Research on Early Childhood Teacher Education: Evidence From Three Domains and Recommendations for Moving Forward

It is essential that a solid research base be established to provide a foundation that will enable the field of early childhood teacher education to examine whether, for whom, and in what ways teacher education matters. The purpose of this article is to review several important domains in early childhood teacher education to illustrate the characteristics, key features, and significant gaps in current research, and to identify the kinds of research that are most needed to enhance the impact of early childhood teacher education. We conclude by identifying five crosscutting research priorities and describing what is needed to create a supportive environment that produces—and implements—early childhood teacher education research.     

‘I can't read it; I don't know’: young children's participation in the pedagogical documentation of English early childhood education and care settings

This article discusses the findings about pedagogical documentation which were drawn from a study which the author co-directed in a range of English early childhood education and care settings and which focused on children's views of the early years curriculum. The article poses questions provoked by the study and uses the work of Rinaldi and Carr to interrogate the English context for documenting early learning. The article analyses documentation in theoretical terms such as deciding, decentralising, disciplining, didactic and dialogue and also considers accounts by practitioners and researchers of practical strategies. The argument is illustrated with a selection of the data from the original study by Garrick et al. and contends that the purpose of pedagogical documentation should be to enable adult and child communicative cooperation, rather than to provide statements about children's progress which feed into the ‘discourses of quality in early childhood’.     

A systematic review of research on the flipped learning method in engineering education

The purpose of this article is to describe the current state of knowledge and practice in the flipped learning approach in engineering education and to provide guidance for practitioners by critically appraising and summarizing existing research. This article is a qualitative synthesis of quantitative and qualitative research investigating the flipped learning approach in engineering education. Systematic review was adopted as the research methodology and article selection and screening process are described. Articles published between 2000 and May 2015 were reviewed, and 62 articles were included for a detailed analysis and synthesis. The results indicated that flipped learning gained popularity amongst engineering educators after 2012. The review revealed that research in engineering education focused on documenting the design and development process and sharing preliminary findings and student feedback. Future research examining different facets of a flipped learning implementation, framed around sound theoretical frameworks and evaluation methods, is still needed to establish the pedagogy of flipped learning in teaching engineering.     

Perspectives of Students with Disabilities Toward Physical Education: A Qualitative Inquiry Review

The purpose of this article is to review published qualitative inquiries that examine the perspective of students with disabilities toward experiences in physical education. Keyword searches were used to identify articles from electronic databases published from 1995 to 2014. Thirteen articles met all inclusion criteria, and findings were extracted. The 13 located qualitative articles were subject to a narrative analysis, and study characteristics were tabulated. The findings of targeted studies were explored and 3 thematic clusters emerged: (a) perspectives toward typically developing peers, (b) perspectives toward physical educators, and (c) perspectives toward inclusion and exclusion. Findings from this review support the notion that positive attitudes of physical educators may be a critical feature in ensuring meaningful learning experiences for students with disabilities. Meaningful learning experiences can be constructed through modifications and accommodations during activities, creating a welcoming physical education environment and providing a choice between inclusive and segregated learning environments. Directions for future research in this area are discussed.     

The Quality of Early Childhood Educators: Children’s Interaction in Greek Child Care Centers

Though quality in early childhood education and care has attracted last decades enormous research interest there is still not a unanimous agreement about its definition. Yet, almost all definitions attempted include interaction, group size, adult:child ratio and early childhood educators’ level of education, as important indices of quality. Relationships are key resources for young children. There is agreement among researchers that the quality of caregiving by professional caregivers in child care centres has been established as an important influence on various aspects of child development. Thus, structural characteristics have been proven to affect programs’ quality of services provided. The purpose of this research study was twofold: (1) to explore the quality of interaction between Greek early childhood educators and children; and (2) to record the structural characteristics of Greek child care centres. Correlations among structural characteristics and type of interaction were also examined. Research data indicate that Greek early childhood educators are positive but at the same time detached and permissive during their interaction with children, a finding that disputes their positive interaction. Thus, Greek child care centres have been found to adopt, based on Greek legislation, high ratios and group sizes, a finding which raises questions about the effects on children’s well being and development. Limited correlations have been found between the type of interaction and the structural characteristics. Research data highlight the need for further research to undergone and for changes in Greek legislation, concerning the operation of Greek child care centres.     

In good hands: Preparing research-skilled graduates for the early childhood profession

Recent developments in early childhood teacher education have seen the inclusion of curricula designed to serve the concept of continuous professional renewal through educating undergraduates in the interpretation, execution, and use of research. The challenge for educators is to “demystify” research and teach in ways that are professionally meaningful as well as intellectually acceptable. In this study, we follow three groups of early childhood students as they engage in a one-semester research subject. Focus groups and individual interviews showed considerable shifts in student attitudes about the value of research and in their development toward becoming active researchers who see research as a tool for answering questions in education.     

To a teacher (yes,you!)

This article reports on a qualitative research project that examined ways in which pedagogical discourses within an early childhood education college preparation program construct a universal identity of the “good early childhood educator.” Drawing upon theoretical explanations of the concept of difference in professional identification, a discursive analysis of the research participants' views indicates that the good early childhood educator is, on the whole, perceived as possessing a single, normative identity that is decontextualized from social relations. Cultural differences are simultaneously recognized, managed and denied through several discursive moves. If, however, diversity in the early childhood education (ECE) workforce is desired, then recognition of the value of difference needs to be integral and central to the construction of a professional early childhood educator identity, so that new social relations in the classroom can be structured.     

Meta-Analysis and Meta-Synthesis Methodologies: Rigorously Piecing Together Research

For a variety of reasons, education research can be difficult to summarize. Varying contexts, designs, levels of quality, measurement challenges, definition of underlying constructs, and treatments as well as the complexity of research subjects themselves can result in variability. Education research is voluminous and draws on multiple methods including quantitative, as well as, qualitative approaches to answer key research questions. With increased numbers of empirical research in Instructional Design and Technology (IDT), using various synthesis methods can provide a means to more deeply understand trends and patterns in research findings across multiple studies. The purpose of this article is to illustrate structured review or meta-synthesis procedures for qualitative research, as well as, novel meta-analysis procedures for the kinds of multiple treatment designs common to IDT settings. Sample analyses are used to discuss key methodological ideas as a way to introduce researchers to these techniques.     

Insights gained by schools and emotional consequences of school inspections. A review of evidence

This study systematically reviews research evidence regarding two questions: (1) to what extent do schools gain insight into the quality of their own functioning as a result of an inspection? and (2) what are the emotional consequences of inspections experienced by school staff?

It provides a review of empirical research studies published as full-length articles in scientific journals and proceedings of international conferences, symposia and workshops, as well as in books or as book chapters, from 1995 until 2012. Both quantitative and qualitative data are considered. The review process identified 35 relevant publications that met the criteria for inclusion.

The review leads to the conclusion that inspections fail to contribute significantly to schools’ self-understanding, but that they lead to a severe negative emotional impact on school staff. Furthermore it is concluded that the current evidence base shows several gaps, mainly related to underlying explanatory features that contribute to the occurrence of these effects.     

A Qualitative Metasynthesis of How Early Educators in International Contexts Address Cultural Matters That Contrast With Developmentally Appropriate Practices

Research Findings: The National Association for the Education of Young Children's guidelines for developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) have been imported and researched by others across the globe. A central issue that has arisen for these international early childhood educators is whether these best practices are sensitive to the sociocultural contexts in which they work. To shed further light on this issue, a qualitative metasynthesis was conducted that examined findings from published peer-reviewed studies of DAP in international early childhood contexts that investigated how early educators conceptualized and/or engaged in practices with young children. It then looked at whether these understandings and/or practices culturally contrasted with DAP. In brief, matters involving culture that contrasted with the framework of DAP arose frequently for the early educators in the data set. Yet researchers rarely offered suggestions for early educators to attend to these issues. Practice or Policy: It seems that to address matters involving culture that contrast with the framework of DAP in international contexts early educators should examine the 3 central tenets of DAP simultaneously when addressing the needs of children—their sociocultural, individual, and developmental needs. It also appears that advocates for DAP need to consider whether particular materials, resources, and/or policies should be in place in any early childhood education context for early educators to conceptualize as well as practice DAP. Lastly, there is a need for further research that examines how teachers in international contexts are responding to cultural issues that contrast with DAP in their conceptions of and/or practices in early education.     

Stepping out of the classroom: involving teachers in the evaluation of national special education policy

Since Richard Rose relaunched BJSE's Research Section as a forum for the discussion of practitioner research, BJSE has published a series of very successful accounts of individual teacher enquiry and action research. In this article from New Zealand, Roseanna Bourke, now working at the Ministry of Education in Wellington, and her two colleagues, Alison Kearney and Jill Bevan-Brown, both from the Department of Learning and Teaching at Massey University, present an alternative view of the involvement of teachers in research.
In 1999, the Ministry of Education asked a team of researchers from Massey University to evaluate the introduction of New Zealand's first national policy for special education, known as Special Education 2000. The 16-member research team was contracted to provide a three-year, multi-method, longitudinal evaluation incorporating both quantitative and qualitative approaches. This article looks specifically at one aspect of the approach used in the evaluation – the use of teachers as fieldworkers. Teachers across the country were trained as fieldworkers to assist in the collection of data in schools and early childhood centres. Training was given to all teachers on the research aims, methods, ethics, including cultural sensitivity, and rationale for the evaluation. By participating in large-scale research and acting as 'fieldworkers', 68 teachers had the opportunity to develop their skills as researchers, while learning about other schools' perceptions and experiences of the special education policy. The experience provided a means for teachers to become apprenticed into a research culture, and to talk with principals and other teachers about common areas of interest. It also ensured that the research had knowledgeable and credible fieldworkers to collect data in schools.     

Education for sustainable development in early childhood education: a review of the research literature

The aim of the study is to describe and analyse research articles relating to the subject of education for sustainable development (ESD) for early childhood education (ECE), published during the years 1996–2013. This is done by answering three specific questions: (1) How is ESD defined by researchers in ECE? (2) What are the major research inquiries and results? (3) What does the research say about young children acting for change in relation to sustainability? Our analysis identified two different definitions of ESD: first, as a threefold approach to education based on questions concerning education about, in and for the environment; and, second, as an approach to education that includes three interrelated dimensions: economic, social and environmental. Two major research areas are identified in this study. The first area relates to how teachers understand ESD, while the second area focuses on how ESD can be implemented in educational practice. During the period studied, the research has evolved from teaching children facts about the environment and sustainability issues to educating children to act for change. This new approach reveals a more competent child who can think for him- or herself and make well-considered decisions. The decisions are made by investigating and participating in critical discussions about alternative ways of acting for change.     

When We Inquire Into Our Own Practice: An Early Childhood Teacher Research Group

Every day, early childhood teachers confront issues, problems, and concerns in their classrooms. Sometimes they do nothing. Sometimes they use trial and error. Sometimes they go to a workshop or read an article. We have found a way to intentionally and systematically research and answer our own questions and to enrich our own professional development through teacher research. Teacher research provides early childhood educators with a strategy that supports reflective thinking and practice. This article describes the experience of a small group of early childhood teacher researchers. How is it different from other required assessments? How is it different from other professional development?     

In Pursuit of Reciprocity: Researchers,Teachers, and School Reformers Engaged in Collaborative Analysis of Video Records

In the ideal, reciprocity in qualitative inquiry occurs when there is give-and-take between researchers and the researched; however, the demands of the academy and resource constraints often make the pursuit of reciprocity difficult. Drawing on two video-based, qualitative studies in which researchers utilized video records as resources to enhance reciprocity, this article explores how educators and researchers can negotiate relationships to make the research enterprise mutually beneficial. In particular, this article examines specific events where researchers and educators collaboratively analyzed video data, including video of the research team engaged in analytic conversations. The resulting conversations interrupted traditional boundaries between researchers and participants and yielded understandings that benefited both parties. The conclusion provides a set of questions educators can pose to researchers to help ensure reciprocity.     

Toward a Model for Early Childhood Environmental Education: Foregrounding,Developing, and Connecting Knowledge Through Play-Based Learning

Environmental education represents a growing area of interest in early childhood education, especially since the inclusion of environmental principles and practices in the Australian Early Years Learning Framework. Traditionally, these two fields of education have been characterized by diverse pedagogical emphases. This article considers how teachers in particular see different types of pedagogical play, such as open-ended play, modeled play, and purposefully framed play as providing opportunities for young children and teachers to develop knowledge through experiences about environmental education in early childhood settings. As a result of findings based on our qualitative research study involving early childhood teachers and children, an emerging model for thinking about environmental education in early childhood is proposed as a way of integrating these pedagogical emphases traditionally associated with environmental and early childhood education. Avenues for future research associated with this model are also identified.     

Conceptions of and early childhood educators’ experiences in early childhood professional development programs: A qualitative metasynthesis

ABSTRACT

Policy makers and early childhood stakeholders across the United States continue to seek policy solutions that improve early educators’ instruction of young children. A primary vehicle for attaining this goal is professional development. This has led to an influx of empirical studies that seek to develop a set of best practices for professional development. While this deductive work is important and informative, it provides limited insight into how professional development is being conceptualized, and how teachers experience, respond to, or learn from these programs. This article begins to address these issues by presenting findings from a qualitative metasynthesis of published peer-reviewed qualitative studies of professional development programs for in-service early educators in the United States. By analyzing, synthesizing, and interpreting these studies, it appears that while such programs may have a positive impact on teachers’ conceptions of practice, there is a need to expand the research literature beyond identifying what works so that it includes studies examining teachers using such practices with children and investigations into teachers’ knowledge of their local teaching and learning communities. This study ends by offering an interpretation of the relationship between these findings and the field of teacher education.