I agree with Bookwork ~ a formal educations is only as good as you are able to apply the theory to practice through common sense and good judgement ... there are a few fields where 'formal training' are a MUST such as being a Surgeon and so forth cause I would not want to attempt to 'wing' an open heart surgery but the fact remains that there are some 'surgeons' who I would not want performing surgery on me cause they SUCK!

So while I do have my ECE myself it is not my 'degree' that makes me good at what I do and I do tell parents that when they ask a bout my 'training' because I believe in being honest and well to educate parents on what to REALLY look for in a quality program because its not a piece of paper hanging on the wall

I have learned more in real life practice and continued reading, networking and professional development than I EVER learned in school and have learned to apply that well through reflection on what works and does not work with my group cause sometimes a theory sounds awesome on paper but is not practical in real life~

Honestly I have peers who hold a degree in ECE whom I would not leave my children with because they have no common sense or ability to manage a group ~ I worked with a peer years back who on more than one occasion LOST children in care because she was distracted and did not notice they had wandered away from her group and so forth OR there would be kids tearing each other apart right at her feet and she would not 'notice' until someone shouted her name and said 'hey can you do something about that at your feet' ~ she is just not able to 'multitask' and well that is a MUST in this field! Not to mention she was easily 'distracted' and would get lost in daydreams ~ really sweet women and people looked past her 'flaws' as a result but honestly she was a hazard in the classroom and as nice as she was if she were caring for MY kid I would not be willing to keep looking past accident and incident reports of children who were harmed while on her watch!

I would basically answer that question with 'life's hands on practical education' aided by reading and self initiated professional development. Can add specific things like I have my First Aid and CPR, I network with peers in my field both online and in person.

I am a firm believer that being good at this job needs more than a piece of paper that quickly becomes outdated ~ success in this field requires a passion for life long learning and a desire to be offering children and families the BEST with the resources we have. We need the ability to reflect and commit to changing where needed .... as our society changes and evolves what children need from us or need to be capable of doing in order to thrive in that new emerging society changes and therefore so must our approach to our work with them!

The program I offered as a 'new grad' with my ECE diploma fresh on the wall is NOTHING like the program I offer now today over 22 years later .... like society it has evolved and changed and improved as I continued to learn, reflect and set new goals for myself ... and sadly for some of my peers who graduated with me they have not grown or evolved ~ their practice is now outdated and they have no idea how to 'deal' with the children who they are faced with today whose life's stresses and expectations are so much different than 20 years ago because their skills and abilities have not evolved themselves!