A life span approach to child development has important implications for early childhood professionals: teachers, teacher educators, or directors of programs. Students-in-training need to learn to structure for themselves a positive developmental context for understanding and programing for the infants and young children they will be teaching. Another reason for helping teachers-in-training gain an understanding of life span developmental philosophy is connected with their role in helping to develop sound social policy for children and their families. An understanding of the life span process has further implications for early childhood teacher training. Students should be taught to deal with the many other persons who influence children's lives and to recognize that each child in each developmental stage is attempting to master specific developmental tasks and to resolve specific psychosocial crises. Teacher educators can demonstrate the importance of helping children deal with frustration and learn to evaluate their efforts. They also can demonstrate that children can be taught important social skills--how to be considerate and empathic, how to be either a leader or a follower, depending upon the circumstances. As for atypical children, teacher educators can provide concrete learning experiences that demonstrate that all children are teachable. This approach needs to be an integral component of early childhood programs to fulfill children's lives. (HOD)