Ring, Emer and O'Sullivan, Lisha and O'Keeffe, Suzanne and Ferris, Fiona and Wall, Eugene (2019) Transforming the Lives of Early Childhood Teachers, Autistic Children and their Families: Findings and Recommendations from an Evaluation of a Programme of Continuing Professional Development. Adult Learner: The Irish Journal of Adult and Community Education. pp. 118-147. ISSN 0790-8040

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Abstract

In response to the exponential growth in the prevalence of autism in Ireland and 95% of all children availing of the universal free pre-school scheme, AsIAm delivered a continuing professional development (CPD) programme, to 311 adult learners. The paper reports on a multi-method evaluation of the impact of the programme on early childhood teachers’ capacity to effectively include and support autistic children. The findings underline the importance of government investment in lifelong learning and the potential of a focused CPD programme to transform both participants’ professional lives and the experiences they provide for the children in early learning and care services. Recommendations for future policy development are also suggested.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Autism; autistic; inclusion; early learning and care; additional needs; impact; evaluation; continuing professional learning; lifelong learning; professional education continuum; adult education;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education
Item ID:	13601
Depositing User:	Suzanne O'Keeffe
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2020 16:15
Journal or Publication Title:	Adult Learner: The Irish Journal of Adult and Community Education
Publisher:	AONTAS. The National Adult Learning Organisation
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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