ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the development of the early years workforce, in particular how practitioners are prepared for the demands of working with children. It presents a review of recent government strategy relating to early years, together with a consideration of a theoretical model to support the development of the early years workforce in practice. The chapter reviews the European model of the social pedagogue, in which practitioners are encouraged to work with children as they explore their world. It considers the approach that can be taken to staff training and development, whether an early childhood setting is able to operate as an example of a Learning Organisation(LO), and how doing so would contribute to the development of the early years workforce. High quality has been said as being where care and education are integrated. Settings with the highest-quality scores were settings which had a strong ethos of early years education.
