Professional conversations are designed to help an early years professional to review, reflect on and develop their professional practice.

Today, we’ve published a new tool, ​‘Professional Development Conversations Cycle’ to support our ​‘Guide to Effective Professional Development in the Early Years’.

This practical tool gives you a structure for an ongoing cycle of professional conversations.

Prompts for facilitating a professional development conversation

The tool includes a set of prompts designed to support professional conversations.

Each conversation in the cycle is based on evidence around professional development and prompts activities such as: planning, reflection, goal setting, building knowledge, developing and embedding practice change, and reviewing and sharing success.

Action planning

We’ve included an action plan template to help you record each professional conversation within the cycle accompanied by a worked example. The action plan is designed to support professional development conversations between you and your staff. It can be used to support goal setting and provide a record of conversations to revisit and refer to when needed.

Ongoing professional development conversations

The length of time between each conversation can be flexible and responsive to the individual setting involved whilst making sure momentum and impact is maintained.

Conversations should include the perspectives of both parties and be centred on an agreed topic or area.

Professional conversations might take place peer to peer, between practitioners or with an early years leader or expert. They may take place in different contexts.

Use this tool as a structure to implement professional conversations that are continuous, set goals and use evidence to sustain effective professional development.

Further reading:

​‘Professional Development Conversation Cycle Tool’ (Printable versions are available on the EEF website)

​‘A Guide to Effective Professional Development in the Early Years’.