Archana V Hegde, Jessica Resor, Jocelyn B Dixon, Lucía I Méndez, Tammy D Lee, Valerie Jarvis McMillan, L Suzanne Goodell, Virginia C Stage
{"title":"North Carolina Head Start Teachers' Needs, Resources, Experiences, and Priority for Science Education and Professional Development.","authors":"Archana V Hegde, Jessica Resor, Jocelyn B Dixon, Lucía I Méndez, Tammy D Lee, Valerie Jarvis McMillan, L Suzanne Goodell, Virginia C Stage","doi":"10.1080/10901027.2024.2413596","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Early science learning is a part of preschool curriculum that can have positive outcomes for children's scientific knowledge and interest. Head Start teachers are well positioned to implement quality science lessons. Through an in-depth needs assessment survey, the current study examined North Carolina preschool Head Start teachers' responses on needs, resources, experiences with professional development, and personal priority level for science education. Our analysis revealed that Head Start teachers mostly utilized informal teaching methods, used curricular and organizational resources, but utilizing mealtimes for teaching science had mixed responses. Teachers reported their access to resources and connections to community partnerships. Teachers preferred asynchronous or online PD formats and were motivated by compensation and continuing education credits while accessing PD. Most teachers rated science to be a very or extremely important personal priority. Differences in teacher education, experience, and position levels also influenced the findings of the study. The implication section delineates steps that can be taken towards strengthening science education within Head Start settings along with support that can be provided to the teachers.</p>","PeriodicalId":45981,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education","volume":"46 1","pages":"123-149"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11879258/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2024.2413596","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/10/10 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Early science learning is a part of preschool curriculum that can have positive outcomes for children's scientific knowledge and interest. Head Start teachers are well positioned to implement quality science lessons. Through an in-depth needs assessment survey, the current study examined North Carolina preschool Head Start teachers' responses on needs, resources, experiences with professional development, and personal priority level for science education. Our analysis revealed that Head Start teachers mostly utilized informal teaching methods, used curricular and organizational resources, but utilizing mealtimes for teaching science had mixed responses. Teachers reported their access to resources and connections to community partnerships. Teachers preferred asynchronous or online PD formats and were motivated by compensation and continuing education credits while accessing PD. Most teachers rated science to be a very or extremely important personal priority. Differences in teacher education, experience, and position levels also influenced the findings of the study. The implication section delineates steps that can be taken towards strengthening science education within Head Start settings along with support that can be provided to the teachers.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, the official journal of the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators, publishes original manuscripts, reviews, and information about association activities. Its purpose is to provide a forum for consideration of issues and for exchange of information and ideas about research and practice in early childhood teacher education. JECTE welcomes research reports, position papers, essays on current issues, reflective reports on innovative teacher education practices, letters to the editor and book reviews.