The early childhood education sector is undergoing significant change, with increasing recognition of the importance of professional development in fostering high-quality education environments. To create meaningful and lasting improvements, professional development must be approached as a strategic, long-term investment that goes beyond upskilling employees. It should also strengthen engagement, well-being, and overall service quality.
This requires a shift in mindset, where professional development is no longer viewed as a series of isolated training events but as an integral part of a service’s continuous improvement journey. Early Childhood Professionals play a critical role in this process by embracing learning as an ongoing responsibility. They must actively integrate new knowledge and practices into daily routines, ensuring that professional learning translates into real, sustained improvements for both individuals and teams.
By aligning professional development with strategic goals, services can foster a culture where growth becomes embedded in everyday practice, leading to better outcomes for children, families, and communities. Increasingly, directors are embedding themes like self-regulation or trust-based communication practices into their professional development plans, using structured approaches that allow teams to build deeper understanding over time.
This blog explores why training alone isn’t always the answer, how customised approaches can address specific needs, and why follow-up is essential for creating lasting change. It also includes powerful self-reflective discovery questions that can serve as game changers in guiding your strategic professional development.

Why Training Isn't Always the Answer
One of the biggest myths in professional development is that a single training event can “fix” organisational challenges. While training can be effective, it’s not always the answer. In some cases, the most powerful approach involves leaders learning, embodying, and consistently modelling the behaviours they want to see in their teams. As research on adult learning demonstrates, people often learn best through observation and social reinforcement, especially when they see their leaders practising the very behaviours they’re encouraged to adopt (Bandura, 1977).
Take the example of building a culture of trust. Leaders who embody trust-building behaviours—open communication, transparency, and genuine listening—naturally encourage their teams to do the same. Vertical Growth: How Self-Awareness Transforms Leaders and Organisations emphasises that self-awareness and intentionality are critical to transforming leadership practices. Leaders who consciously develop and demonstrate trust-based behaviours create a ripple effect, where team members feel safe to communicate openly and collaborate effectively.

Professional Development Customised Training
When working with my clients, I conduct a comprehensive discovery call to support leaders in identifying their organisation’s specific needs, goals, and behavioural changes. This initial call helps us clarify what they're hoping to achieve and whether training, coaching, or another approach might be the best fit. For many teams, developing skills in conscious communication, trust-building, or collaboration might be the priority. For others, the need might be for leaders to model these behaviours more consistently.
As a participant from from Possum's Early Learning Centre in Wagga Wagga, NSW shared, "Sarah’s ability to personalise the training to our centre’s unique context, such as incorporating our philosophy and addressing issues relevant to our service, made the learning highly engaging and practical. This approach helped our team absorb the content more effectively, and engage with the content."
This feedback reflects the importance of creating tailored, adaptable training experiences. My role is to equip early childhood professionals with practical, easy-to-apply strategies and then support them as they practise and refine these approaches with their teams.

Why Follow-Up Matters: Ongoing Support for Lasting Change
Training sessions without follow-up often fail to create meaningful change. Studies show that knowledge retention significantly declines without reinforcement. To combat this “forgetting curve,” I offer one-to-one coaching and follow-up implementation sessions designed to support teams as they integrate new skills into their daily practice.
Through ongoing coaching, early childhood professionals have the opportunity to practise, reflect, and refine their approach over time. This support goes beyond the initial learning experience to embed these behaviours into their practice.
Another participant who I worked with over three months in my KU, Building Trust and Influencing Partnerships Program remarked: “Honestly, I am really grateful for the opportunity to connect with you over the course of our learning together. As I said in our last session—your listening is next level—I always felt heard and understood!”
These words reflect the deeper impact that comes from sustained engagement and the importance of follow-up in transforming not just knowledge but the way early childhood professionals apply that knowledge.
Empowering Leaders to Be the Change
Sometimes, the best approach isn’t another training, but empowering early childhood professionals to exemplify the changes they want to see. In the early childhood sector, this can mean developing conscious communication skills or building trust-based leadership practices that model the values of openness, inclusivity, and empathy. Leaders who embody these practices send a powerful message to their teams and create a natural learning environment that motivates others to follow suit.
Research on leadership modelling by Bandura (1977) supports this. Known as Social Learning Theory, this research highlights that behaviours are learned by observing and imitating others, especially those in leadership roles. When leaders consistently model desired behaviours, they not only influence their teams’ actions but also create a culture where these behaviours become the norm.
We believe in helping early childhood professionals in the early childhood sector not only gain new skills but also develop the self-awareness and confidence to bring these skills to life within their organisations. Whether through tailored training, one-to-one coaching, or implementation support, our approach is all about creating an environment where meaningful, sustained change becomes possible.
If you’re ready to invest in a development approach that drives real impact, start by reflecting on your current challenges, aspirations, and organisational goals. Consider how well your current professional development efforts align with these priorities and whether they address your compliance training requirements.
To support this process, you might like to begin by scrolling down below and answering three powerful discovery self-reflective questions, which will expand your thinking and help you assess your needs and identify new opportunities for growth.
Alternatively, you can schedule a Discovery Call, where we can discuss these areas together and create a plan tailored to your service. The goal is to ensure your decisions are intentional, outcome-focused, and lead to measurable, meaningful behavioural change.

Self-Reflective Discovery Questions
Q. What specific behaviours or values do I want my team to adopt, and how can I actively model these as a leader? (The impact of professional development often hinges on leaders embodying the changes they want to see. Are you prepared to lead by example and reinforce these values through your daily actions?)
Q2. How will I support my team’s learning journey beyond the initial training? (Lasting change requires ongoing reinforcement. What strategies can you put in place to ensure that new skills are practised, refined, and reinforced over time?)
Q3. What would success look like if this professional development investment genuinely transformed our organisation? (Visualising the end goal can help clarify your approach. How would improved communication, trust, and teamwork appear within your team, and what impact would it have on your organisation’s culture?)
Professional development in early childhood education can create meaningful and lasting improvements when it moves beyond one-off training sessions. We support leaders to make the most of these opportunities with tailored training, one-to-one coaching, and practical strategies.
If you’re ready to use your professional development budget to create real sustainable change, start by reflecting on your current challenges and goals, or schedule a Discovery Call to develop a plan tailored to your service or organisation.
Comments