You Get to a Point Where You Get Tired”

Based upon conversations with the participants, the questionnaires completed by them, and my classroom observations of three of the teachers, it was clear that there was a fairly strong correspondence between the traditional concept of the teacher in India and the current image and role of the early childhood teacher. This correspondence influenced the teacher's relationship with her students as well as the criteria that were used by school principals for hiring teachers. A description of my first visit to Malvika's first grade classroom will enable the reader to better contextualize the subsequent discussion on the image and role of early childhood teachers as commonly seen in private urban schools in India.KeywordsEarly ChildhoodTeacher TrainingSchool PrincipalGood TeacherEarly Childhood TeacherThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

هدفت الدراسة الحالية الى الكشف عن دور المعلمة في تنمية مهارة الطلاقة، والأصالة، ومهارة الحساسية للمشكلات لدى الطفل. تحديد دور المعلمة في تنمية مهارة الأصالة ومهارة المرونة لدى الطفل. الكشف عن الفروق ذات الدلالة الإحصائية لدور المعلمات في تنمية مهارات التفكير الإبداعي لدى الأطفال من وجهة نظرهن والتي تغزى لمتغير سنوات الخبرة، التخصص، الدرجة العلمية. وتمثلت مشكلة الدراسة بـ ما هو دور المعلمات في تنمية مهارات التفكير الإبداعي لدى الأطفال من وجهة نظر المعلمات، حيث ترى الباحثة من خلال خبرتها العلمية والعملية أن مهارة التفكير الإبداعي لم تأخذ حقها في مرحلة الطفولة المبكرة كون أعضاء هيئة التدريس لم يتم تدريبهم بشكل كافي لتنمية هذه المهارة لدى الطفل لذا تناولت الدراسة الحالية دور معلمات الطفولة المبكرة في تنمية مهارة التفكير الإبداعي لدى الطفل من وجهة نظرهن باستخدام المنهج الوصفي المسحي، والاستبانة كأداة لجمع البيانات من عينة بلغ عدد أفرادها (203) معلمة، وأسفرت النتائج عن دور معلمات الطفولة المبكرة في تنمية التفكير الإبداعي لدى الطفل من وجهة نظر المعلمات بدرجة كبيرة، وعدم وجود فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية لدور معلمات الطفولة المبكرة في تنمية التفكير الإبداعي لدى الطفل تُعزى لمتغير سنوات الخبرة، والتخصص، والدرجة العلمية، وبناءَ على النتائج تُوصي الدراسة بضرورة توجيه معلمات الطفولة المبكرة لتوظيف التفكير الإبداعي في عملية التعلم، تبصير القائمين على وضع مناهج الطفولة المبكرة بنتائج الأبحاث والدراسات التي تناولت التفكير الإبداعي؛ للاستفادة منها في عملية تطوير المناهج.

Objectives The purpose of this study is to clarify the relationship between the professional role expectations of the daycare center director perceived by the early childhood teacher and whether the role performance matches and the organizational effectiveness. Methods The final subjects of this study were 377 early childhood teachers working at daycare centers located in the B, U, and K regions. A survey was conducted to examine the consistency between the expected and actual role performance of daycare center directors in terms of professionalism, as well as its relationship with organizational effectiveness. The data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0. Results The results of the study are as follows. First, the group with high expectations for the role of early childhood teachers in the director's professionality showed higher organizational effectiveness than the group with low expectations for the role of early childhood teachers in the director's professionality. Second, the group with high performance of the role of early childhood teachers in the director's professionality showed higher organizational effectiveness than the group with low or inconsistent role expectations. Conclusions It can be seen that the group with high role expectations for the director's expertise perceived by early childhood teachers showed higher organizational effectiveness than the group with low role performance, and the group with high role expectations and role performance perceived by early childhood teachers showed higher organizational effectiveness than the group with low or inconsistent role performance. Therefore, in order to increase organizational effectiveness, the director of the daycare center needs to make efforts to match the director's professional role expectations and role performance perceived by early childhood teachers.

The concept of as used in industry and construction, was first applied to education and the social services in the 1980s. Since then the question of how to define and describe quality in early childhood services has been a matter for debate, both in New Zealand and internationally. Recently I spent time in Norway and Japan, observing very different early childhood contexts from our own. While each country promotes its practices as quality, the cultural contexts that shape our understandings of children, development, goals, and philosophies differ considerably--and so, as a result, do our early childhood settings. In this article (1) I discuss definitions of drawing on examples from Norway and Japan to demonstrate the differences in our understanding of this concept as it applies to early childhood education. Definitions of quality The concept of quality has often been taken to mean something that is real, measurable, knowable, and assessable; in other words, out there to be discovered. For example, the work on quality in early childhood education (ECE) has often looked at the structural features of services, such as organisation, resources, and environments. In the mid 1990s Harry McGurk (1995) defined quality in terms of structures and processes. Structures were those things that are the easiest to measure: physical space, equipment, staff qualifications and conditions of employment, health and safety, staff-child ratios, and so on. Indeed, there appears to be general international agreement over these as determinants of quality. Quality processes, however, are harder to describe, but refer to children's actual experiences in their early childhood settings: for example, their interactions with staff; a curriculum that is appropriately linked to their interests, exploration, and culture; relationships between staff; staff morale; and relationships between staff and parents. There are many different opinions on the impact these factors have on quality (Ceglowski, 2004; Clifford, 1995; Moss & Pence, 1994; Smith, 1996; Textor, 1998). Dahlberg, Moss, and Pence (1999) sum up this position when they state: We recognize that the discourse of quality might be particularly useful for certain highly technical issues, perhaps, for example, food hygiene or building standards to ensure the physical safety of young children in early childhood institutions ... a comprehensive and reliable system of information on subjects as the supply and use of places, the costs of running institutions and the gender, ethnicity, training and other details of the workforce are necessary conditions for a system of well organized and well resourced early childhood institutions. (p. 119) Since the mid 1990s the New Zealand Government has been attempting to support both structural and process quality indicators through initiatives and incentives such as the 1996 Quality Funding Rate, Quality in Action (Ministry of Education, 1998), The Quality Journey (Ministry of Education, 1999), and most recently Pathways to the Future (Ministry of Education, 2002). The Education (ECE) Regulations 1998 and Revised Statement of Desirable Objectives and Practices (DOPs) for Chartered Early Childhood Services (Ministry of Education, 1996) provide a legislative platform for agreed standards for ECE provisions. It is agreed that these structural features do improve what is happening for children (Clifford, 1995, Early Childhood Education Project, 1996). In New Zealand, as well as understanding the usefulness of these structures and systems in promoting we now also officially recognise their interrelationships in Pathways to the Future. Nga Huarahi Arataki. A 10 year Strategic Plan for Early Childhood Education (Ministry of Education, 2002): Children only benefit from participation in quality ECE services. That quality is achieved through a number of interacting factors. …

This article focuses on early childhood educators’ readiness to address controversial issues in the classroom related to gender and sexual identity in young children, with a special focus on homosexuality and homophobia. The terms gender, sexual identity, sexual orientation, homosexuality, and homophobia are defined in relation to the part they play in the lives of young children and their families. The role of early childhood teachers and consequently the roles played by individuals who train teachers (teacher trainers) are also presented for discussion.

Objectives We fundamentally understand the phenomenon that appears in early childhood teachers' digital education experiences and operation cases, and through interviews and in-depth technology, we derived early childhood teachers' digital education use experience and operation and demands for digital education operation, and proposed effective application in the educational field. Methods Seven early childhood teachers with digital education experience at a daycare center in Incheon were selected as research subjects. Research data was collected through focus group interviews from April 25 to 26, 2024, through group face-to-face interaction tailored to the circumstances of the research participants, and phenomenological research methods of interpretation, coding, and classification according to qualitative data analysis procedures. was analyzed. Results The experiences of early childhood teachers using digital education were as follows: ‘educational value of digital media’, ‘role of early childhood teachers in utilizing digital education’, ‘positive experience of digital education’, and ‘digital education that realizes dynamic play’. Digital education operation experience was expressed as ‘classroom environment for digital education operation’, ‘selection and use of digital media’, ‘classroom operation using digital media to develop early childhood teachers’, and ‘digital education influenced by finances’. , The demands for operating digital education include ‘problems and limitations of digital education,’ ‘concerns in the process of operating digital media education,’ ‘plans for the development of digital education,’ and ‘education using digital media where our voices coexist.’ ','Literacy education for a digitally safe world for both children and parents.’ Conclusions The role of an early childhood teacher can be seen as connecting with appropriate digital media, recognizing the importance of linking with the elementary education curriculum, and understanding that the level of class varies depending on the teacher's ability to use digital media. In order to operate digital education in the educational field, professional education and financial support from the government must be supported. Early childhood teachers need a willingness to not focus on the convenience of digital education and an attitude of self-vigilance. When providing digital media to young children, they need to have a balanced perspective by teaching them how to use digital media safely and correctly, as well as the need to prevent addiction and limit time. The significance of the study is that it has derived a direction that should help in the formation of and act as a filter to filter out negative things.

Stage 1: Survival During Stage 1, which may last throughout the first full year of teaching, the teacher's main concern is whether she can survive. This preoccupation with survival may be expressed in questions the teacher asks: "Can I get through the day in one piece? Without losing a child? Can I make it until the end of the week? Until the next vacation? Can I really do this kind of work day after day? Will I be accepted by my colleagues?" Such questions are well expressed in Ryan's enlightening collection of accounts of first-year teaching experiences (3).

The article examines the transformation of German early childhood education from a predominantly care-based model to a modern educational-developmental system over recent decades. The aim of the study is to analyze the evolution of conceptual foundations of early childhood education in the Federal Republic of Germany and substantiate the significance of this experience for modernizing Ukrainian early childhood education. The research methodology is based on a comparative-pedagogical approach using methods of theoretical analysis, synthesis, comparison of regulatory documents, scientific works of German researchers, and systematization of practical experience of early childhood institutions functioning in German federal states. Key stages of evolution from Friedrich Froebel's ideas to contemporary federal initiatives for improving early childhood education quality are analyzed. Conceptual changes in understanding the role of kindergartens from simple childcare to full-fledged educational institutions ensuring comprehensive child development are examined. Special attention is paid to regulatory changes, particularly the adoption of the «Early Childhood Development and Education Act» (2008) and the Kindergarten Quality Act» (2022), which established the new status of early childhood education in the German educational system. Research results indicate the systematic nature of transformation encompassing conceptual, organizational, and practical aspects of early childhood institutions functioning. Key characteristics of this transformation include elevating early childhood education status to a full educational level, implementing competency-based approaches, professionalizing pedagogical staff, developing inclusive education, and creating high-quality educational environments. Conclusions confirm the importance of German experience for modernizing Ukrainian early childhood education, especially in the context of European integration. Key aspects of the German model for adaptation are identified: developing clear quality standards, improving pedagogical staff qualifications, implementing modern teaching methods, and developing inclusive education.

Objectives The purpose of this study was to examine how incumbent early childhood teachers who have undergone changes due to COVID-19 image early childhood teachers in remote education. Methods In this study, metaphor analysis was conducted to find out the human conceptual system and thoughts from the perspective of experientialism. The subject of the study is 172 early childhood teachers with remote education experience. The researcher distributed the research subject a sentence-completed metaphor analysis questionnaire, “In remote education, the early childhood teacher is ( ). Because it is ( ).” After organizing the collected data in Excel, it was analyzed using the conceptual metaphor method(Gok & Erdogan, 2010) that revealed the metaphor tendency and metaphor type. While the researchers repeatedly read the data, the final results were derived through classification, categorization, and recategory. Results As a result of the study, early childhood teachers perceived early childhood teachers implementing remote education as robots, guides, entertainers, researches, capable of doing anything, leaders, a person who teaches others, and people who would disappear. Conclusions Through the results of this study, it was revealed that early childhood teachers perceived difficulties and limitations in their roles in early childhood remote education, and various implications were also provided for the new role of early childhood teachers for childhood remote education in the post-COVID-19 era

<p>Implementation of early childhood education (ECD) in Indonesia, especially under the auspices of Islamic educational institutions are still very limited and have not been able to cater to the educational needs of early children across Indonesia. In addition, an increase in the quantity of early childhood institutions, has not been accompanied by an increase in quality. For that, we need innovative learning model in early childhood institutions. This research focuses on the implementation of thematic learning model on Islamic Education in Raudhatulathfal Al-Jihad, which covers all aspects of planning (program), execution (process), evaluation of thematic learning, and its impact on the quality of Islamic education. The research method used was eksperimental research. In addition to testing, the researcher also collected qualitative data through observation and interviews. The study is located in the Kelurahan Kalibaru RT.02 RW.02 Kecamatan Cilodong, Depok, West Java. Formally, the tryout of study was conducted from January to July 2012. Based on the research conducted, through validation readability level, student responses and learning outcomes, the thematic learning model on Islamic education deserves to be applied to early childhood education in Raudhatulathfal Al-Jihad and also applied to other institutions those are similar. In the pre-test results, two different groups obtained about average 7.737 for the experimental group; and 7.789 for the controlled group. Once the thematic learning model on Islamic education applied, then the group of students performed post-test, the result is 8.578 for the experimental group; and 7.947 for the controlled group. The impact of the implementation of the model thematic learning on Islamic education in early childhood toward the quality of Islamic education is very significant. This is obvious from the responses of students very well, that is 96.51%, and the learning outcomes achieved 100% completion. Through a thematic learning model on Islamic education in early childhood, the average increase in the quality of education obtained in the experimental group were higher (0.841) than the controlled one (0.158). Therefore, it is highly recommended that thematic model of learning to be applied in Islamic educational institutions which organizing early childhood education with specific instructional objectives for learning Islamic Education, which covers three areas; cognitive, affective and psychomotor, so that every student in early childhood education can develop basic competencies, such as morals behavioral/social emotional, Islamic competence and other basic competences as the provision they entered to the next educational level.</p><p class="Affiliation"><strong><em><br /></em></strong></p>

General Background Early childhood education plays a critical role in establishing foundational cognitive abilities during the early developmental period. Specific Background Children aged 4–5 years require learning approaches that accommodate differences in readiness, interests, and learning styles to support cognitive growth. Knowledge Gap Although differentiated learning has been widely discussed in early childhood contexts, limited studies specifically describe its classroom implementation alongside supporting and inhibiting factors in early childhood institutions. Aims This study aims to describe the implementation of differentiated learning and identify supporting and inhibiting factors in developing cognitive development of children aged 4–5 years at TK Dharma Wanita Persatuan Tawangsari 2. Results Using a descriptive qualitative approach through observation, interviews, and documentation, the findings show that differentiated learning is implemented through curriculum-based planning, thematic play-based activities, and continuous developmental evaluation, with cognitive development supported by differentiated activities in literacy, numeracy, and arts. Supporting factors include teacher pedagogical competence, adaptive learning environments, parental support, and available learning facilities, while inhibiting factors involve limited infrastructure, diverse child backgrounds, and varying levels of parental involvement. Novelty This study provides a contextual description of differentiated learning practices integrated with density-based activities in early childhood classrooms. Implications The findings offer practical insights for early childhood educators and institutions in designing adaptive learning environments and strengthening collaboration between teachers, schools, and parents to support cognitive development in early childhood settings. Highlights: Differentiated activities were applied across literacy, numeracy, and arts based on children’s readiness levels. Teacher competence and adaptive classroom environments supported children’s cognitive growth. Infrastructure limitations and uneven parental involvement constrained classroom practices. Keywords: Early Childhood Education, Differentiated Learning, Supporting, Inhibiting Factors.

This paper explores the possibility that early childhood institutions can be, first and foremost, places of political practice—and specifically of democratic political practice. The case for the primacy of democratic political practice in early childhood institutions is made more urgent by two developments apparent in many countries today: the growth of policy interest in early childhood education, leading to an expansion of services, and the need to revive democratic politics. As well as bringing democratic practice into the nursery, what this would mean and what conditions might enable it, the paper also considers democratic practice at other levels: not just the institutional, but also the national or federal, the regional and the local, and how each level can create ‘democratic space’ at other levels. The paper ends by considering four issues related to democracy in early childhood education including paradigmatic diversity and the European level. Dans cet article nous précisons l’idée selon laquelle les institutions de la petite enfance peuvent être avant tout des lieux de pratique politique, et en particulier de pratique démocratique. La question de la primauté de la pratique démocratique dans les institutions de la petite enfance devient urgente en raison de deux phénomènes présents aujourdh’ui dans de nombreux pays : l’intérêt politique grandissant pour l’éducation des jeunes enfants qui mène à une augmentation des services de la petite enfance, et le besoin de ranimer les politiques démocratiques. Cet article porte sur la pratique démocratique dans les services de la petite enfance, sa signification et les conditions qui la rendent possible, mais aussi à d’autres niveaux : pas seulement au niveau institutionel mais aussi au niveau national ou fédéral, régional et local, en se demandant comment chaque niveau peut créer de l’’espace démocratique’ à d’autres niveaux. Il se termine avec quatre questions liées à la démocratie dans l’éducation de la petite enfance, dont le paradigme de la diversité et le niveau de l’Europe. Es wird die Möglichkeit erörtert, wie frühpädagogische Einrichtungen vor allem auch Orte politischer Praxis sein können – und insbesondere demokratischer politischer Praxis. Den Vorrang demokratischer politischer Praxis in frühpädagogischen Einrichtungen zu thematisieren, ist aufgrund zweier aktueller Entwicklungen in vielen Ländern dringlicher geworden: das Anwachsen von politischem Interesse in der Frühpädagogik, das zu einer Ausweitung des Angebotes geführt hat, und die Notwendigkeit demokratische Politik wieder zu beleben. Außer dem, was das Hineintragen demokratischer Praxis in den Kindergarten bedeutet und welche Bedingungen dies ermöglichen, befasst sich der Beitrag auch mit demokratischer Praxis auf anderen Ebenen, nämlich neben der institutionellen Ebene mit der nationalen oder föderalen Ebene, der regionalen und der lokalen Ebene, sowie damit, wie jede einzelne Ebene ,demokratischen Raum’ auf anderen Ebenen schaffen kann. Der Beitrag schließt mit der Betrachtung von vier Fragen zu Demokratie in der Bildung der frühen Kindheit einschließlich der paradigmatischen Diversity und der europäischen Ebene. Este artículo explora la posibilidad que las instituciones parvularias puedan ser, en primer lugar y sobre todo, lugares de prácticas políticas – y especialmente de prácticas políticas democráticas. La necesidad de una primacía de las prácticas políticas democráticas en las instituciones parvularias adquiere urgencia a partir de dos desarrollos presentes hoy día en muchos países: el creciente interés gubernamental en la educación parvularia, conducente a una expansión de los servicios; y la necesidad de revitalizar las políticas democráticas. Junto con la introducción de las practicas democráticas en las guarderías, lo que esto significaría y cuales condiciones se requieren, el articulo también considera las prácticas democráticas en otros niveles: no solo el institucional, sino también el nacional o federal, el regional y el local, y como cada nivel puede crear “espacios democráticos” para otros niveles. El artículo finaliza considerando cuatro temas relacionados con la democracia en la educación parvularia infancia incluyendo la diversidad paradigmática y el nivel europeo.

Early childhood teaching in Australia has undergone some dramatic changes in the last decade. These changes have affected the role of early childhood teachers causing them to consider to whom their first responsibility lies ‐ child or parent? The paper examines the resulting ‘disillusionment’ created by the conflicting demands on the teacher and calls for a close scrutiny of the early childhood teacher's role. Finally, some suggestions are made for bringing unity and cohesion to the early childhood profession.

Multi Perspectives on Play Based Curriculum Quality Standards in the Center Learning Model

In recent years, there have been growing calls to include STEM education in early childhood (EC). This has created new challenges for EC teachers as they try to find ways to integrate STEM content and pedagogical strategies into school-based curricula. This study interviewed 24 EC teachers to understand their roles in implementing STEM education in preschool classrooms. The qualitative interviews explored changes in teachers’ roles and challenges before and after integrating STEM-related activities. The study revealed that the STEM education process is a dynamic one, and that the role of EC teachers is changing from one delivering teacher-centered knowledge to one fostering STEM-related learning in children. The research findings indicate that EC teachers face various challenges when implementing STEM education. The transformation of the teacher’s role during STEM classroom practices when encountering a range of challenges is discussed.