Early Head Start Teachers’ Perception of Coaching Experiences

Early Childhood Education Journal - A rich literature describes the efficacy of coaching programs for early care and education (ECE) teachers. ECE teachers can provide unique insights into the...     

Building Women’s Innovation Capacities Through Undergraduate Experiences

Research in Higher Education - This study examines how collegiate climates and practices can promote innovation capacities among an international longitudinal sample of undergraduate women. Using a...     

Examining the Content of Preservice Teachers’ Reflections of Early Field Experiences

This paper describes an exploratory study that examined the content of preservice elementary teachers’ reflections of their documented early field experiences of science teaching in authentic contexts. The study used an early field experience model that was focused on the objective of profiling an elementary science teacher as the practical merit of reflection. Preservice elementary teachers individually and collaboratively reflected on their early field experiences and used the resulting reflections to construct profiles of an elementary science teacher respectively in synthesis papers. Data sources included journal entries and synthesis papers resulting from individual and collaborative reflections. Thematic analysis revealed that profiles of an elementary science teacher constructed from both individual and collaborative reflections were based on the roles of teacher as a guide and teacher as a mediator. Analysis further revealed that classroom management and discipline and safety were the key foci factored within individual reflections while what promotes learning and the difference between what is effective and ineffective scaffolding respectively, served as the foci within collaborative reflections. Also, collaborative reflection provided a structured approach to reflection as it drew preservice elementary teachers into collective dialogue and negotiation capturing the tensions they faced when trying to make sense of the practice of other teachers. Implications include the need to frame early field experiences with objectives that are understood by all parties involved in early field experiences; and, the need to instill the importance of observation, documentation, and reflection which collectively sum up preservice teachers’ early field experiences.     

Early Childhood Teachers as Socializers of Young Children’s Emotional Competence

Young children’s emotional competence—regulation of emotional expressiveness and experience when necessary, and knowledge of their own and other’s emotions—is crucial for social and academic (i.e., school) success. Thus, it is important to understand the mechanisms of how young children develop emotional competence. Both parents and teachers are considered as important socializers of emotion, providing children experiences that promote or deter the development of emotional competence. However, compared to parents, early childhood teachers’ roles in socializing young children’s emotional competence have not been examined. Based on the findings from research on parental socialization of emotion, in this theoretical review we explore possible teacher roles in the development of young children’s emotional competence. Additionally, we suggest future research focusing on early childhood teacher socialization of emotion, and discuss theoretical and practical benefits of such research.     

The Non-Tested Years: Policy’s Impact on Early Childhood Curriculum

Early childhood and elementary education emerged from a variety of knowledge and research bases. Tensions emerged as they were brought together in a unified public kindergarten through 12th-grade educational system. This review describes how standards and accountability policies have exacerbated tensions between early childhood and elementary curriculum and instructional approaches and impacted the voice and role of early childhood educators. We argue that this is a critical time for understanding and addressing these issues.     

AProbeintoErnest Hemingway’sSuicide Enigma Through HisWorksand Life Experiences

Ernest Hemingway, one of the brightest stars on the literary stage of both American and the whole world literature in the twentieth century, had gained an everlasting reputation by the image of"the tough man"he created in lots of his works.Hence, to readers, Hemingway must be a strong man both physically and mentally. Though Hemingway had passed away, he left us an inestimable literary treasure, and we can draw some lessons from his suicide tragedy. To modern people who are burdened     

Navigating Worlds of “Trouble and Woe and Worse” in Children’s Literature: An Exploration into the Double Text of Tony Kushner and Maurice Sendak’s Brundibar

In this article, the author explores the richly layered double text of Kushner and Sendak’s picturebook, Brundibar (2003)—the historical context of Brundibár as a Holocaust-era children’s operetta by Hans Krása and Adolf Hoffmeister, and the present day manifestation of Brundibar as a children’s picturebook. In order to contextualize the discussion of Kushner and Sendak’s text, Brundibar’s historical origins in Nazi-annexed Czechoslovakia and its transition to the stage in the Nazi “model” concentration camp, Terezín, is presented. An extensive semiotic analysis of Kushner and Sendak’s illustrations and text is also provided within the framework of what Kushner (The art of Maurice Sendak: 1980 to the present, 2003) terms “a world of trouble and woe and worse” (p. 210). Furthermore, the author discusses the development of Sendak’s Hitlerian Brundibar and the struggles that both Kushner and Sendak faced as they considered how to portray the story’s antagonist, given their somewhat differing conceptions of which difficult themes and topics children should be exposed to during childhood. To round out this discussion, the author explores pedagogical implications for teachers as they read difficult texts, particularly Holocaust texts, with children.     

“It’s Like I’m Really There”: Using VR Experiences for STEM Career Development

Research suggests that the likelihood of students entering into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers can be increased by promoting and maintaining students’ interest in STEM during middle school years, a critical developmental stage when students’ interests begin to solidify. One way to attract students to STEM is through technology-enhanced learning environments and experiences, which can spark and cultivate the long-term interest needed to pursue STEM careers. Virtual reality (VR) can potentially increase access to such STEM-related experiences for all students due to its educational and technological affordances. Currently, there has been little exploration of the intersection between VR and career development for K-12 students. This study, therefore, aims to address this gap by exploring the use of VR 360 videos for STEM career exploration. Data were collected using focus group interviews with 39 primarily Latinx middle school students who participated in the summer enrichment program. These interviews were conducted immediately after a VR 360 video activity that featured female characters and/or characters from racial minorities in order to best support students who are underrepresented in STEM fields. The findings support the potential of VR as a tool for career development as long as content, possible physical side effects, and scaffolding are considered. The implications for research and practice are discussed.

     

Teachers’ Beliefs Regarding Subtypes of Socially Withdrawn and Aggressive Behaviors on the Playground Across the Early School Years

Research Findings: The purpose of this study was to examine teachers’ beliefs about and responses to children’s withdrawn behaviors (reticence and solitary-passive behavior) and aggressive behaviors (relational and physical aggression) on the playground across grades (preschool through 2nd grade) and by gender. Participants included 171 female teachers of preschool (n = 46), kindergarten (n = 45), 1st-grade (n = 41), and 2nd-grade (n = 39) classes from a Mountain West community. Overall, reticence was perceived as less appropriate than solitary-passive behavior, and physical aggression was perceived as less appropriate than relational aggression, although both forms of aggression were seen as less appropriate than both forms of withdrawal. Likewise, it was found that teachers do not take as proactive an approach to dealing with all withdrawn behaviors as they do in dealing with aggressive behaviors. Practice or Policy: Important gender differences were found and are discussed.     

The Importance of Art Viewing Experiences in Early Childhood Visual Arts: The Exploration of a Master Art Teacher’s Strategies for Meaningful Early Arts Experiences

The visual arts can be an important and rich domain of learning for young children. In PreK education, The Task Force on Children’s Learning and the Arts: Birth to Age Eight (Young children and the arts: Making creative connections, Washington, DC: Arts Education Partnership, 1998) recommends that art experiences for young children include activities designed to introduce children to works of art that are high quality and developmentally appropriate in both content and presentation. This paper documents the teaching strategies utilized by a master art teacher at the Denver Art Museum to engage preschool-age students in art viewing experiences which were part of a museum-based art program. This research provides support for integrating rich, meaningful art viewing experiences as a regular part of young children’s arts experiences while offering early childhood educators teaching strategies for early art viewing experiences.

Inquiry-Based Field Experiences: Transforming Early Childhood Teacher Candidates’ Effectiveness

Contemporary teacher preparation programs are challenged to provide transformational learning experiences that enhance the development of highly effective teachers. This mixed-methods case study explored the influence of inquiry-based field experiences as a pedagogical approach to teacher preparation. Four teacher candidates participated in a 15-week practicum hosted by four community-based early childhood classrooms. Research methods included peer discussions, self-assessments, coaching sessions facilitated by the instructor/researcher, and a survey. Triangulated content analysis indicated that inquiry-based field experiences positively contributed to the participants’ (a) understanding and application of core knowledge, (b) consciousness of teacher–child interactions, (c) appreciation of co-inquiry learning, and (d) utilization of reflective learning. Inquiry-based field experiences also positively contributed to the participants’ professional intentionality and discernment.     

Supporting Early Childhood Teachers to Promote Children’s Social Competence: Components for Best Professional Development Practices

There is a growing recognition that young children’s social competence is critical because it is positively associated with their school readiness and academic success. However, professional development (PD) opportunities for early childhood teachers to enhance their roles in promoting young children’s social competence are limited. In this article, five key components of best PD on social competence for early childhood teachers are recommended. These include (1) identifying PD content based on participants’ contextual needs; (2) sequencing PD aligned with the positive behavior support framework; (3) providing opportunities for participants to receive feedback on their implementation; (4) guiding participants to reflect on their own practices; and (5) embracing socio-cultural perspectives throughout the PD.     

Contributions of Teacher–Child Interaction Quality to Chinese Children’s Development in the Early Childhood Years

Research Findings: Growing international evidence points to high-quality teacher–child interactions in early learning environments as key contributors to children’s learning and development. Little is known, however, about the longitudinal effects of these experiences, particularly in the Chinese context. In this study, we addressed the question of such longitudinal effects by examining the predictive effect of classroom teacher–child interaction quality on children’s subsequent academic development in a sample of 3-year-old children in Chinese kindergartens. Utilizing a hierarchical linear modeling approach, we found that teacher–child interaction quality, especially the classroom organization domain, consistently predicted the development of children’s early academic and cognitive skills. Practice or Policy: Findings contribute to the growing international literature on the critical role teacher–child interaction quality plays in children’s learning and development. Implications for policy and professional development are discussed.     

A Preliminary Evaluation of REACH: Training Early Childhood Teachers to Support Children’s Social and Emotional Development

This paper describes the development, implementation and preliminary evaluation of the Reaching Educators and Children (REACH) program, a training and coaching intervention designed to increase the capacity of early childhood teachers to support children’s social and emotional development. We evaluated REACH with 139 teachers of toddler and preschool classrooms. Teacher attendance and survey results suggest that teachers were highly satisfied with the training and materials. Data from classroom observation scales conducted pre- and post-REACH implementation suggest significant improvements in the sensitivity of teachers’ interactions with children in the classroom, and increased teacher use of targeted social and emotional supports (such as teaching children to resolve conflicts). Further, data from observations of children’s classroom behavior suggest increases in children’s prosocial behaviors and small but significant decreases in verbal aggression. These findings provide preliminary evidence that the REACH program may be effective in building teachers’ capacity to support social–emotional development of young children, and point to the need for additional research.     

Learning one’s place and position through play: social class and educational opportunity in Early Years Education

Drawing on the theoretical work of the British sociologist Basil Bernstein, this paper documents how learning is structured and organised through play in three Early Years Education (EYE) settings catering for children aged three to five in England, UK. Its data address current issues raised within EYE research relating to ‘quality and high returns’ and ‘school readiness’ for compulsory education. The analyses reveal that multiple forms of play are evident in all three settings; however, they are afforded very different status and value in each, influenced by the assumptions practitioners [in this paper practitioner is used because this is what those working in the nursery settings viewed themselves as. Although we acknowledge that early childhood educator is perhaps a more common term in certain countries] make about children and their families’ knowledge and resources for learning. The effect of such processes is the reproduction of social class and cultural hierarchies inside EYE settings, reflecting those longstanding in wider UK society. Despite the best intentions of policy-makers and practitioners, EYE play as currently configured does not provide equal opportunities for all.     

Korean Immigrant Mothers’ Perspectives: The Meanings of a Korean Heritage Language School for Their Children’s American Early Schooling Experiences

This study examines what a Korean heritage language school means to Korean immigrant families and their children, considering Korean immigrant mothers’ perspectives on American early schooling. As part of an ethnographic research project on Korean-American children’s peer culture in a heritage school, seven mothers, two guardians (grandmothers), and their young children were observed and interviewed during one academic year. The analysis showed that the heritage language school functions as a social and emotional support system, a buffer for reducing the detachment from parents, and a safety net for the Korean-American children’s challenging lives. The Korean immigrant mothers also showed that they felt burdened by different cultural views of their children’s behaviors, and described how their children were often considered problematic. The social and culture barriers caused by their immigrant status profoundly influenced their reasons for sending their children to a Korean heritage language school. This study suggests that teachers’ deep understanding of culturally different perspectives on children’s behaviors, along with systematic social and emotional support, can help these children attain psychological well-being.     

Teachers’ Perceptions of their Mentoring Role in Three Different Clinical Settings: Student Teaching,Early Field Experiences,and Entry Year Teaching

The purpose of this study was to determine the differences in mentoring across three different clinical settings: student teaching, early field experiences, and entry year teachers. Eighteen teachers with mentoring experience in all three clinical settings were selected and interviewed. The teachers’ expectations for teacher development, mentoring relationships, and mentoring strategies differed across all three clinical settings. In addition, their confidence, their relationship with mentees, and their mentoring strategies were influenced by two features of the clinical setting: (a) the amount of time for mentoring interactions, and (b) the expectations for the mentee. To improve mentoring, the authors recommend (a) lengthening clinical experiences, (b) providing support for creating positive relationships, and (c) providing professional development specific to each of the three clinical settings.