Early Childhood Teacher Education Research Articles

Fostering Safe Schools: Empowering Educators and Parents in the Fight Against Violence in Early Childhood Education Setting

Bullying was a concerning issue among pre-schoolers within kindergarten settings, though its definition remained debated. This research’s aim is to uncover the forms of bullying, its causes, and impacts on children, as well as the intervention programs implemented by early childhood education teachers. This research engaged 87 teachers in anti-violence training, collecting data via bullying worksheets and interviews with 18 preschool teachers. The results showed that in early childhood education, verbal bullying involved the use of degrading words, while physical bullying included actions that hurt the victim's body. Relational bullying impacted social exclusion, whereas emotional bullying focused on hurting the victim's feelings. Internal causes included aggressive tendencies and low social values, while external causes included negative environmental influences and upbringing. Victims experienced depression, isolation, and learning disorders. The abuser might lose empathy, have difficulty forming relationships, and show aggressive behavior in the future. Teachers communicated openly with perpetrators and victims to help understand the root causes of behavior and provide emotional support. Follow-up actions taken by early childhood education institutions included counseling, developing empathy and social skills, strengthening positive values, and creating a safe environment. Parental involvement through education and open communication was also an important factor in creating a conducive environment for positive child development and preventing bullying.

Impact of Distance Professional Development Course on Early Childhood Teacher’s Knowledge, Skills, and Beliefs on Self-Regulation

This study aims to evaluate the impact of a distance professional development course, within the framework of the Preschool Situational Self-Regulation Program (PRSIST), on the knowledge, beliefs, and skills of early childhood education teachers about self-regulation skills. One of the qualitative methods, the case study, was preferred for the current study. The research was conducted with 5 early childhood education teachers, working in a city in middle Anatolia, Turkey. The teachers attended the synchronous distance professional development course 1 day a week for 5 weeks. The total duration of the five sessions was 120 minutes. Interview forms, reflective journals, and documents were used as data collection tools. As a result of the research, it was found that the course had positive impact on teachers' knowledge, skills, and beliefs about self-regulation skills.

Design and Content Validity of Health Games for children with Atopic Dermatitis

Objective: The success of managing atopic dermatitis (AD) largely depends on patient adherence to treatment. Achieving adherence requires more than knowledge transfer; it also requires a change in patients’ health behavior. Therefore, we conducted this study to develop and validate the content of health games for the pediatric population with AD. Methods: This study focused on developing and validating the content of health games about AD. Among these were the book Oli e o Grande Desafio da Coceira™ (“Oli and the Great Itching Challenge”) and the games Dermatrilha™ (“Dermatrail”) and Caixinha Surpresa da Dermatite™ (“Dermatitis Surprise Box”). The instrument development process consisted of five stages: planning of the instruments, development of the instruments, development of content validation questionnaires, evaluation by an expert committee, and a pre-test with the target audience. Results: The expert committee comprised 20 professionals: 5 pediatric dermatologists, 5 hospital psychologists, 5 illustrators/designers, and 5 early childhood education teachers. The target audience comprised 25 children with AD aged 5 to 12 years. The content validity index was 0.94 in the evaluation by the expert committee and 0.95 in the evaluation by the target audience. Among the games, the general content validity index was 0.95 among the members of the expert committee and 0.92 among the target audience, being higher than 0.80 for all items. Conclusion: The health games evaluated in this study are useful psychoeducational tools with high content validity for use in the therapeutic education of children with AD.

Mathematical Knowledge of Early Algebra Exhibited by Pre-Service Early Childhood Education Teachers

AbstractThis study analyzes the mathematical knowledge to teach early algebra exhibited by pre-service early childhood education teachers, from the perspective of the Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) model. The research adopts a mixed exploratory-descriptive methodological approach, based on the application of the MKT-early algebra questionnaire (3–6), consisting of six open-ended items that place teachers in various teaching situations reflecting the knowledge that characterizes early algebra at this stage of schooling. The analysis of the answers given by the pre-service teachers of early childhood education revealed a level general of insufficient mathematical knowledge, with the common content knowledge exhibiting fewer limitations compared to the other subdomains that comprise the model, and the horizon content knowledge the weakest. We conclude that it is necessary to offer teacher training programs that deepen the didactics of early algebra and provide tools to further the effective teaching of this content block in early childhood education.

Souring palatable formations in DAP: Toward unfamiliar relations with child development in early childhood teacher education

ABSTRACT Drawing upon Ahmed’s (2006) analysis of how institutional documents become nonperforming, this article argues that teacher education must create opportunities for emerging educators to grapple with the pedagogical consequences of understanding the fourth edition of Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs (2022) as a nonperforming text. I contend that as DAP works to moderate universalising developmental knowledges in the name of fostering social justice, DAP reproduces taken-for-granted epistemological relations and hierarchies that maintain dominant understandings childhood and early childhood education. First, I position DAP as a nonperforming text and articulate a mode of nonperformance specific to early childhood education: palatability, built of a rhetoric of childhood innocence and a politics of niceness. I then show how two of DAP’s formations of child development enact nonpeformativity through palatability, illustrating how DAP reiterates status-quo connections between child development and early childhood education. To conclude, I propose souring palatability as a proposition that emerging educators might speculate and experiment with while engaging with DAP.

Critically Conscious Early and Elementary Educators: Towards Abolitionist Education in Teacher Preparation

How do teacher preparation programs re-culture themselves so that we can supply educational settings with teachers who work toward liberation from racism and other systems of oppression? Abolitionist education is one strategic framework that can be utilized to support this systemic re-culturing. I share my experiences in re-designing and facilitating a diversity course in an early childhood education (ECE) teacher preparation program toward abolitionist education through culturally and historically responsive learning, social justice teaching frameworks, Chicana/Latina feminist philosophy, and abolitionist pedagogy. The course explored four units: Identity, Justice and Anti-Bias, Intergenerational Genius, and Freedom Dreaming and Abolition. In-class and at-home projects included positionality statements, analyzing characteristics of white supremacy culture operating in ECE, studying abolitionist movement organizers, and transforming mandated curriculum based on social justice for young children. In this article, I share the context of the course redesign, my facilitation, and reflexive ideas for moving toward abolitionist education as a field of teacher preparation.

Curriculum theory and developmentally appropriate practice

ABSTRACT The authors begin this article with an account of the crises in education in the US today. Curriculum theory is applied to the ideas in the 4th edition of NAEYC’s ‘developmentally appropriate practices,’ and the relationship between the ideas in this edition to current issues is discussed. The authors also present a brief description of democratic education. They conclude with a recommendation to democratise early childhood teacher education that includes the development of individual and group platforms.

Preschool teachers’ perceptions of STEAM-based learning in Banda Aceh

The purpose of this study was to identify early childhood teachers' perceptions of STEAM-based learning. This qualitative research will be analyzed descriptively, and semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions will be conducted with four early childhood education (ECE) teachers in Banda Aceh. The findings show that ECE teachers' perceptions of STEAM-based learning techniques have a high potential to be implemented in Banda Aceh City ECEs, as the respondents have used aspects of STEAM in their learning. Teachers' lack of knowledge of STEAM-based learning approaches and procurement of materials and funds to fulfil STEAM learning needs are barriers to integrating STEAM in ECE institutions in Banda Aceh. More STEAM socialization and STEAM learning implementation training is needed for ECE teachers in Aceh in general.

Changes in an early childhood education and care teacher’s practical theory in language pedagogy as a nexus:

This case study focuses on an expert early childhood education and care teacher’s practical theory in language pedagogy when implementing bilingual pedagogy (Finnish–Swedish) in a linguistically heterogeneous group of children aged 3–5 years. Practical theory refers to teachers’ views of good teaching that guide their practices. Applying a mediated discourse analysis approach (nexus analysis), we examine the interplay of factors that promote and challenge changes in the practical theory of language pedagogy in early childhood education and care. The discourses show that the changes are related to Swedish use (a new language for the children) and the use of the children’s home languages. Several personal, interactional, and contextual factors circulate in the expert teacher’s discourses, affecting the changes in her practical theory. Personal factors include reflection, beliefs, and experiences. Feedback from parents and children represents interactional factors, whereas contextual factors cover concepts such as participation and language-enriched teaching. This study highlights the significance of the multiple interrelated factors that are present when an expert teacher’s practical theory of language pedagogy changes, which needs to be reflected upon both in the practice of early childhood education and in teacher training.

The Concept of an Independent Curriculum with an Agrarian Insight in Early Childhood: Perspectives of Indonesian Teachers

The current condition of agriculture in Indonesia shows a decline in productivity. One reason for this decline is the low interest of children and young people in the agricultural sector. For this reason, the introduction and cultivation of a love of agriculture needs to be done from an early age. Schools must design curriculum and learning that is oriented towards agriculture. The independent curriculum implemented in Indonesia provides ample opportunities to develop agrarian insights in schools. This study aimed to discover teachers' views in Indonesia on the concept of an independent curriculum with an agrarian perspective as a medium for introducing and instilling the love of agriculture in early childhood at school. This research uses descriptive qualitative methods. The research data were obtained through in-depth interviews with early childhood education teachers in Indonesia. The results showed that the concept of an independent curriculum with an agrarian perspective is a curriculum that frees teachers to be creative and innovative in carrying out learning activities with the theme of agriculture. This agrarian-oriented learning consists of planting crops in the fields, planting grains in the schoolyard, visiting agro-tourism, and watching agricultural videos together. Hopefully, these activities can foster a love of agriculture in early childhood.

Enhancing Early Childhood Educator's Digital Competencies through AI-Powered Learning Modules (AI-PEL) Training Program

Purpose – Digital skills among educators are becoming increasingly important and essential for creating interactive and relevant learning experiences. However, many teachers are still unprepared to fully integrate technology into their teaching and need to improve their understanding of AI technology to support the learning process. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of improving the digital skills of early childhood education (ECE) teachers through AI-Powered Learning Modules (AI-PEL) training. Design/methods/approach – This research employs a quantitative approach with a quasi-experimental method to evaluate the effectiveness of AI-Powered Learning Modules (AI-PEL) training for Early Childhood Education (ECE) teachers in the Tumpang Sub-district. Purposive sampling was used to select 80 ECE teachers who participated in the training. Data were collected through pre-tests and post-tests. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics using SPSS 17.0, including the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality, Cronbach's Alpha for reliability, and Independent t-tests to compare group means. Findings – This study found a significant improvement in the digital skills of ECE teachers in the Tumpang Sub-district after the AI-PEL training. Initially, the teachers struggled with technology integration, but after the training, their skills and understanding of digital tools improved. Evidence shows that 68 out of 80 participants successfully created teaching modules and picture stories using AI technologies such as Chat GPT, Gemini, DeepL, and Bing Image Creator within the specified deadline. Research implications/limitations – This finding highlights the importance of improving digital skills among teachers, as it enhances their teaching effectiveness and positively impacts students' learning experiences and outcomes. This fosters an engaging, interactive, and effective learning environment in the 21st century. Practical implications – This research emphasizes the importance of supporting strategies such as developing digital learning modules, continuous mentoring, and integrating technology into the ECE curriculum. Partnerships with stakeholders are also crucial to ensuring the sustainability and effectiveness of the AI-Powered Learning Modules (AI-PEL) Training Program. These measures are essential for improving teachers' digital skills and the overall quality of teacher education in the 21st century. Originality/value – This research highlights that early childhood teachers can develop more creative and effective teaching methods with good digital skills. Ultimately, this will improve the quality of early childhood education for the 21st century. Paper type Research paper

Readiness of Early Childhood Education (ECE) Teachers in West Java for 21st Century Learning: A Survey Study

Readiness of Early Childhood Education (ECE) Teachers in West Java for 21st Century Learning: A Survey Study

Where Does the First Year Students’ Level of English Language Skills Stand in CEFR A Study from Early Childhood Teacher Education Department

This study aims to reveal the proficiency level of English language skills among first-year students in the Early Childhood Education department at Universitas Negeri Medan. The skills assessed in this study include grammar, reading comprehension, writing proficiency, listening comprehension, and oral communication. This study employed a quantitative research methodology, focusing on first-year students who are enrolled in English language courses. Throughout the research process, the researchers refrained from administering any interventions to the samples. The acquired data from the samples undergoes analysis using descriptive statistics. The analysis indicates that 70% of the students demonstrated proficiency at the A2 level, which corresponds to basic English usage according to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). This level corresponds to the English language proficiency of elementary kids. Based on this study, it is necessary to enhance the English language curriculum utilized in the Department of Early Childhood Education to align with the students' English language competence level.

Development of JAWARA Values in Students for Preparing the Qualified Early Childhood Education Teachers

Development of JAWARA Values in Students for Preparing the Qualified Early Childhood Education Teachers

School Community Disaster Resilience: Promoting Geological Disaster Preparedness among Early Childhood Education Teachers

School Community Disaster Resilience: Promoting Geological Disaster Preparedness among Early Childhood Education Teachers

Values of the Vth Republic in Recruitment for Teaching Positions in Public Elementary Schools in France.

In times of various types of crises that modern France is struggling with, the attention of those shaping the state's ideological policy focused primarily on the border between education and religion. The secular nature of education, inherent in the concept of the Republic as a space for the implementation of freedom, equality and fraternity, has become an arena for the clash of opposing discourses. The question about the place of the values of the Fifth Republic in the recruitment process of current and future early childhood education teachers in state schools touches on French educational policy, showing its philosophy and the praxeological dimension of its conceptualization.

Teacher Efficacy, Its Sources, and Implementation in Early Childhood Education

AbstractThe aim of the study is to comprehensively analyze the interrelationships between teacher efficacy, the sources of self-efficacy, and implementation of early childhood education (ECE). The assumption is that according to socio-cognitive theory, source categories predict the self-efficacy of educational staff. According to a few previous research results, knowledge of theories and research in the field of education also contributes to a professional’s self-efficacy. In this study, 202 Finnish ECE teachers evaluated their self-efficacy and its sources (mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, social persuasion, and physiological arousal) as well as their pedagogical planning, implementation, and leadership. A path analysis was conducted to estimate the sources of self-efficacy and active and reactive use of educational research as predictors of teacher self-efficacy, and further, of self-efficacy as a predictor of teachers’ pedagogical planning, implementation, and leadership. The findings showed that mastery experiences, social persuasion, and physiological arousal were positively related to self-efficacy in pedagogical approaches, group management, and child engagement. Intentional use of educational theory and research was positively related to self-efficacy in pedagogical approaches. Furthermore, the quality of pedagogical planning, implementation, and leadership were predicted by high self-efficacy in pedagogical approaches, but implementation also by social persuasion and active use of theory and research.

Norwegian ECEC teachers’ play practices with children aged 2-3 years

ABSTRACT The present study investigated early childhood education and care (ECEC) teachers’ practices when they were engaged in play with children aged 2 to 3 years old. Both in a Norwegian context and internationally the number of younger children in ECEC is increasing, and there is a need for knowledge about what characterizes high-quality teacher practices at play. Eighteen Norwegian teachers were filmed interacting with small groups of two to five children (a total of 54 children, mean age 35 months; range 28–41). The video data (18 play situations; total = 4 hours) were transcribed and analyzed using the theoretical framework of intersubjective space, emphasizing the sematic, material, and social dimensions of the interactions between the teachers and children. The results revealed three main characteristics of teachers’ play practices: creating connections in play, expanding play, and regulating play. Although these characteristics were present in many observations, our analysis revealed variations between the teachers in terms of creating connections, expanding, and regulating. These variations can be decisive for play to continue, develop, or end. In addition, teachers’ practices appear to be crucial for some children to be included in play.

‘Free play is important for children's motor development, but how we can supervise it?’ A Phenomenological Study At Early childhood Education

This study aims to determine the perception and implementation of the relationship between outdoor free-play activities to support students' motor development and teacher involvement during early childhood play. A phenomenological study with the participation of 12 early childhood education teachers who have different backgrounds in the history of teaching experience, age, and gender. The data were obtained through the results of structured interviews conducted for five consecutive days with each teacher. All data was processed using NVivo 11 for Windows which provides a structure for conducting qualitative investigations to uncover this phenomenon. A total of three themes were produced, namely (i) Perception of the importance of free-play for motor development; (ii) Involvement of teachers during free-play activities; and (iii) Time to do free-play activities. However, these findings reveal that not all teachers accompany and supervise every activity carried out by children in outdoor play and do not know how the overall picture of motor development is and the availability of fields and playgrounds is limited. Implications for education policymakers, teachers and families about outdoor free-play. Policy support, policymakers in Indonesia, especially the Ministry of Early Childhood Education to create a conducive environment for outdoor activities, especially when planning school standards and program competencies to support holistic early childhood development. Keyword : Free-play outdoor activities, Motor development, early childhood education, Phenomenological Study.

Language Policy Dynamics in Early Childhood Education through Basil Bernstein’s Lens

This paper examined the implementation of local language policy in privately owned early childhood centers through Bernstein’s lens theory. It focuses on the benefits and implications of using local languages as media of instruction in early grades drawing on Basil Bernstein’s framing and control lens. This study is qualitative in nature and it used descriptive research design to examine the implementation of local language policy in privately owned early childhood centers through Bernstein’s lens theory. Simple random sampling technique was used to select ten (10) privately owned centers and ten (10) teachers that formed the sample. Ten (10) center managers were purposely selected bringing the total number of participants to twenty (20). The study used participant and non-participant observation and interviews to collect data and a total of 10 lessons were observed with a focus on the language of the instruction used. The results of the study show that there are major divides that linger among the classes in society which are visible in geographical locations of schools and have a great influence on the language of instruction. The results further show that local languages are not taught in private schools due to limitations in language command and skill set required to adequately teach. The study recommends that the pre service training programs should equip early childhood education teachers with adequate skills in local language teaching. Further, there is need for wider consultation with all stakeholders if issues of medium of instruction are to be a consensus at pre-grade.