The role of the resource teacher in child care programs: An Ontario study

Abstract

Resource teachers are one group of professionals involved in the mainstreaming of young children into child care programs. While the responsibilities of resource teachers have been generally outlined by the province of Ontario, little is known about what, in fact, resource teachers are doing in practice. This discussion paper summarizes the results of two sets of questionnaires sent to resource teachers in the province of Ontario. It was found that resource teachers spend the majority of their time in direct contact with children, followed by contact with parents, and then administrative duties. The resource teachers felt challenged by their work with parents and families. Coordinating services and supporting families were areas mentioned. The implications of the findings for the development of training programs for resource teachers are discussed.