你知道吗

虽然您可能成为早期或学龄的关注专业人士，因为您喜欢照顾儿童，但作为一名教练，您将花费大部分时间帮助您的成人同事符合专业目标并提供高质量的护理。研究表明，当您参加并支持成人照顾者时，您直接投资儿童的发展，并帮助他们成长为恢复社会的健康成年人。虽然儿童家庭的影响不能低估，但您计划中的一些儿童可能会在家里的家庭与家人一起度过多次关心的时间。出于这个原因，作为教练和计划领导者，您有一个重要的责任，以确保您的计划中的直接护理人员履行其责任，以支持儿童发展和福祉的所有部分。

The Importance of Professional Development for Child Care Staff

Child care staff have varying degrees of experience, education, and skills. Whether the staff members you are working with have a degree or credential related to teaching or child development or are new to the child care and education field, they will need to maintain and grow their professional practice and knowledge over the course of their career. Important reasons for continual professional development include:

儿童发展研究进展

Through child development research, we learn new things every day about what children need to reach their full potential. Despite this, myths persist about how children learn and develop. Consider these recent changes in our understanding of the learning process brought about by child development research.

Unfortunately, many parents and even some of the staff working in your program may not be aware that these myths have been supassed by new research. Lack of information and limited opportunities to learn affect the beliefs and practices of program staff. As child development research has expanded, we no longer believe children are sponges who learn by passively receiving information, and we expect caregivers to do more than they did in the past. We now know that meeting children’s basic needs is much more than making sure they are clean, fed, and supervised. Children must also have responsive caregivers who have the knowledge and skills to provide enriching learning experiences that support all parts of child development, including emotional and physical safety. Without this support, some children who are biologically more vulnerable to the effects of stress and adverse experiences are more likely to have poor health and learning outcomes. Fortunately, supportive relationships and high-quality learning experiences can act as protective factors to help counteract this vulnerability and benefit all children.

Diverse Children and Families

虽然老师扮演着重要的角色,家庭基于“增大化现实”技术e the most influential people in children’s lives. To provide the highest quality of care, child care programs must collaborate and co-care with children’s families. Your program should be more than a place that children are dropped off at while their parents go to work. Instead, think of the role of your program and your relationships with families as a shared partnership in caring for their children. In this partnership, you will work with families to more fully understand how their children learn best and how you can help all children feel a sense of belonging. As the United States population grows more diverse and the dynamics of families change, child care staff need to be culturally competent—able to work cross-culturally with those who have different languages, sexual orientations, religions, racial and ethnic backgrounds, disabilities, and beliefs. For both individual staff members and program-wide, cultural competence develops over time with support and a defined set of values, practices, and policies. Awareness and reflection, both components of coaching, are essential to evolve the cultural competence of a community of learners.

提高护理标准

As we have learned more about the importance of investing in high-quality child care, states and systems have created minimum standards of care collectively referred to as a quality rating and improvement system (QRIS). QRIS standards allow early-childhood and school-age programs to receive ratings based on their program quality. Ratings provide feedback to child care programs so they can target areas of needed improvement and provide families with reliable information to help them choose a program. Licensing regulations, which aim to protect the health and safety of children, often work in combination with a QRIS. In many quality rating and improvement systems, licensing regulations mandate a baseline with additional practices that support children’s learning and development built into higher rating levels. Though increased standards for out-of-home care provide greater assurance for children and families, some direct care staff and programs may not be prepared to meet all the standards.

Varied Levels of Knowledge and Skill

As acoach, trainer, or administrator, it is your role to support staff in carrying out the increasing, complex demands placed on professional caregivers. This is challenging because direct care staff members have a wide range of job experiences, formal education, and skills. Some staff members may have an associate or bachelor’s degree but limited on-the-job experience. Others may have a high school diploma but have worked in child care programs for many years. Some staff are quick learners who easily pick up on practices and procedures, while others may need repeated and targeted support. There may be more seasoned staff in your program who, despite their proven high-quality caregiving practices, need a lot of support in collaborating with families with diverse beliefs on child-rearing. For some, especially those who have not spent most of their lives using computers, using the internet to access information and complete professional development tasks may be a challenge. Because the needs of program staff vary, you will need to be flexible and patient and have the ability to cater your support to adults with a wide range of learning needs.

介绍虚拟实验室学校万博体育下载手机版

An Accessible System to Support Adult Learners

You may remember when most people went to the library to research a topic. And you may have had the frustrating experience of needing the newest edition of a costly textbook that reprints every year. Difficulty accessing information, whether due to location, cost, or some other barrier, can affect the quality of an individual’s caregiving practices and entire child care programs. Because of tight budgets, most administrators are unable to invest significant program funds into books or other professional development resources for all staff or to send their entire staff to in-person workshops every year. Despite these challenges, child care programs must have ways to ensure that staff members have access to ongoing professional development so they can meet the expectations of licensing bodies, professional standards, and families.

虚拟实验万博体育下载手机版学校（VLS）是一个在线专业发展系统，最初创建的目的是为美军儿童保育系统提供统一的信息、资源和工具框架。当最初的创造者开始思考一个综合的系统应该是什么样子时，可访问性是最重要的。VLS可供任何拥有计算机或设备和互联网的人使用，并不断更新以反映新的研究和实践指南。VLS不是一本独立的信息教科书；更确切地说，VLS网站的内容是补充和加强的实地辅导提供的教练,教练,和管理员。您将了解有关使用VLS网站的更多信息，以支持课程中的辅导实现。

Reliably Sourced and Centralized Information

技术进步使得更容易获取信息，但随着这些进步，这一进步是确保计划人员使用在儿童和青少年发展领域所指导的标准指导的事实资源的挑战。尤其是在搜索互联网资源时，找到可靠的源信息与个人观点或轶事，而大多数童童工作人员在工作中有限，以搜索和辨别这些信息。此外，不同年龄组的护理和教育实践存在差异，以及国家组织，如国家教育教育协会（NAEYC），零三，全国家庭育儿协会（NAFCC）和万博体育下载官方网站国家弥补者协会（NAA）将其信息迎合了特定的受众。它对所有程序员工最有效，无论角色如何，都有一个具有一致结构的集中式平台。VLS团队审查有关组织建议，同行评审期刊，政策简报和用户反馈，并解释了这些信息，将其集成到VLS系统中，以便最有效地，有效地与育儿专业人员的特定角色发言。

Streamlining Staff Mobility

Given the need for staff in the child care industry to shift between age groups, some staff members may need to familiarize themselves with multiple sources of information to support children from birth to age 12. TheVLS Crosswalk, which you will learn more about in later lessons, is a reference guide to support staff members who change age-based program placements, helping them build on existing knowledge and gain relevant new information based on all the children they care for. A centralized system of professional development allows for this shift to be a more seamless transition.

一致的结构

熟悉VLS结构有助于您最大限度地提高其乐于助人。VLS广泛地服务于儿童幼儿，与早期幼儿，学龄和家庭儿童保育方案生长12岁。万博体育下载官方网站它提供了六条轨道，包括三个用于中心的专业人士，关心婴儿和幼儿，学龄前儿童和学龄儿童。万博体育全站app教练和项目管理员each have a track, and there is also a track for family child care providers who typically care for mixed-age groups.

在每一条轨道上都有15门基础课程，其中包括儿童发展助理能力标准的13个职能领域，以及另外两门关于防止虐待儿童和查明和报告虐待儿童的课程。此外，还有一些重点主题课程，这些课程并非针对特定的轨道，而是针对以中心为基础的各种受众、家庭儿童保育、辅助人员和项目领导。专题课程补充了基础课程中的信息，并提供了与专业内容领域相关的知识和策略。万博体育下载官方网站万博体育下载手机版

Just like with children, adults learn best when there are consistent expectations and routine. Within each course, VLS lessons follow the LEAD framework: Learn, Explore, Apply, and Demonstrate.

1. 学习

   The main lesson content exists within this section and provides information about child development, caregiving and teaching strategies, and other practical knowledge. The Learn section contains Know, See, and Do subheadings within the direct care and family child care tracks. In the Training & Curriculum Specialist track, these subheadings are titled: Teach, Model, and Observe. Finally, the Management track labels these subheadings Know and Supervise & Support. Most lessons throughout the VLS contain short videos that coincide with the lesson content and include footage from child care programs or interviews of experts, staff, and families. Some lessons have a Learn activity at the end of the section that provides additional information.

2. 探索

   本课程的“探索”部分为您提供了使用和反思课程内容的机会，方法是完成一项活动，该活动可能包括反思与课程内容相关的您自己的经历、案例研究、情景反应、观察和反思活动，有机会创建与课程内容相关的内容，或查看与课程相关的其他信息源。

3. 应用

   The Apply section provides tools to support the continued implementation of the key ideas within the lesson content to your work. Apply activities may include key resources to share with families, checklists or program tools that support the continued use of key practices, or essential resources related to essential content or practices within the lesson.

4. Demonstrate

   Just above the Glossary, you will find the Demonstrate section which contains a short multiple-choice quiz to reinforce your understanding of the lesson’s main concepts.

一些探索和应用活动将有一个明星,这表明they are required to complete the lesson. You must be logged-in to the VLS to see if activities are required. Other nonrequired activities are there for additional support, and some program coaches may request that direct care staff complete nonrequired activities to reinforce certain concepts. At the end of each lesson, there is a References & Resources section where you will find cited sources for lesson content and links to other information related to the topic.

The Virtual Lab School website also contains two other helpful resources that can enhance your success at using the professional development system:

• Search

  The Search feature can be used to quickly find targeted information on a range of topics. This feature can be especially helpful to coaches as you provided individualized targeted support to staff.

• Support

  支持链接可用于访问多个支持文章

看到了吗

Listen as key leaders at Virtual Lab School describe the overarching goals and core principles of the Virtual Lab School professional development system.

Do

When you first begin to use the Virtual Lab School, it is easy to confuse some of the components mentioned in this lesson, such astrackversus课程orFoundational Coursesversus万博体育下载手机版。花一些时间通过执行以下操作来熟悉VLS网站上的这些组件：

1. Find the菜单button to discover how to navigate to the six VLS tracks: Infant & Toddler, Preschool, School Age, Family Child Care, Training & Curriculum Specialist, and Management.
2. 选择六个曲目中的任意一个，然后导航到该曲目的基础课程页面。你看到15门基础课了吗？
3. 选择一门基础课程来检查LEAD框架。选择课程的第一课并浏览学习部分。这节课有学习活动吗？如果是这样，它将出现在学习部分的末尾，但并非所有课程都有学习活动。
4. Continue to examine the lesson to find the Explore and Apply sections next. Notice that they have short introductory paragraphs that orient you to the planned activities. Review a few of the Explore and Apply activities to see how they work.
5. Find the Glossary, Demonstrate quiz, and the References & Resources section toward the end of the lesson.
6. 再次使用MENU按钮并导航到聚焦主题页面。万博体育下载手机版你在那里看到什么课程？
7. 选择任何主题课程并导航万博体育下载手机版到其中的任何课程。在本课中找到LEAD（学习、探索、应用、演示）框架的所有组成部分。
8. 使用搜索功能查找有关各种主题的有针对性的信息。
9. Find theSupportbutton to access a number of Support articles.

完成本课程

这篇介绍性课程朝向你的结构ure and use of the Virtual Lab School. The Using the VLS: Coaching to Enhance Practice course primarily supports program coaches; however, it is recommended that you use the materials within this course with direct care staff who are new to your program or have not used the VLS before to introduce them to the VLS structure, professional development expectations, and what to expect from their coach. Please refer to the Using the VLS: Coaching to Enhance PracticeCourse Guideto preview the rest of the lessons and activities for this Focused Topics course.