Now that you have studied about professional and ethical early childhood practices, it is time to determine which of those practices are most important to you and why.

This section of your course project consists of two parts.

In Part 1, you will create a two-page handout describing the professional and ethical practices to which staff members in your program should adhere. In Part 2, you will create a professional development plan and discuss your career goals.

Part 1: Professional Guidelines

Imagine that you manage an early childhood program with several employees. You will create and distribute an employee handout, informing them of what professional guidelines they must follow.

For this part of the course project, create a two-page employee handout that includes the following:

1. List five (5) guidelines and examples of professional and courteous practices/behavior for early learning settings. Explain specific reasons why these are important in maintaining ethical and collaborative practices.
2. Discuss professional and fair ramifications for the absence of professional and courteous behavior.
3. Describe expected collaborative practices and employee contributions to team efforts.
4. Include a reflective, yet professionally written, statement that explains two (2) ways you will model and demonstrate professional behavior on a regular basis with your employees.

Part 2: Professional and Personal Goals

For this part of the course project, you will create an individual professional development plan that consists of professional and personal goals related to your career development/skill acquisition as an early childhood practitioner.

To complete this section, download the following template: 

Be sure to completely fill in all spaces on the template.

1. Develop two (2) professional goals and two (2) personal goals related to your career development as an early childhood practitioner. Consider your chosen specialty when creating your goals.
2. List the target date for completion and steps needed to achieve each goal or acquire each skill.
3. Identify a local, national, or distance/web-based training resource for each goal. Include a brief summary of how each resource could assist you in achieving each goal.
4. List the skills and knowledge you currently have either professionally or personally. Consider the six Transferable Skills when you assess your knowledge.
5. Discuss what you want to learn and how it will benefit you or the children/families you work with.
6. Determine how you will assess your progress and knowledge/skill acquisition.

Use professional language including complete sentences and proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation throughout your paper. Be sure to cite any research sources in APA format. If you need assistance with APA format, refer to this Library and Learning Services APA Guide.

Submit the following in one (1) zip-file for grading:

• Title Page
• Introduction
• Part 1: Professional Guidelines
• Minimum of two-pages
• Part 2: Professional and Personal Goals
• Completed Individual Professional Development Plan
• Conclusion
• Reference Page

Transferable Skills for this Project Assignment:

• Ethics and Professional Responsibility