Reflective Practice for Early Childhood Professionals: A Daily Checklist

Why it matters:

Reflective practice for early childhood professionals enhances self-awareness, strengthens relationships and promotes psychological safety. It helps create a supportive work culture, fosters continuous professional growth, and allows us to consider the varying factors influencing families and colleagues to be taken into consideration while formulating a thoughtful response. Overall, it improves the impact we can have to ensure all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life.

Who it’s for:

Any early childhood professional who has relationships with their colleagues and families they impact. (Ahem… that should be EVERYONE!) Educators, pediatricians, mental health workers, parent educators, program directors and administrators can all benefit from daily reflective practice. For supervisors, reflective practice fosters a foundation of honesty and trust with supervisees.

What you can expect:

The checklist includes a short list of how to prepare your physical and mental space and a guided exercise on reflective practice for early childhood professionals. Through this process we are more likely to arrive at a more thoughtful response — not necessarily the quickest. Print it out and hang it next to your desk, save it to your desktop or attach it to your calendar reminder — whatever works for you!