The impact of an early childhood professional development intervention on teachers’ reports of pedagogical competence and approaches to socialisation practices

Professional development (PD) programmes aim to ensure high-quality educational practices in early childhood to support children's development. To understand the mechanisms behind improved educational practices, it is necessary to gain knowledge about how teachers experience change following PD programmes. This study examined the impact of a PD programme with coaching – the OEES – on teachers' reports of pedagogical competence, and their approaches to emotion socialisation and scaffolding practices. Multilevel linear mixed models with 308 head teachers and 240 assistant teachers from 56 child-care centres indicated a significantly higher increase in reported pedagogical competence among teachers in the intervention group compared to the control group, particularly among the assistant teachers. Effects on teachers' approaches to emotion socialisation and scaffolding were not found. The results support the coaching model in OEES as effective PD for teachers' competence, and encourage the inclusion of both head and assistant teachers in PD programmes. • We studied the impact of a professional development (PD) intervention with coaching. • Outcomes were teachers' reports of competence, socialisation and scaffolding. • The intervention affected teachers' reports of pedagogical competence positively. • Intervention effects were primarily driven by improvements among assistant teachers. • PD should include both head and assistant teachers in early childhood education.