Teachers do not need to be either psychologists, sociologists, historians, political scientists or theologians. However, they do need an appropriate professional grounding if they are to be more than didatic technicians. The question of professional background is often solved by an uncoordinated smorgasbord where students are exposed to varying amounts from the basic disciplines of psychology, sociology, history and philosophy, taught independently of each other, without a clearly defined single focus.

Early childhood educators, as a concomitant of a long tradition of child-centred curricula, have found such a focus in the study of child development. If education can be seen as a deliberate effort to interact with that development in a way that leads to definable positive outcomes, this is a justified conceptualisation of the professional basis for a teacher's work. This is particularly the case in early childhood where development is rapid and varied in pace, and institutional settings vary so greatly. However, as teachers in higher grades are increasingly asked to be involved more widely in their students' lives, through ever greater curriculum demands, it becomes more pertinent there are well.