Professional Development among Preschool Teachers: Trends and Practices

Teacher professional development is a necessary component in enhancing quality education and fostering optimal development among young children. This paper aimed at exploring the current trends and practices of professional development for preschool teachers. The analysis involved papers published between 2005 and 2024. The main search engine used in this study were Google scholar, Taylor and Francis, Online Wiley, Emerald Insight data base and Sage. After screening we got 54 articles that were considered for review. Dissertations and book chapters were excluded during review. Data were analyzed thematically. Literature revealed several trends, which were classified into three main themes; technological change, curriculum change and Social-emotional development in young children. Furthermore, it was revealed that during their professional development preschool teachers have been involved in several practices which were categorized into two major themes; workshop and scaffolding and modelling and demonstration. Literature review revealed that, professional development for preschool teachers are widely studied in developing countries such as USA (19), Asian (18) and European (14). We found dearth of literature on professional development for preschool teachers in African countries (03). We therefore recommend exploration of prevalence of professional development for preschool teachers in African countries, especially in Tanzania. Trends and practices and way forward for professional development have been identified and reported in this study.