Abstract
ABSTRACTAlthough both love and care, as teacher quality and teaching practice, are a common relational dimension of early childhood teaching, the two terms have different denotations in the professionalism discourse. Adopting a two-phase design, data collection of this study includes thematic synthesis of systematically selected literature and expert interviews with 15 early childhood teacher education experts from five universities and three institutes of technology across New Zealand. Analyzed through the lenses of reality and rationality, the two sources of data converge and reveal: (1) Different to love, care is an integral part of teacher professionalism; (2) Compared to care, love is more linked to potentially negative effects on both children and teachers, and the professionalism status of love should be determined according to diverse contexts. The implications of the study on teacher education are discussed and future research directions outlined.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
