Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
School of Leadership & Human Resource Development
Document Type
Dissertation
Abstract
Early childhood education (ECE) professionals regularly work with families experiencing poverty, alongside colleagues who may experience poverty, and in some cases while navigating poverty in their own lives. Despite the prevalence of these conditions, the researcher found no field-specific poverty competence framework for ECE in the existing literature, and existing professional preparation frameworks had not identified poverty competence as a distinct area of professional preparation and practice.
This qualitative study developed a practitioner-informed framework of poverty competencies for early childhood education professionals. The study used a two-phase participatory design. Phase 1 consisted of individual semi-structured interviews with 12 current and former ECE practitioners, addressing poverty-related challenges, required competencies, workplace scenarios, links to workforce turnover, and framework structure. Phase 2 brought five practitioners together to review, critique, and validate the emerging framework: three returning from Phase 1 to provide continuity and two new participants to provide external validation.
The findings produced a framework of seven poverty competencies that together constitute poverty competence in ECE practice. Each competency applies across three dimensions of the practitioner's work: the families they serve, the colleagues they work alongside, and their own economic circumstances. The framework was validated by Phase 2 participants and refined following the validation session.
The study contributes to HRD scholarship by demonstrating that practitioner knowledge, gathered through participatory design, can produce competency frameworks that external analysis alone cannot. It extends HRD scholarship into a workforce sector that remains underexamined despite its scale and foundational role in the broader economy. The study also suggests that similar poverty-related preparation gaps may warrant examination in other professional fields serving economically vulnerable populations. The participatory methodology employed here may be adaptable to other professional contexts where similar gaps exist. The framework developed here is a starting point. It is not an intervention or a guarantee of practice change. It is a practitioner-informed record of what ECE professionals identified as essential when given a structured opportunity to say so.
Date
5-18-2026
Recommended Citation
Ricks, Terri Porche, "Developing a Practitioner-Informed Framework of Poverty Competencies for Early Childhood Education Professionals: A Participatory Qualitative Study" (2026). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 7096.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/7096
Committee Chair
Robinson, Petra A.
LSU Acknowledgement
1
LSU Accessibility Acknowledgment
1
Included in
Early Childhood Education Commons, Leadership Studies Commons, Other Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons, Pre-Elementary, Early Childhood, Kindergarten Teacher Education Commons, Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons