So what happens after the event? Exploring the realisation of professional development with early childhood educators

This paper considers whether simply providing and attending professional development and training opportunities enhances quality in early childhood education, or whether the educators' actual practices are a better indication. It reports on research that examined factors impacting on early childhood educators' realisation of professional development once participants returned to their organisation. Using case studies, the paper points to a range of factors educators identified as either enabling or hindering endeavours to practise and sustain new understandings within their early childhood service. It concludes by recommending a number of strategies that lead to a more effective realisation of professional development opportunities, including the importance of continued dialogue with all stakeholders about understandings of effective professional development in the field of early childhood education