Eager to Learn Educating Our Preschoolers (2001) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
The Preparation of Early Childhood Professionals
The Preparation of Early Childhood Professionals
Pages 261-276
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From page 261... ...
College-educated teachers attended liberal arts colleges or were enrolled in departments of home economics (Bowman, 1990) and had little course work in curriculum or pedagogy.
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From page 262... ...
Clearly, the preparation and ongoing professional development of teachers in early childhood education and care is fundamental to the vision expressed in this report. In this chapter, we discuss professional development and its relationship to program quality, the preparation of early childhood teachers, the variety of teacher education experiences and requirements, and research related to in-service education.
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From page 263... ...
There is also research support for the proposition that education focused specifically on child development and early childhood education improves the performance of child care providers (Epstein, 1999; Ruopp et al., 1979; Kontos et al., 1997~. The authors of Who Cares for America's Children (National Research Council, 1990)
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From page 264... ...
But in fact, early childhood centers spend considerably less than do elementary schools on the professional development of their teachers: elementary schools devote 3.6 percent of teachers' work time to professional development, child care centers 1.3 percent, and Head Start 3.04 percent (Center for Early Childhood Leadership, 1999~. Teachers' Thinking and Beliefs Research on teaching effectiveness has shown that teachers have implicit beliefs about subject matter, their students, and their roles and responsibilities that significantly influence how they behave in the classroom (Ball and Cohen, 1996~.
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From page 265... ...
If early childhood educators are to develop a professional orientation based on knowledge, reflection, and analysis, it is critical that pre-service and in-service education directly address these memories of early experience and the resulting resistance to change (Lortie, 1975; Buchmann and Schwille, 1983~. In addition to the early experiences of the classroom that we all share, there are some broadly-held cultural attitudes that have an impact on the assumptions that shape the behavior of teachers.
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From page 266... ...
Early childhood teachers who accept behaviorist principles of development tend to employ teaching practices that are consistent with this belief, whereas teachers who express views based on the principles of developmentally appropriate practices (Bredekamp,
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From page 267... ...
The biggest danger posed by a superficial understanding of learning research is that these theories of learning can easily be misunderstood to dictate particular methods of teaching. As the reading wars demonstrate, there is a strong propensity, when it comes to educating our children, for theory to change into ideology (National Research Council, 1998)
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From page 268... ...
CIark's (1988) list of desirable teacher attributes includes such characteristics as the ability to plan and reflect, to tolerate ambiguity and uncertainty, to think for themselves; making and correcting inferences about pupil performance; and using appropriate teaching techniques.
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From page 269... ...
to include patience, warmth, and ingenuity. More recent empirical studies have found certain teacher behaviors to be associated with higher program quality and improved developmental outcomes for young children: indirect guidance, encouragement, responsive verbal interaction, sensitivity to children's cues, and promotion of positive, prosocial behaviors (Berk, 1985; Howes, 1993,1997; Whitebook et al., 1989~.
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From page 270... ...
Graduates of teacher education programs drop out of teaching less frequently than teachers without such experience, suggesting that preservice professional education affects a teacher's decision to continue teaching. Although research focused on early childhood teacher education is sparse (Bredekamp, 1996; Ott et al., 1990)
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From page 271... ...
argues that "Early childhood educators need to have a strong, high quality liberal arts background in order to be able to conceptualize learning experiences so that diverse learners find them meaningful" (p.14~. Early childhood professional preparation programs should have a strong grounding in the liberal arts and include professional course work in the areas of child development, curriculum, assessment, diversity, inclusion, and family relations as recommended by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (1996~.
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From page 272... ...
Moreover, research on the relative importance of preservice education for early childhood teachers has failed to take into account the bias that results if, as seems likely, the most talented teachers with college degrees choose hi~her-navin~ elementary teaching over oreschool jobs. ~ 1 J ~ J ~ 1 In-Service Education Many teachers feel that well-designed in-service programs greatly influence their ability to learn and implement improved teaching practices (Katz, 1999~.
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From page 273... ...
On one hand, some research suggests that educating family child care providers can positively affect the global quality of care they provide (Howes et al., 1987~. On the other hand, after reviewing the results of studies focused on family child care provider education, Kontos et al.
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From page 274... ...
Outcome variables included overall quality and observational measures of provider behaviors. The effects of the intervention were at best modest; two of three sites showed small positive changes on the measure of overall quality, with no observable effects on provider behaviors, leading the authors to question the efficacy of training in workshop settings.
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From page 275... ...
The knowledge and skills of teachers are among the most important factors in determining how much a young child learns. The professional development of teachers has been shown to be related to quality of early childhood programs, and program quality predicts developmental outcomes for children.
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From page 276... ...
Although there is some evidence that well-designed and implemented in-service education programs can lead to improved program quality, it has been repeatedly documented that the amount, scope, and quality of professional development provided to early childhood teachers is inconsistent, fragmented, and often chaotic. Effective in-service education must be intensive and consinuous, with opportunities to apply knowledge and receive individualized feedback and mentoring in order to support improved teaching practices and positive outcomes for children.
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