First and foremost, everything we do at BrightSpark is informed by our agency’s mission: “…To nurture and sustain child-centered, antiracist early learning communities.”
Child-centered: Our professional development offerings help you better support the growth and development of the children in your care.
Antiracist: Our agency highlights and challenges racist assumptions and practices that adversely impact many children so that, in partnership with you, we find ways to give every child an equitable start in life.
Our work is also informed by YOU! We are committed to strong workforce development, engaging adults to meet the ever-changing needs of children, families and the communities they serve and support.
We strive to ensure that our professional development offerings meet community and individual needs, while aligning with the Washington State Core Competencies for Early Care and Education Professionals. These eight core competencies are utilized in planning all of our professional development offerings:
- “Define what early care and education professionals need to know and be able to do to provide quality care and education for children.
- Serve as the foundation for decisions and practices carried out by professionals in all early care and education settings.
- Establish a set of standards for early care and education settings that support the professionalism of the field.
- Are an integral part of a comprehensive professional development system.”
Specific competencies, and levels are identified, and form the basis for training content.
The Washington State Core Competencies for Early Care and Education Professionals and the Core Competencies for School-Age Child Care and Expanded Learning Professionals can be found here (available in English, Spanish and Somali).
The early learning coaches at BrightSpark can help you implement what you learn in our professional development offerings and assist you in other ways as well. Our coaches practice Relationship Based coaching and you can share your specific needs with them. Please visit our Coaching page to learn more about our model and services.