Structures of Further Education and Training in the Field of Early Childhood Education: Findings from a Nationwide Study in Germany

The aim of this paper is to provide insight into the system of further training opportunities for daycare centre education professionals in Germany (for pre-school children up to the age of six years). In contrast to the situation in other European countries, in Germany further training for professionals in this field is not regulated at national level and is only partially organized at the level of the Federal States; rather, further training opportunities are offered by a range of various bodies and institutions. By contrast, the system of further training for early childhood education professionals in other European countries is more strongly centralized, and professionals are employed by the government. In order to gain a better understanding of the behavior of early childhood education professionals regarding further training opportunities in the context of the diverse system of further training in Germany, the Professional Development Initiative for Early Education Professionals (German: Weiterbildungsinitiative Frühpädagogische Fachkräfte, WiFF) carried out a large-scale, modularly organized study from 2015 to 2018. This article presents selected results based on a standardized, representative survey of early childhood education professionals across Germany which was conducted as part of this study