A validation study of the early childhood care and education in-service carereducators instrument

Abstract

ECCE In-Service Carer Educator Instrument is designed to identify early childhood carer-educators' professional competence level in Malaysia by establishing and substantiating its validity. A comprehensive literature review and interviews with experienced childcare educators were conducted to identify the elements that affect the quality of early childhood education. It was reviewed by two experts, in order to augment the validity of this instrument. In addition, this study involved 2522 carereducators. Principal components analysis revealed six scales observing the early childhood professionalism quality which were knowledge, practices, skills, disposition, career development and career path. Each instrument item covered a component loading range of 0.85 to 0.72. In contrast, the alpha reliability coefficient ranges from 0.91 to 0.96 for every scale. The validity and reliability of the ECCE in-Service Carer-Educators Instrument were verified by the findings of this study. Furthermore, a professional framework for the development of educators of early childhood in Malaysia will be created from the results of this research in order for ECCE to contribute to and maintain its quality in Malaysia.