Situating ICT in early childhood teacher education

Education and Information Technologies - Preparing the next generation of preschool teachers who can integrate and make use of ICT to capitalise on and develop young children’s digital...     

Early childhood family education

If they came with instructions, then you wouldn't need us reads the poster on the classroom door. It is a pleasant morning in early September and my twelve-month-old daughter, Laura, and I are going to our first day of school. Laura and I enter the infant and toddler room with anticipation.Barb Rose is a free lance writer living in St. Paul, MN, and the mother of a 2-year-old named Laura.     

Tutoring conjunctions and construction of geometry concepts in the early childhood education: The case of the angle

Recent research concerning the understanding of geometrical concepts, such as the concept of angles, shows that children of pre-school age, as far as it concerns problems of angle comparison, systematically focus on visual comparative procedures. We suggest, however, that social interaction of a child having the role of tutor in diverse guided environments, could allow the building of this concept in the nursery school on strategies that have formed in natural settings. Sixty-four (64) subjects were accessed according to their performance in a test of angle comparison. They were introduced for an equal period to two experimental guidance conditions. In the first condition, the code of guidance is exclusively verbal and, in the second, the symbolic code of the Logo environment suceeds the verbal communication. Results show, on one hand, much more systematic improvement in a subjects performance where different contexts of guidance were used. On the other hand, in the verbal guidance experimental condition, children’s correct answers showed a dinstinct progress to the stage of finally advancing their performance.     

Internationalizing teacher education: The case of Belarus

This article describes the unique characteristics of internationalization in teacher education in the Republic of Belarus, by asking how the creation of a national system of teacher education after the USSR??s disintegration has both enhanced and hindered internationalization. The question is answered by providing an overview of the specific challenges in establishing a national teacher education system after the Republic of Belarus became independent in 1991, by introducing a concept of internationalization, and by analysing three components of the internationalization of teacher education in Belarus. The authors conclude that internationalization in teacher education is still weak; it has been hindered mainly by the frequently changing, indecisive, and incoherent national policies that have left little academic freedom for those higher education institutions specializing in the initial education of teachers. The new nation??s various and changing contacts with other countries, in both east and west, call into question the term ??internationalization?? for Belarus, where former national contacts have quickly embraced internationalization.     

Analyzing teacher narratives in early childhood garden-based education

Learning gardens can provide dynamic learning and developmental experiences for young children. This case study of 12 early childhood teachers explores how teachers describe (1) learning across numerous school readiness domains and (2) how to support this learning by promoting opportunities for autonomy, relatedness, and competence. Participants worked at a university-affiliated early education program with a learning garden in the midwestern United States. Data included 19 narrative, photo-elicitation interviews during two growing seasons. Iterative qualitative analyses informed the creation of a Gourd Tee-Pee Model that describes learning across multiple domains and integrates self-determination theory into early childhood garden education. This framework can inform the design and evaluation of early childhood garden education programs.     

Early childhood education in Guyana

Conclusion The problems of adequate housing for children's programs remain. Many teachers will not catch up with prevailing theories and practice in early childhood education in more technologically advanced countries for a while. Curriculum implementation at classroom level still needs much attention. The budget provided for early education keeps shrinking due to high inflation. Despite the problems, however, the introduction of a national early childhood education program was good for families who could not afford fee-paying schools for their children. “Going national” at the outset was problematic because of the number of issues that needed attention simultaneously. It however, removed the need for lobbying, which can be a long and arduous process before success is achieved. A national program of early childhood education also enabled nursery teachers to surmount many of the problems associated with their image as mere childminders and the low-liest on the rungs of the education ladder. For children, this program also performed an important socialisation and cognitive-developmental function and it forced parents to take another look at early childhood as a definite learning period in the life of the child. Liloutie Christina Taharally was closely involved in the administration of the national early education program, and the training and supervision of nursery teachers in Guyana. An earlier draft of this paper was presented at the 1985 Conference of the National Association for the Education of Young Children with Meg Barden Cline of the School of Education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.     

Revisiting reflective practice in an era of teacher education reform: A self-study of an early childhood teacher education program

ABSTRACT

The authors describe a major program reform study of an early childhood teacher education program in a large, urban, state university in the United States. Over a 4-year period, our team of early childhood faculty undertook an intentional and reflective program reform study to better advocate for quality early childhood educational philosophy and practice, while ensuring our program aligned with the newer national accreditation policy and state teacher certification standards. In this article, we identify three core problems we encountered, articulate how we approached each of them based on our philosophical framework, and discuss further considerations of each.     

Learning to contribute: text connections in early childhood teacher education

ABSTRACT

Face-to-face time with students in the early childhood college setting is at a premium and often flies by before we begin to scratch the surface of active learning. Building a community of learners is one of our main goals as instructors; therefore, we strive to set up active learning environments optimal for all students. This reflection on practice highlights the text connections learning strategy, describes how four early childhood education instructors use it, and analyzes its theoretical underpinnings to investigate how it helps students learn to contribute to the learning of all. Student examples and reflections from the instructors are included.     

Improving early childhood teacher education: Preservice teachers' beliefs about inclusion

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to describe early childhood preservice teachers’ beliefs about the inclusion of children with special needs in early childhood settings. Nineteen female undergraduate early childhood education preservice teachers participated in one of five focus groups. Students were divided into three groups based on the courses they were enrolled in or had completed: Beginner (sophomore and junior courses), Intermediate (senior courses), and Advanced (student teaching). Additionally, 6 of the 19 students participated in individual interviews. Data analysis resulted in themes related to students’ beliefs and philosophies of inclusion, as well as their thoughts concerning practice in inclusive programs. This paper describes students’ beliefs within each group and compares responses across the different groups. Implications are discussed in relation to teacher education programs and directions for future research.     

论基于童年文化特征的幼儿教育

对童年期和童年文化本质的认识是早期 (幼儿 )教育理论研究的一个重要课题 ,因为早期(幼儿 )教育理论只有建立在对童年期和童年文化本质的跨学科探索的基础上 ,才能努力摆脱当前的肤浅和狭隘 ,才能谈得上真正尊重幼儿。文章试图从幼态持续这一问题入手 ,对童年期和童年文化的本质进行初步探讨 ,同时 ,强调童年文化的核心是儿童在其身心发育的原发性基础上 ,在其生活的微环境中 ,通过与父母及周围人的对话、交往 ,积极、主动地建构自己的心理世界。儿童的发展是一个自然历史和文化历史两条发展路线相互交织、融合和建构的过程。     

Artefacts and utilization schemes in mathematics teacher education: place value in early childhood education

In this article, I discuss a case of pre-primary and primary school teacher education concerning place value in number representation. In primary school (in Italy, in grades 1 and 2), the topic is usually introduced by means of manipulatives (for instance, abaci and base ten blocks). But it is well known that no artefact is transparent for mathematical meaning, unless the social practices of the mathematics classroom, initiated by the teacher, are effective. The aim of this study is to report on tasks given in a four-session (16 h) workshop for 27 prospective pre-primary and primary school teachers, where the use of artefacts in learning place value in base ten was tackled, within a suitable theoretical framework. Different sessions of the workshop are analysed, focusing on tasks related to different components of mathematics knowledge for teaching. Effectiveness for professional growth is reported, quoting documents written by students and by external evaluators. In a final paragraph, the implication for pre-primary school teacher education is addressed.     

The new Turkish early childhood teacher education curriculum: a brief outlook

This article aims to describe and reflect on the new early childhood teacher education curriculum in Turkey. The new curriculum is part of a large-scale reform agenda to improve education at all levels. The article begins with a brief history of early childhood education and early childhood teacher education in Turkey. Then, the needs for the curriculum revision and major characteristics of the revised curriculum are discussed. The article concludes with brief discussion about the innovations and suggestions for future research dealing with the implementation and effectiveness of the revised curriculum     

Early childhood education: Notes from the past for the future

Early childhood education has made great progress internationally in the last thirty years, in large measure through the efforts of researchers and practitioners. In contrast, many governments have failed to establish the unified systems of management and administration recognized as essential since the 1970s. Maintaining dual systems, they have not been able to generate and implement a coherent curriculum or unitary training programs for practitioners. As these are achieved, it will be necessary to include in the academic components of practitioner education programs a knowledge base about child development and its facilitation. The theoretical underpinnings and empirical findings supporting this knowledge base were established in the 1960s and 1970s. However, they have been ignored or re-invented as subsequent fashions succeed each other. The central components of this knowledge base are recapitulated.