Özet:

Considering the importance of teacher professional development in meeting the expectations regarding the quality of education, it is thought that it is necessary to examine the approaches regarding the effectiveness of teacher professional development and the tools that will support the development. Professional development in early childhood education requires teachers to develop domain-specific competencies such as knowledge of child development and communicating effectively with children and parents. The quality of early childhood education depends on educators' effective professional development work to improve their professional competence.While the literature consider traditional professional development activities as far from being effective, it focuses on the qualities of effective professional development studies that address the needs of teachers and lead to changes in their classroom. In this respect, it is stated that effective professional development studies should be research-based, focus on learner outputs, offer collaboration opportunities, include school-based practices, involve teachers in decision-making processes, have personal and context-specific content, and be based on adult education principles. Effective professional development studies support teachers to develop their metacognitive knowledge and position them in an active role by ensuring that they take responsibility for their own professional progress. The teacher portfolio emerges as a professional development tool that lays the groundwork for the specified dimensions of effective professional development, and offers opportunities to define and manage the professional development process, improve teaching, conduct performance evaluation, conduct action research, and demonstrate the level of meeting professional competencies. Developing a teacher portfolio as an effective tool to support early childhood educators to take an active role in their professional development will strengthen their professional professional competence. The aim of this study is to address teacher professional development in early childhood education in the context of effective professional development and to examine the teacher portfolio as a professional development tool. This study was prepared in review type by referring to the relevant literature and scanning the emphasis on teacher professional development and documentation. In this review study effective professional development principles for teacher professional development in early childhood education have been examined, and the role of the teacher portfolio as a professional development tool has been evaluated in line with these principles. In addition, the process of developing a teacher portfolio for early childhood educators and its use in pre-service and in-service professional development are explained.

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