Bringing web‐enhanced courses to communities of learners in early childhood teacher education

Abstract

In our graduate programs in early childhood education, we model constructivist practice in the belief that teachers are better able to understand and implement constructivist principles having experienced them in their work. In this practice we attempt to be explicit about constructivist practice in our program and in elementary classrooms. As we examine and modify our constructivist pedagogy, one key question for teachers and ourselves emerges: What does a classroom based on constructivist pedagogy look like in early childhood (K‐2)? The goal of this research is a clearer understanding of constructivist pedagogy in the context of primary classrooms. The study was designed using qualitative methods in order to understand the experiences in classrooms guided by constructivist theory. The classroom participants are six teachers who graduated from a Master's degree program based on constructivist principles. Analysis of the six classrooms indicated 24 key elements of constructivist classrooms. A focused analysis of three constructivist teachers and their classroom supports these elements and indicates three broader characteristics: the important role of children, authentic and purposeful interactions among classroom participants, and engagement in academic activity. A vignette of a constructivist classroom is provided to present the essence of our findings while maintaining participants' views and voices.     

Sustainable development in early childhood education: in‐service students' comprehension of the concept

The purpose of this article is to explore day care attendants' comprehension of the concept of sustainable development (SD) and to analyse the associated pedagogical practices at their place of work in pre‐schools. The empirical data comprise written exam reports from 32 practising day care attendants attending an in‐service education course. The participants study early childhood education (ECE) part time at Mälardalen University, Sweden, and the rest of their time they work in their pre‐schools. The analysis was based on a qualitative content analysis approach, and the results show a multi‐faceted understanding of the concept. SD was seen as a holistic approach, an environmental issue or a democratic issue. The article explores how these different ways of approaching the concept relate to different attitudes and day‐to‐day practices in the pedagogical programme in the pre‐schools.     

Where is the (postmodern) child in early childhood education research?

Within early years education research there is a lack of research that focuses on the child and that constructs the child as co‐constructor of knowledge, culture and identity. Although there is much writing on early childhood education with regard to teacher practice, pedagogy and curriculum, these discussions are rarely informed by the perspectives of children. The author conducted a review of the literature of prominent early childhood research journals from 2006. This discussion, informed by examples from the literature review, demonstrates the various ways in which children are constructed within research, with specific discussion on the ‘postmodern’ child within early childhood education research, and implications for postmodern research projects with children. This paper is intended to provoke reflection, conversation and research on the ways in which the child is constructed in education research and literature.     

An a‐mazing way to deal with performance‐based assessment in early childhood education

Abstract

This article discusses the lessons learned by the implementation of Colorado Senate Bill 99–154, a performance‐based teacher education bill with implications for other Early Childhood Programs that want to promote a developmentally appropriate standard‐based program. A parable about change is used to make a point.     

The emergence of the analytical method in early childhood education – the scientific effort to produce the learning child for the nation in a global era

Through an analysis of a recent Danish administrative educational reform in the area of early childhood education, this article raises a discussion about the way pedagogical objects and subjects are generated in the knowledge acquisition of administrative educational reforms promoting accountability, visibility and documentation. It is argued that pedagogy is generated as a sequential and unit-specified way of working on the production of ‘the learning child’, forming a time- and material-optimising approach. Hereby, the nursery teacher, as a daily scientific researcher, comes to serve the nation by an ongoing observational intervention, producing the learning foundation for the entrepreneurial citizen, and thus the nation as a knowledge society in a globalised world. This is what this article terms the emergence of the analytical method.     

Inclusive discourses in early childhood education?

This article explores the discursive formation of inclusion in early childhood education and after‐school (recreation) centres in a Danish municipality. While inclusion has been a central educational issue in research and practice for well over quarter of a century, with continuing emphasis worldwide on ‘initiatives by governments’, this interest has centred on the school environment and institutions of higher education. Thus, despite increasing recognition of the significance of preschool and after‐school‐care, inclusion in these environments remains peripheral to the main debate.     

Resolution of parent–child conflicts in the adolescence

The aims of the study were: (1) to examine whether adolescents’ attachment and the perceived quality of the communication with their parents relate to effective resolution of parent–child conflicts and (2) to determine whether the pattern of associations changes with adolescents’ gender and age. The sample consisted of 295 adolescents who filled the questionnaires. Structural Equations Models showed that secure attachment predicted a positive communicative climate, which in turn, predicted a more frequent use of negotiation. Secure attachment was related to the use of withdrawal strategies. Anxious attachment was related to high levels of criticism and disputes with parents, which, in turn, predicted the use of all conflict resolution styles. Avoidant attachment was not related to any of the conflict resolution styles. No differences were found in the pattern of associations by gender and age. The relevance of the findings for the social relational perspective to conflict resolution is discussed.     

Can e-books foster child language? Meta-analysis on the effectiveness of e-book interventions in early childhood education and care

Language abilities in the early years are a strong predictor of children's success in school. However, a considerable number of children enter school with poor language skills. Therefore, one of the most important but also challenging mandates of early childhood education and care [ECEC] is to promote these skills before school enrolment. Meta-analytic evidence suggests that shared book reading is a valuable tool to narrow this gap in the early years. In the digital age, e-books might offer new opportunities to foster language development in ECEC. This meta-analysis investigates the effectiveness of e-book interventions in comparison to regular childcare and to shared print book reading in classrooms. The systematic search, examining studies from 2000 to 2018, was carried out by two independent reviewers. A random-effect model was used to aggregate findings. Altogether, 17 studies with 30 different e-book treatments were included. Children benefited significantly more from the e-book interventions compared to regular childcare (g = 0.85). Activities with e-books were also ahead of print storybook reading in ECEC (g = 0.45). The effectiveness was mainly moderated by story repetition, number of sessions, and embeddedness in the classroom. E-books were primarily researcher-developed and included congruent functions to foster language development. Implications for practice, research and app development are discussed.     

Responding to children’s answers: questions embedded in the social context of early childhood education

This article presents analysis of question–answer sequences during problem inquiry between a teacher and two children in an early childhood crèche in New Zealand. Conversation analysis is used to reveal which questions the teacher asks, how children answer the questions, and the teacher’s responses to the child’s answers. Although adults’ ‘effective’ questions were identified and promoted in the REPEY study much less attention has been given to how adults respond to children’s answers. It is imperative to investigate the sequences of talk which follow a question in order to establish how teaching and learning is co-constructed in context, one utterance at a time and as a joint project between teacher and child. The findings suggest that task problems and emotional problems are treated in a similar way during problem inquiry, highlighting the complexity of interactions when teachers are providing both emotional care and educational support for young children.     

Practitioners’ constructions of love in early childhood education and care

Love is rarely mentioned in Early Childhood Education and Care and there is no agreed definition for love in this context. In order to explore love in settings practitioner views on the topic should be sought. Unstructured interviews were carried out with senior practitioners in five contrasting settings. A range of qualitative methods were applied to the constructions over an extended period, and a thematic analysis was carried out at the last. Practitioners talked about wide-ranging aspects of practice in response to the narrative prompt about loving children, including the importance of showing to love through touch, familial and non-familial love, loving to be with children, and love as incorporating teaching lessons for the future. A definition of love is needed to facilitate professional discussions about love in settings, away from children’s own homes.     

Critical elements for the science teacher to adopt a student‐centered approach: the case of a teacher in transition

Much research has been done and reform is suggested relating to teachers’ implementation of student‐oriented learning environments, yet research on the role, beliefs, pedagogy, and knowledge of teachers simultaneously in classroom environments has been minimal (Kyle, 1994 Kyle, W.C. 1994. School reform and the reform of teacher education: Can we orchestrate harmony?. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 31: 785–786. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 31, 785–786). This case study reports on a teacher’s perceptions, epistemology, and understandings of student‐oriented learning environments during a large project in which teachers from Grades 7 to 11 implemented an interactive‐constructivist approach in place of a traditional teacher‐oriented approach. In‐depth analysis of data revealed that the participant teacher’s perspective of a student‐centered science learning environment concerned the following: understanding of students’ prior knowledge, the importance and challenges of questioning, the teacher’s conceptual understanding of topics and unit preparation before and during the implementation, and the teacher’s motivation and problems in moving toward such an environment. There was consistency between the emerging themes and the crucial components of Simon’s Mathematics Teaching Cycle model, such as the teacher’s conceptual and pedagogical knowledge, hypothetical learning trajectory, and the teacher’s beliefs and teaching practice as argued by Haney, Czerniak, and Lumpe (1996 Haney, J., Czerniak, C. and Lumpe, A. 1996. Teacher beliefs and intentions regarding the implementation of science education reform strands. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 33(9): 971–993.  [Google Scholar], Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 33(9), 971–993) and van Driel, Beijaard, and Verloop (2001 van Driel, J.H., Beijaard, D. and Verloop, N. 2001. Professional development and reform in science education: The role of teachers’ practical knowledge. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38(2): 137–158. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38(2), 137–158). Further, findings of this study would help teacher education and reform planners to conduct more comprehensive studies on teachers’ perceptions about inquiry‐based teaching over the course of several years of inservice and preservice programs.     

A scale to measure educators’ musical skills in early childhood education

Evaluating skills of students training to become teachers in early childhood education (ECE) is a key measure to improve their training and, subsequently, to bring about improvements in the way they train their pupils. No research literature specifically describing a scale designed to measure educators’ musical skills at the ECE level has been previously published. In view of this lack, we carried out the customary procedures for designing and validating a psychological measurement scale: on the basis of a sample of university students (n = 209), we created a valid, reliable tool that allows researchers to evaluate and quantify how teacher trainees perceive their own musical skills. By applying EFA, Parallel Analysis, and CFA, we observed the emergence of four differentiated categories distributed along 25 items in the questionnaire’s final version. To improve and refine this tool, further research and study replication in a series of different educational contexts would be required.     

Datafied at four: the role of data in the ‘schoolification’ of early childhood education in England

ABSTRACT

This paper examines processes of datafication in early childhood education (ECE) settings for children from birth-five years in England and how this relates to increased formalisation. Unusually, ECE in England includes a standardised curriculum and formative and statutory assessments; thus it has been described as subject to both datafication and ‘schoolification’, a term used to describe the adoption of school-like practices and values in ECE. Using interview data from ECE settings over the last decade and a theoretical framework drawing on Foucault and Deleuze, the paper sets out the ways in which settings in schools and nurseries are subject to the demands of data, and how this produces data-driven subjectivities for both teacher and child. These developments are then linked to aspects of ‘schoolification’ including more formal teaching, a focus on literacy and mathematics, and use of ‘ability’ grouping.     

Teachers’ dispositions towards the role of digital devices in play-based pedagogy in early childhood education

Abstract

A body of research is emerging on early childhood education teachers’ views on the integration of digital technologies in their practice. Despite evidence of the digitalisation of homes in affluent societies and children’s interactions in highly mediated digital environments, few teachers so far have integrated digital devices into a play-based pedagogy. Thus, this project aimed to examine the attitudes and aptitudes towards digital devices of teachers in their personal lives and professional practice in five countries (England, Luxemburg, Malta, Greece and Kuwait). An online survey designed to collect broad-scale data was followed by focus group interviews. The findings demonstrated that although teachers are digitally competent in their personal lives, there is a dominant ideology regarding the nature of play-based pedagogy that hinders the integration of digital devices into their practice.     

Personalisation: the nostalgic revival of child‐centred education?

Personalisation is an emerging ‘movement’ within education. Its roots reside in marketing theory, not in educational theory. As a concept it admits a good deal of confusion. It can refer either to a new mode of governance for the public services, or it qualifies the noun ‘learning’, as in ‘personalised learning’. The concern here is with its intellectual affinity to child‐centred education, one which the government in England has strongly denied. On balance, the government’s view of personalisation is not of a piece with what may commonly be regarded as child‐centred education. But the strong semantic accord between the terms ‘personalisation’ and ‘child‐centred education’ provokes a question: why does the government not provide a term which unequivocally distinguishes its current ‘vision’ for education from child‐centred education? By retaining the term personalisation, the government purports to do two things: first, because of its focus on personalised ‘tailored’ needs and co‐produced solutions, it adapts education even further to a consumerist society; and second, because the term personalisation strikes a chord with the discourse of child‐centred education, it blurs the fact that little to do with pedagogy or with curriculum has in fact been changed. The term personalisation generates a nostalgic appeal to better times long gone.     

Developing identities in the workplace: students’ experiences of distance early childhood teacher education

In Aotearoa New Zealand, many early childhood teachers gain their teaching qualification via distance study while working in an early childhood centre. Early childhood teachers work in a team environment, and it is important to understand more about how distance students negotiate changes in their workplace practice as their professional knowledge develops. This article draws on a study that explores students’ experiences of distance teacher education as a process of changing participation in the workplace. Distance study supported increasingly confident participation as students saw more meaning in their daily work. The students’ identities and their workplace cultures and practices influenced what students paid attention to and the decisions they made when negotiating changes within their teams. Their experiences suggest that strengthening students’ relational agency at work is a useful focus for distance early childhood teacher education programmes.