Combating violence against children: Jordanian pre-service early childhood teachers’ perceptions towards child abuse and neglect

Abstract

Early childhood teachers play major roles in defying child abuse and neglect and alleviating its detrimental effects on young children. Therefore, this study aimed at exploring how Jordanian pre-service early childhood teachers define and perceive violence against children and their role in child abuse detection and prevention. Furthermore, the study aimed at identifying pre-service early childhood perceived preparation needs in child abuse and neglect. To achieve the study purposes, an interpretive qualitative approach was utilised. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 25 pre-service early childhood teachers who completed a compulsory course in child abuse at the time of the study. Thematic analysis was applied to data through which findings were confined to three themes corresponding to the research questions: violence and abuse defined; perceived preparation needs; and perceived roles in child protection. Several implications and recommendations for educators and teacher preparation programmes were offered and discussed based on the findings of this study.