kolb's model of experiential learning is described. Using a social learning theory analysis, the model is developed to make explicit the features of effective experiential learning tasks. Proposing structured experiential learning exercises as an effective method of raising awareness of quality among day care providers, the paper concludes that attention must also be given to the creation of conditions under which experiential learning can be implemented effectively.