Supporting the Early Childhood Workforce: Identifying and Filling Gaps in Reflective Supervision/Consultation Training

Abstract

A nationwide survey of reflective supervision/consultation (RS/C) providers conducted in 2018, found that 25% of respondents perceive a lack of access to training as a primary barrier to improving and maintaining their RS/C skills. Some of the themes that RS/C providers felt were missing from their RS/C training included specifics about providing RS/C, group supervision, self-regulation as a provider, and diversity informed RS/C. The Reflective Practice Center recently released a set of self-study modules to provide training opportunities on specialized RS/C topics, which cover the previously mentioned themes as well as additional topics. The modules cover information pertinent to RS/C providers, recipients, and decision-makers. The new modules have been well received, with 86 individuals enrolling in the first three months of their being available. This poster presents the early evaluation findings based on feedback from the first 24 participants to complete a module. Preliminary results indicate positive reactions to the training material across participants from a variety of different roles in the field of early childhood. The vast majority found the content of the modules to be high-quality, applicable to their work, and reported it either strengthened their current knowledge, or offered new ways to think about a given subject.