Female Preschool Teachers Research Articles

Readiness for inclusive education in Slovakia based on pre-primary teachers’ self-efficacy

ABSTRACT The issue of self-efficacy in pre-primary education has gained significant attention in Slovakia in recent years. This study investigated the perception of professional competence among female preschool teachers in Slovakia, focusing on their self-efficacy towards inclusive education. The study aimed to understand teacher’s self-efficacy as a key factor for successful inclusive education implementation in Slovakia. Using the modified Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practices scale, we found that Slovak teachers felt confident and possessed the necessary professional skills for working with children in inclusive classrooms. However, owing to the selective education system in Slovakia, they had limited opportunities to apply these skills in practice. The findings highlighted flaws in the perceived professional self-efficacy of pre-primary teachers, revealing areas of professional competencies where teachers lacked confidence. Notably, their lowest confidence was in designing learning tasks tailored to the individual needs of children, especially those with disabilities.

Awareness and attitude of female preschool teachers towards autism in Medina

Awareness and attitude of female preschool teachers towards autism in Medina

Engendering preprimary education in Zanzibar: question of male teachers’ under-representation in early childhood teaching and learning

ABSTRACT This study investigated the factors contributing to the low participation of male teachers in preschool education in Zanzibar. Drawing upon social constructionist feminism theory, the study employed a qualitative approach involving eight respondents: 3 from Mjini and 5 female preschool teachers from the Magharib B district of Zanzibar. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and analysed thematically. The study identified several factors influencing the low participation or underrepresentation of male preschool teachers, including concerns about child safety, low wages and salaries, lack of support, and negative societal attitudes. The study recommends that the government and other preschool educational stakeholders implement measures to challenge these negative attitudes and promote a more inclusive preschool teaching environment.

Emotional intelligence and its relation to job creativity in preschool teachers of at-risk children: A cross-sectional study

This research investigated how emotional intelligence relates to job creativity in preschool teachers working with children who might have specific learning disabilities (SLDs). Earlier research indicates a strong link between emotional intelligence and factors like creativity, job satisfaction, engagement, and well-being. These factors are important in positive psychology, benefiting both teachers' and students' life and work quality. However, there's limited research on emotional intelligence's impact on job creativity in preschool education, particularly for teachers of children at risk for SLDs. This study aimed to address this lack of information by surveying 140 female preschool teachers. They were assessed using the Schutte self-reported emotional intelligence scale (SSREIS) and the job creativity scale (JCS). The findings showed that emotional intelligence accounts for 30% of the differences in job creativity. This was determined after considering factors like age, education level, kindergarten type, and teaching experience. The study found a positive, significant link between emotional intelligence and job creativity in these teachers. It emphasizes the need to improve emotional skills and job creativity in early childhood educators. This includes creating training programs and supportive environments. The study also suggests new research areas to enhance teaching effectiveness and student outcomes.

Exploring Early Childhood Teachers' Beliefs and Practice on Sexual Education

It is known how important sexual education is in the preschool period. Teachers play a key role in this process. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the views and practices of pre-school teachers about sexual education. The participants of the study, which was designed as a qualitative case study, consisted of 8 female preschool teachers working with pre-school children for 36-72 months. Observation and interview techniques were used to collect data. The data obtained were analyzed in depth with descriptive analysis and evaluated under 7 themes. As a result of the research, it was determined that preschool teachers were partially sufficient in terms of their knowledge about sexual education, the aims of sexual education, and the skills aimed to be gained. It was determined that they applied sexual education in daily life skills rather than the scope of the course. However, it was determined that the teachers of the 3-year-old group had little knowledge about sexual education. In line with these results, suggestions were made that pre-school teachers and our country's parents should be trained in childhood sexual education and that sexual education teacher activity booklets should be created to include more activities related to sexual education.

Teachers’ attitudes toward gifted children in pre-schools in Palestine

Gifted pre-school children are often identified as those who read words, interpret signs, and demonstrate interests of children older than them, and are considered an exceptional group of children compared to other normal children. Therefore, early identification of gifted children helps to provide educational opportunities and a rich environment for the development of their talents. The main purpose of the current study is to examine the teachers’ attitudes in pre-school toward the education of gifted children in Palestine and identify the educational strategies and programs for teaching gifted children. The mixed-methods approach was adopted; it is an approach that mixes qualitative and quantitative methods to gain a deep understanding and confirm outcomes. In this study, the researchers adopted an explanatory sequential design, which is a sequential approach, and it began with quantitative data collection and analysis, followed by qualitative data collection and analysis. The quantitative data were collected by the “Scale for Attitudes towards Gifted Education.” The pre-school teachers in the sample were randomly selected, consisting of 330 female pre-school teachers from public schools. Additionally, the qualitative data were collected by semi-structured interview, which 15 female pre-school teachers from public schools took part in. The quantitative findings indicated that teachers had positive attitudes regarding the education of gifted children. This was consistent with the findings of qualitative data, which also demonstrated the variety of educational strategies and programs that were used to teach gifted children in Palestine.

Challenges and opportunities: book discussions of gender non-conformity in two preschool classrooms

ABSTRACT This qualitative case study investigated how two White female preschool teachers, who were familiar with anti-bias pedagogy, discussed gender non-conformity using a book in their classrooms. The book discussions were audio-recorded and transcribed. Teachers challenged some of the children’s gender stereotypes about gender non-conformity; however, teachers did not counter other stereotypes and kept discussions about gender non-conformity at the surface level. Children drew on their normative understandings of gender as a binary concept to make sense of gender non-conformity. Children were aware of gender-stereotyped clothing that would be deemed gender appropriate by their peers or family. Some children had difficulty understanding why a boy would wear a dress, while others challenged gender stereotypes. Teachers did not engage in in-depth discussions around gender non-conformity or around the gendered nature of bullying of a ‘girly’ boy in the book. Implications are discussed for teacher professional development and for gender-affirming early childhood pedagogy.

INVESTIGATION OF PRESCHOOL TEACHERS' ATTITUDES TO PLAY

This research is a descriptive study meant to determine the attitudes of preschool teachers towards playing games which are containing physical activity. The universe of the study consists of pre-school teachers working in Gaziantep. There were 450 (male 110, female 340) teachers in the sample group. The Gameplay Scale developed by Hazar (2015) was used to obtain the research data. Independent t-test, One Way Anova and Pearson correlation analysis were used in the analysis of the data. As a result of the research, in the study conducted to determine the attitudes of preschool teachers towards playing games containing physical activity, it was found that male preschool teachers' game passion and risk-taking attitudes were higher than female teachers', those with less professional experience had higher game passions than more experienced teachers. It has been determined that the social cohesion levels of those who have the above-mentioned experience are higher than the subgroups. While it was determined that those who did not have children had higher game passion and desire to play, a positive significant correlation was found between the scores obtained from the sub-dimensions of the scale by both male and female preschool teachers.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0957/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Exploring the Characteristics of Gifted Pre-School Children: Teachers’ Perceptions

Based on SDG4, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, and based on the fact that education is the core of Palestinian values, the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education launched an inclusive education policy in order to integrate all students into the educational system, regardless of their talents, abilities and disabilities. Therefore, the Palestinian Government seeks to develop educational practices to adapt to the needs of all students, including gifted children. Consequently, the identification of gifted pre-school children in Palestine aims to better include them in the general education curriculum. The current study aims to investigate the characteristics of gifted children through the perceptions of the pre-school teachers in Palestine. A mixed-methods approach was adopted. The quantitative data were collected by the “Scale for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Gifted and Talented Students”. The pre-school teachers in the sample were randomly selected, consisting of 450 female pre-school teachers. The qualitative data were collected by semi-structured interview, which 15 female pre-school teachers took part in. There was a significant difference in teachers’ perceptions according to their academic qualifications, and according to whether gifted children need a particular curriculum or not, but there was no significant difference in teachers’ perceptions according to their experiences. The final result shows that there were many positive perceptions regarding the characteristics of gifted children through qualitative data. Therefore, there was consistency between the qualitative and quantitative data of the study. This study emphasizes the significance of continuing to highlight the characteristics of gifted children and conducting more research to reveal them.

İstanbul'da Kadın Okul Öncesi Öğretmenlerinin Yeme Tutumu, Beslenme Bilgi Düzeyi ve Davranışları: Kesitsel Bir Araştırma

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the eating attitude, nutritional knowledge and behaviors of preschool teachers. Material and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with the participation of 709 female preschool teachers working in 174 private kindergartens in İstanbul between May 17-31, 2021. The questionnaire form was applied to the participants face to face; the age information and body weight and height measurements of the individuals were recorded. Nutritional knowledge levels of the participants were evaluated with the Nutrition Knowledge Level Scale, their eating attitudes were evaluated with the Eating Attitudes Test 26 and their nutritional behaviors were evaluated with the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire. The data were analyzed with the SPSS and p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The body mass index of 29.6% of the teachers is outside the range of 18.5-24.9 kg/m2. Only 35.7% of individuals have a good/very good level of nutrition knowledge; it was determined that 13.8% of the participants had an impaired eating attitude. As the age of teachers increases, the level of nutrition knowledge increases, food selection develops positively and uncontrolled eating behavior decreases; however, body weight, body mass index and some feeding behaviors (emotional eating and cognitive restriction) increased. Conclusion: It has been determined that the nutritional knowledge level of teachers, which is one of the important factors in the development of healthy eating behaviors in preschool children, is not at a sufficient level, and this may be related to negative results in eating attitudes and behaviors.

Dual Stressors and Female Pre-school Teachers' Job Satisfaction During the COVID-19: The Mediation of Work-Family Conflict.

Online education has become a vital weapon to fight against the COVID-19 epidemic in the world. In the home-based online education environment, female pre-school teachers are expected to balance the dual roles of teacher and mother at the same time, which may trigger the work-family conflict. Although previous studies analyzed individual stressors, work-family conflict and its outcomes, there is little research on pre-school teachers' work and parenting experience during major public health emergencies. The current study examined the associations among work overload, parenting stress, work-family conflict, and job satisfaction during the COVID-19. Seven hundred eighteen female pre-school teachers with children who worked online at home participated in the study. Female pre-school teachers reported that the COVID-19 has increased work overload and parenting stress. Moreover, work overload was negatively associated with job satisfaction via its positive association with work-to-family conflict. Parenting stress was negatively associated with job satisfaction via both family-to-work conflict and work-to-family conflict. The study contributes to a better understanding of the association among female pre-school teachers' work overload, parenting stress, work-family conflict, and job satisfaction. Our findings highlighted potential avenues for interventions aimed at balancing female pre-school teachers' work and family and improving their job satisfaction during the COVID-19.

Using Soleh English (SE) Teaching Materials with The Integration of Cultural and Islamic Values: Islamic Preschool Teachers’ Voices

English Language Teaching (ELT) materials are significant as tools in facilitating a second language teaching and learning including for preschool level. Also, it is necessary for teachers to opt for appropriate ELT materials which encompass cultural and local identity to generate a meaningful and relatable context of teaching and learning. Nonetheless, most of the materials currently available for preschool education in the publishing market are foreign and therefore little focus on local context. It is more evident in Islamic preschools, as the ELT materials need to be infused with Islamic values to align with the philosophy of Islamic preschools. Hence, this paper presents and discusses a part of a study on Islamic preschool teachers’ perception of the Soleh English (SE) teaching materials developed in the attempt to integrate Malay culture and Islamic values with ELT. The study employed a Case Study design involving five female Islamic preschool teachers in the Klang Valley Region. They were purposely chosen based on their experiences using the SE teaching materials. The data was obtained through semi-structured interviews and triangulated with a questionnaire and document analysis. The interview data reported in this article were thematically analysed. Findings illuminated four key themes for each research question which indicated that there is an integration of cultural and Islamic values in the SE teaching materials as well as in ESL teaching. This enabled the teachers to instil Islamic and cultural values in their English language teaching in contribution to generate noble citizens.&#x0D; Keywords: materials, ESL teaching, integrated values, islamic preschool, cultural.

Female Preschool Teachers’ Perceptions of Mobile Communities and Teacher Self-efficacy for Professional Development: The Mediating Effects of Trust and Interaction via Mobile Apps

Female Preschool Teachers’ Perceptions of Mobile Communities and Teacher Self-efficacy for Professional Development: The Mediating Effects of Trust and Interaction via Mobile Apps

Job demands and emotional labor as antecedents of female preschool teachers’ work-to-family conflict: The moderating role of job resources.

Job demands and emotional labor as antecedents of female preschool teachers’ work-to-family conflict: The moderating role of job resources.

Kształcenie wychowawczyń przedszkoli w Prywatnym Seminarium dla Wychowawczyń Przedszkoli Marii Papiewskiej w Lublinie (1918 -1939)

Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie zagadnienia kształcenia w Prywatnym Seminarium dla Wychowawczyń Przedszkoli Marii Papiewskiej w Lublinie (1918-1939). W artykule podjęto w szczególności próbę analizy programu kształcenia zakładu w oparciu o materiały archiwalne, między innymi protokoły egzaminacyjne. Ze względu na charakter źródeł i specyfikę badań posłużono się metodami charakterystycznymi dla nauk historycznych. Wywód składa się z trzech części. W pierwszej przedstawiono biografię założycielki zakładu, Marii Papiewskiej. Druga część to rys działalności seminarium, w tym również założenia organizacyjne, kryteria przyjęć, charakterystyka uczennic. W części trzeciej omówiony został program nauczania. Seminarium było jedynym zakładem kształcenia wychowawczyń w Lublinie działającym do wybuchu II wojny światowej. Mimo tego, że kandydatki pochodziły z różnych środowisk i niektóre legitymowały się świadectwami ukończenia zaledwie pięciu klas szkoły powszechnej nie szczędzono wysiłków w celu uzyskania przez nie jak najwyższych kwalifikacji. Problem przygotowania nauczycieli przedszkoli wydaje się ponadczasowy. Niezmienne pozostają miłość do pracy z dziećmi oraz negacja rutyny i schematu.

Science Education Activities in Turkey: A Qualitative Comparison Study in Preschool Classrooms

The aim of this study is to determine preschool teachers’ science education activities, problems they encounter and solutions they devise, and methods and techniques they use during those activities. Phenomenology, which is a qualitative research design, was used. The study sample consisted of 15 female preschool teachers of primary schools in the central district of the city of Mus, during the 2017–2018 academic year. Participants were recruited using criterion sampling, which is a purposeful sampling method. Study inclusion criteria were: (1) teaching children aged 60–66 months, (2) at least 3 years of professional experience, (3) voluntary participation, and (4) observations made in classrooms. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview form and through structured observations in participants’ classrooms. Three teachers were excluded from the study because they gave superficial answers to probe questions. Twelve teachers were interviewed and observed. Structured observations were conducted weekly by the researchers for a 4 month period on specific dates in the classrooms of interviewees, and field notes were taken during each observation. Data were analyzed using inductive content analysis. To get a general idea for data coding, all interview transcriptions and field observation notes were read several times and video recordings were examined again and again. Interview and observational data were coded in the light of the sub-objectives of the study. Results show that materials in science centers are different from those that participants think should be available in science centers. Participants take into account such factors as children, budget parameters, and curriculum in making material selections. They mostly use direct instruction methods and demonstrate experiments in science activities. Observations show that there is a difference between theory and practice. Problems considered to be caused by physical conditions are actually due to the use of wrong methods. Participants are of the opinion that child-centered activities, into which recyclable materials and out-of-class settings are integrated, should be used to increase the quality of science education.

OKUL ÖNCESİ ÖĞRETMENLERİNİN MESAİ ZAMANLARINDA YAŞADIKLARI DUYGU DURUMLARININ BELİRLENMESİ

Emotions affect the behaviors of individuals in both daily life and organization. School administrators do not usually take care of the emotions of teachers showing emotional labor extremely. This can cause negative results such as burn-out, anxiety and job insatisfaction. It is necessary to look at primarily emotional situations of teachers during the process in their working hours in order to prevent the negative results that can emerge and present the solutions. Thus, the aim of this study is the determination of the emotional situations of teachers within their working hours. 49 female preschool teachers saying that they willingfully choose and satisfy their jobs participated to the study. The data in the study that descriptive method was used were collected with Emotion Situation Chart prepared by considering the emotion categories and types of Weiss ve Cropanzano (1996). Teachers fulfilled the chart at the start, mid and end of the working hour, As a result of the frequency analysis, while teachers felt high positive emotions at the start and mid of the working hour most, these emotions had started to reduce at the end of the working hours. High negative emotions were found as the least felt emotions by teachers during the working hours. While tenseness and stress that are high negative emotions increased to the mid of the working hours, they reduced to the end of the working hours. While fatigue that is low negative emotion and comfortableness that is low positive emotion constantly increased during the working hours, it was saw that teachers felt least cheerful and happy at the end of the working hours when high positive emotions were looked. It is suggested the presenting of participation opportunity to various emotion regulation activities by administrators and keeping of experts that teachers can consult.

Motivation of Male Students for Preschool Teacher Profession

The number of single parent families is on the rise. There is a lack of father figure both in the family and kindergarten where children are exposed to female influence. Eurostat statistical data (2015) show that female teaching staff is dominant in pre-school education with 95%. The number of female preschool teachers in France is 83%, in Netherlands 86.6%, in the United Kingdom 90%. Male preschool teachers are a rare breed in Croatia too, only 2.3% work in preschool institutions. The aim of the research was to examine motivation of male students for preschool teacher profession. Interviews with all male students enrolled at Undergraduate preschool education in Osijek and Slavonski Brod were conducted. The results showed four clusters of male preschool students’ motivation. Students are intrinsically motivated and see this profession as a calling. This topic sheds new light on family pedagogy and opens up insufficiently explored area of research.

Using participatory risk analysis to develop a song about malaria for young children in Limpopo Province, South Africa

BackgroundIn 2015, malaria infected over 212 million people and killed over 429,000 individuals, mostly children under 5 years of age, with 90% of malaria cases occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. The aim was to develop an age and culturally appropriate song for Tshivenda-speaking children under 5 years of age to decrease the risk of malaria in Limpopo Province, South Africa.MethodsDocument review was used to identify appropriate disease determinants to decrease risk in children < 5 years old in the study area. These were used to develop lyrics and music for a song about malaria in line with the principles of participatory risk analysis. The age and cultural appropriateness of the song as well as disease determinants chosen were reviewed using a modified Delphi technique, by 10 purposively selected experts in malaria (4), Vhavenda music (3) and early childhood education (3). Thereafter, the song was translated into Tshivenda and reviewed by two focus groups living in the study area, one including female caregivers and pre-school teachers (n = 7) and a second comprising of male community based malaria control personnel (n = 5).ResultsThe experts surveyed and both focus groups strongly supported the inclusion of knowledge about the link between mosquitoes and malaria and that children should know the signs of malaria to facilitate early diagnosis. Although the expert group felt that bed nets should not be mentioned, both focus groups suggested the inclusion of bed nets and it was observed that community members were purchasing their own nets. Focus group members also felt that young children should not be involved in internal residual spraying initiatives.ConclusionsIt was concluded that although risk communication on malaria prevention and treatment in young children should be aimed at caregivers, an age and culture appropriate song about malaria could be developed to help young children protect themselves. This song focused on understanding the link between mosquitoes and malaria, preventing exposure and recognising signs of disease.

English

The purpose of this study was to investigate female pre-service preschool teachers’ attitudes towards sport in relation to the variables of grade level, the state of having done sport in the past, the reason for not doing sport in the past, the state of doing sport regularly, the level of interest in sport and the existence of a family member doing sport. Participants included 383 pre-service preschool teachers attending Ahmet KeleAŸoAŸlu Education Faculty of Necmettin Erbakan University in the 2015 to 2016 academic year. In determining participants’ attitudes towards sport, “The Scale of Attitudes towards Sport” was used. In the statistical analysis of the collected data, frequency analysis, Kruskal Wallis H test and Mann Whitney U test in SPSS 22.0 program were used. At the end of the study, it was found that female pre-service preschool teachers’ levels of psychosocial development, physical development and total attitude levels are high yet their mental development attitude level is medium. When the data were evaluated on the basis of the demographic features, it was found that their attitudes towards sport vary significantly depending on the variables of the state of having done sport in the past and the state of doing sport regularly (p 0.05). As a result, it can be argued that having done sport in the past and doing sport regularly at present positively affect the attitudes towards sport. Key words: Preschool teaching, sport, attitude.