ERIC Number: EJ1057915
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-Apr
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0313-5373
EISSN: N/A
Thinking Differently about Infants and Toddlers: Exploring the Reflections of Future Australian Early Childhood Teachers in Australia
Garvis, Susanne; Pendergast, Donna
Australian Journal of Teacher Education, v40 n4 Article 7 Apr 2015
In Australian early childhood teacher education programs there is typically a greater focus on the age group of kindergarten children compared to that of infants and toddlers (Garvis, Lemon, Pendergast and Yim, 2013). As a consequence, pre-service teachers may have little opportunity to interact and learn about this important age range. This paper reports on the incorporation of videos of young child and educator interaction into early childhood teacher education programs at one Australian university. The cohort of pre-service teachers (18) were asked to think in a structured way about the videos with the help of a structured reflection template, which challenged them to apply higher order thinking with regard to the scenarios presented. As a culminating point of the template, the pre-service teachers were asked to create a reflective practice question to improve their professional practice. In this study, the reflective questions were analysed using content and pronoun analysis. Findings suggest that the pre-service teachers were focused on the continuity of learning of young children, personal skill development and social emotional development. To a lesser degree reflections explored working with families. The pronoun of 'we' also appeared as the most likely response on personal reflective questions. This suggests the future teachers had already positioned themselves within the group of early childhood teachers, indicating a strongly developed professional identity.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Infants, Toddlers, Early Childhood Education, Preservice Teachers, Teacher Attitudes, Teacher Education Programs, Reflective Teaching, Skill Development, Social Development, Emotional Development, Professional Development, Video Technology, Instructional Films, Technology Uses in Education
Edith Cowan University. Bradford Street, Mount Lawley, West Australia 6050, Australia. Web site: http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A