The effect of trainer reflection on Head Start family literacy trainings

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-99)Family literacy is generally described as children and families working together on language and literacy development. In the cunent study, a national Head Start family literacy project was targeted to find out more about how the translation of a training script, intended for small teams consisting of various Head Start management staff, a community partner, and a parent of a child in Head Start, would be actually implemented by five trainers. Using a debriefing interview, trainers were asked about their background and training experience, the specific techniques they used during training, and their reflection about their practices. Data were analyzed uncovering three categories salient to training events: (1) personal growth, (2) requested support for training, and (3) trainer background and experience. The findings of the study suggest that training requiring a script is a helpful way to launch a training project, but that the script may not be used as more as more than a foundation for what might actually occur in any specific training. The knowledge and skill of the trainers seem to take the same scripted training down similar, yet unique, pathways