There are specific requirements that must be met in order to consider a career a
profession.
There are specific requirements for determining if an
... [Show More] occupation is a profession. These include:
Specialized knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs)
Ongoing training to strengthen KSAs
Industry requirements to obtain employment
Rules and regulations that govern the career
Code of ethical conduct and standards of practice
Opportunities to join organizations that support the career
All professionals perform _____ in order to remain professionals.
certain activities
To maintain your professionalism, you should:
Track changes in laws that affect the profession
Read and submit information to professional journals, periodicals, and websites
Join and be active in professional associations
Attend and teach at conferences, seminars, workshops, and continuing education courses
Maintain training requirements mandated by law
Mentor newcomers to the profession
Accept work assignments that are progressively more responsible
Sustain one-on-one interaction with peers and colleagues (networking)
One of the easiest ways you can maintain your professionalism is to ______ that are devoted to professional child care and early learning.
visit websites
You should make a practice of visiting the
Department of Children and Families' Office of Child Care Regulation website frequently.
In addition to the Department's website, you should keep important websites bookmarked so you can access them frequently:
Florida Office of Early Learning
Office of Child Care
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Internet can be a valuable resource to use to increase your
knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Professional organizations provide opportunities to
network with others in your field.
When selecting a professional organization, you should evaluate the
membership benefits and choose an organization that meets your professional development needs.
Early childhood professionals should get involved with professional organizations in order to
advocate for changes to the field.
The purpose of continuing education is for professionals to
strengthen their knowledge, skills, and abilities related to their careers, as well as to stay current on new research findings and best practices.
In Florida, child care personnel are required to take at least
this is a minimum requirement, which means professionals may choose to take more hours.
ten hours of annual in-service training. T
T.E.A.C.H. is a scholarship program to
help child care professionals advance their credentials and degrees in early childhood education.
he scholarship covers tuition, books, and other education-related expenses. Individuals who complete the requirements of their scholarship are eligible for bonuses.
An ethical code of conduct identifies
standards of practice to serve the profession.
For child care professionals, the most widely recognized standard is set by
the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). It includes core values and a list of acceptable ethical behaviors.
in addition to following an ethical code of conduct from a professional organization, you must demonstrate you are of good moral character through the
background screening process.
The elements of a Professional Development Plan are:
A goal. What is your "dream career"? Be as specific as possible. Do not write, "To work in child care." Instead, write something like this: "To lead my own early childhood education program."
A list of the credentials and competencies for that career. If you want to be a director, you will write down all the credentials a director needs to have, and any other skills and abilities you will need to excel at that work.
A list of the knowledge, skills, and abilities you already have. Carefully evaluate your current ability to achieve your goal.
A list of the knowledge, skills, and abilities you need but do not currently have. This list becomes your objectives for achieving your goal.
A list of the barriers to achieving your objectives and your plan for overcoming these barriers. Ask yourself: How can you overcome these barriers? What resources are available? What accommodations can be made?
A list of objectives to achieve. These are specific statements of skills, knowledge, or abilities that you plan to gain and how you will achieve them. Your plan should include objectives that are S.M.A.R.T., which means specific, measurable, achievable, relevant to your goal, and time specific. For example, "Obtain a Birth Through Five Credential within the next 12 months."
A list of steps to take to achieve the objectives. These are the steps it will take to meet your objective. You should identify when each step will begin and be completed to help keep you on track.
Professional development plans should be carefully
developed, written, and reviewed often.
A Professional Development Plan provides a tool to
help individuals identify steps to take to grow and track the progress toward accomplishing their goals.
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