Professionalism in early care and education

Abstract

Professionalism refers to the utilization of specialized knowledge that its members need to accomplish specific outcomes. It involves a shared set of skills that are used to improve the quality of caregiving practices and interactions between professional caregivers and the children and families that they work with in their respective programs. Professionalism is not an end in itself—a state of being—but an ongoing effort—a process of becoming. New knowledge of children's development needs to be incorporated into professional caregivers' existing repertoire. Their words and actions do matter greatly. As Neil Postman wrote in his book,The Disappearance of Childhood, “Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see”.