There has been a great deal of discourse in the field of early care and education concerning the experiences, skills, competencies, and education level needed by early childhood teachers to ensure that quality teaching and learning take place in the early years. The purpose of this article is to describe an early childhood teacher preparation…

Five essential ideas or understandings that should underlie early childhood teacher education programs are discussed conceptually. Inquiry and reflection into practice are critical for continued teacher learning and development; learning and development are cultural and constructivist processes; the teacher's image of the child should be as a…

The literature on infant care and education indicates that infant fieldwork has distinct learning opportunities that could work as an important supplement to more traditional field placements. The following study supports these assertions by providing an in-depth look at the experiences of three preservice early childhood teachers while engaging…

Effective collaboration between early childhood teachers and social workers is now considered critical to providing children with adequate psycho-social supports and services in early childhood settings. In order for this interdisciplinary collaboration to be more effective, opportunities for each discipline to learn about each other's knowledge,…

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…

The aim of this exploratory, longitudinal study was to describe an overall picture of how perceptions of the teacher role and attitudes toward science and science teaching develop and interact during preschool teacher education, and how this in turn influences behavior when students are engaged in teaching science. Sixty-five students enrolled in…

Professional development, which results in sustained transformative change, requires that teachers engage in critical reflection regarding teaching practices. In this study, a group of five bilingual and generalist early childhood teachers engaged in a journey in which they elected to try to reconstruct their beliefs and practices about teaching…

On the job experiences such as collaborative teacher meetings can shape how early childhood educators grow professionally and how schools can develop communities of practice. However, the effect of conversations during teacher meetings on teacher practice is not fully understood. This yearlong qualitative case study examined the relationship…

Beliefs often guide a teacher's decision-making, thinking, and practice in the classroom (Vartuli, 2005). There is limited longitudinal research on how early childhood preservice teachers develop new knowledge about their beliefs as they transition into in-service teaching positions (Joram & Gabriele, 1998). Across 4 years that encompassed a…

This article describes collaboration between preschool and university educators focused on adapting the Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence (CREDE) standards for Effective Pedagogy for use in early childhood (EC) settings. The CREDE standards are strategies of best practices for culturally diverse K-12 students. Teachers…

Early childhood teacher education courses must prepare students for the types of challenges they will face in communities and classrooms after graduation. By adopting a scenario-based approach, teacher educators and others designing online environments can help prepare students for these challenges. Solving complex problems inherent in a…

Synthesizing research with practice in a meaningful manner continues to be a challenge, particularly in relation to securing the place of play in the school setting. The struggle for early childhood teacher educators in dealing with the realities of this research-to-practice dilemma requires constructive action. A theoretical framework that is…

This qualitative study examines what early childhood preservice teachers enrolled in a field-based literacy methods course deemed relevant regarding teaching, literacy, and learning. This study is based on postcourse interviews with 7 early childhood preservice teachers. Findings suggest that "contextualized field experiences" facilitate…

This article presents results from a case study analyzing the process of change for early childhood educators as they engage in a semester-long professional development (PD) experience focused on developing a teacher research agenda related to mathematics instruction. During this PD experience, 11 participants (5 second-grade and 6 third-grade…

Recent changes in the system of early childhood teacher education in Germany raise the question of whether different academic levels of early childhood teacher education lead to different beliefs and orientations. In this study, prospective early childhood teachers' orientations to scientific knowledge and to research were explored. A…