Abstract

Research has shown that teachers’ beliefs and personal experiences play a significant role in their professional decision-making and practice, including their experiences as school children. This research study examined how the professional learning of Canadian beginning elementary teachers was influenced by their own early learning experiences in school. Six teachers were observed and interviewed in their classrooms 5 times over the first 3 years of their teaching career. Case studies were developed for each teacher and themes were explored across cases. The findings from this study suggest that pre-service and in-service teacher education programs need to provide teachers with opportunities to critically examine how their early learning experiences influence their professional learning experiences and priorities.

Highlights

  • This paper reports on a research study that examined how the professional practice of six beginning elementary teachers in Ontario, Canada was influenced by their early childhood learning

  • The participants’ childhood learning and elementary teaching were explored to examine the ways in which their early learning experiences as pupils influenced their pre-service and in-service education and their resultant practices

  • The participants’ early learning experiences varied greatly as did the ways in which those experiences intersected with their professional learning and teaching practice

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Summary

Introduction

This paper reports on a research study that examined how the professional practice of six beginning elementary teachers in Ontario, Canada was influenced by their early childhood learning. The participants’ childhood learning and elementary teaching were explored to examine the ways in which their early learning experiences as pupils influenced their pre-service and in-service education and their resultant practices. The participants’ early learning experiences varied greatly as did the ways in which those experiences intersected with their professional learning and teaching practice. The purpose of the study was to explore how the early learning experiences of the beginning teachers influenced their teaching practice. This paper looks at how participants’ early learning experiences intersected with their formal and informal professional development in the area of literacy

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