{"title":"Developing and validating the teacher self-efficacy for teaching students with autism spectrum disorder in inclusive early childhood classrooms","authors":"C. Catalano, Helenrose Fives, Nicole Barnes","doi":"10.1080/10901027.2022.2136550","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2022.2136550","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT We developed and validated an instrument, the Teacher Self-efficacy for Teaching Students with ASD Inclusive Early Childhood Classrooms Scale: TSE-ASDI/EC, to determine teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in inclusive early childhood classrooms. We engaged in literature and expert reviews followed by cognitive pre-testing with pre-service and in-service early childhood teachers. Next, we employed a series of analytic techniques to examine the factor structure, reliability, and relationships among the dimensions of the instrument for the entire sample and by subgroups. We provide evidence for validity based on test content, response process, internal structure of the instrument, and relations to other variables. This led to a unidimensional, 16-item scale to measure general education teachers’ self-efficacy for educating students with ASD in inclusive early childhood classrooms. Based on these findings we discuss implications for research and practice.","PeriodicalId":45981,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42283852","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Environmental education in pre-school teacher training programs in Vietnam: situations and challenges","authors":"Uyen Tran Ho, Ben A. LePage, W. Fang","doi":"10.1080/10901027.2022.2136552","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2022.2136552","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In this study, the environmental education (EE) component of the pre-school teacher training programs at six (6) universities in Vietnam were examined to identify the challenges of implementing EE in these programs. The framework for the pre-school teacher training program at these universities were analyzed and 18 students in their final year of undergraduate study were interviewed to collect the qualitative data used in this analysis. The findings indicated that there was a clear gap between EE and the training of pre-service teachers pursuing a pre-school teaching-level certification rating with EE competencies. Program comparisons between the universities show a disparity in the program designer’s EE views that reflect the priority given to environmentally-related courses. This study also recommends that it is necessary to implement innovative EE methods; integrate EE in all subject areas; and promote knowledge exchange between the teachers and delivery methods with the goal of systematically and comprehensively preparing prospective pre-school teachers to be EE practitioners for children.","PeriodicalId":45981,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43233333","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Bridget A Walsh, M. Innocenti, Patricia H. Manz, Start Early, G. Cook, Hyun-Joo Jeon
{"title":"Conceptualizing coaching within the home visiting field","authors":"Bridget A Walsh, M. Innocenti, Patricia H. Manz, Start Early, G. Cook, Hyun-Joo Jeon","doi":"10.1080/10901027.2022.2125464","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2022.2125464","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Coaching has received attention in early childhood education, early intervention, and family science. In the home visiting field, coaching is a distinct professional development tool to improve home visitor effectiveness in meeting the complex needs of families, improve child development outcomes, and meet home visiting field priorities (e.g., home visitor recruitment, retention, and training). Home visitors dually serve in roles as coachees when receiving professional development and as coaches for the families with whom they work. This article focuses on the roles of home visitors as coaches and as coachees. We explore justifications for coaching, models of coaching, the timing of coaching, being recipients of coaching, and the delivery of coaching to recipients. This paper underscores the complexity involved in coaching in the home visiting field and the need for further research to develop a framework and procedures for coaching best practices. Using our exploration of home visitors as coaches and coachees, we propose implications for higher education.","PeriodicalId":45981,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44883688","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Emerging professional identities: motivations for choosing early education as a minor subject in Finland","authors":"Niina Salonen, S. Havu-Nuutinen","doi":"10.1080/10901027.2022.2136551","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2022.2136551","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This qualitative study examines the professional development of early education preservice teachers and the initiatives behind the formation of a professional identity in the early stages of their studies. Professional identity is examined through the motivational factors that guide students to a minor in early education. The theoretical framework draws on educational science and sociology and defines the context of professional development, professional identity, and motivation in the social environment. Narrative data have been analyzed using the FIT-Choice Scale, and the analysis has been further elaborated by classifying narratives into the three identity types of confident, strengthened, and cautious. The research mainly confirms international results on motivational factors influencing career choices in teaching. The results also provide a broader perspective on the impact of the local education system and the labor market on professional development and the formation of professional identity. Additionally, the results challenge the ideal of the preservice teacher. The research benefits not only teacher educators but also policy makers as well as preservice teachers who form their professional identity in the midst of various uncertainties and requirements.","PeriodicalId":45981,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49240612","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reflections on the use of mixed reality to prepare early childhood educators to support diverse family needs","authors":"Larisa Callaway-Cole, Talya Drescher","doi":"10.1080/10901027.2022.2125462","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2022.2125462","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Two instructors collaborated across programs in a School of Education to bring mixed reality simulation to preservice early childhood educators in an effort to utilize content knowledge to practice challenging conversations. The scenario chosen was a parent-teacher conference focused on supporting a child with disabilities in an inclusive early childhood preschool classroom. The authors discuss the process of implementing mixed reality simulation in Early Childhood Studies and potential implications for lifelong impact of family engagement throughout a child’s schooling experiences and the use of mixed reality in teacher preparation. Interdisciplinary collaboration across programs within a school of education are considered.","PeriodicalId":45981,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45332990","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How teachers and center leaders made sense of inquiry-based professional learning: a multiple case study","authors":"Joanna Englehardt, Christopher P. Brown","doi":"10.1080/10901027.2022.2125465","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2022.2125465","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Policymakers’ demands for standardization and increased academic achievement have led various stakeholder groups to call for more professional development (PD) in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings. Federal initiatives and state agencies' quality improvement initiatives also position PD as a key component to improve access to quality programs for all. Yet, much of the PD consists of single-day workshops despite scholars continued calls for more critical approaches such as inquiry-based professional learning (IBPL). While research has emerged that examines the implementation of IBPL, little is known about how teachers and center leaders themselves make sense of such practices. This article therefore adds teachers’ and directors’ voices directly into the conversation as early childhood teacher educators continue to research and advocate for more critical and holistic approaches to PD. Findings from this research bring to light at least three main investments policy makers, teacher educators, classroom teachers and center leaders, and teachers-in-training can make to implement, sustain or improve IBPL in more ECEC spaces.","PeriodicalId":45981,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42873535","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How policy can help prepare early childhood teachers: the alignment between state childcare licensing policy and teacher qualification attainment","authors":"L. Rucker, A. Zajicek, Brinck Kerr","doi":"10.1080/10901027.2022.2125461","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2022.2125461","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The qualifications that early childhood (EC) teachers attain vary across the 50 states. This variance is likely associated with the differences in state-level childcare licensing policies governing the qualification attainment of EC teachers. This research explores the relationship between childcare licensing policy and the qualifications that EC teachers attain. We examine secondary data from the National Survey of Early Care and Education merged with secondary policy data on childcare licensing policies for all 50 states. We use a series of linear and logistic regression models to understand how the policy stringency of childcare licensing predicts the attainment of educational degrees, EC certification, and professional development. We find more stringent policies predict teacher attainment of bachelor’s degrees in EC, certification, and professional development. Policy does not predict associate degree attainment in EC. Our finding that policy stringency aligns with qualification attainment demonstrates that policymakers can better target childcare licensing policies to promote qualification attainment among the EC workforce. This research can be used by 1) teacher education programs to illustrate how policies and regulatory standards influence the qualifications of the workforce that they prepare for careers in EC, and 2) policymakers to better craft and target childcare licensing policies that influence qualification attainment among their EC workforces.","PeriodicalId":45981,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48133826","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Relational aspects of writer’s workshop in kindergarten: learning from Black boys who used their creativity and strength to speak back to the scripted curriculum","authors":"Melissa Sherfinski","doi":"10.1080/10901027.2022.2125463","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2022.2125463","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Writer’s workshop is a popular curriculum opportunity in most US schools. This case study of two Black boys engaging in a Kindergarten writer’s workshop richly contextualizes their writing identities and practices. A critical childhood studies framework was used to show how Black boys and their White teachers improvised writing-related relationships. The research questions for the study were: (1) How did Black boys use creativity and strength to push back against the semi-scripted curriculum in Kindergarten writer’s workshop? (2) What can teachers and teacher educators learn from their examples? In the findings Black boys strove to think, understand, and practice writing freely and to use their personal and cultural resources outside the constraints of teaching scripts. However, when teachers did not navigate the semi-scripted curriculum, all the children were robbed of their writing identities but Black boys were most deeply affected. Reflection questions and suggestions for teacher educators and professional developers are designed to support the use of improvisational practices and African diaspora literacy in early childhood and elementary school writing contexts.","PeriodicalId":45981,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43481247","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Elisa Staniece, A. Hegde, Lyndsey N. Graham, V. Stage
{"title":"Mentor and evaluator perspectives on North Carolina’s early educator support program: a qualitative study","authors":"Elisa Staniece, A. Hegde, Lyndsey N. Graham, V. Stage","doi":"10.1080/10901027.2022.2122639","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2022.2122639","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The mentoring and evaluating process enhances quality of teachers’ serving in early childhood programs. The Early Educator Support (EES) Program is a new model of mentoring and coaching that aims to lend support to PreK teachers’ working in nonpublic school settings. In this qualitative study, we examined the lived experiences of 12 mentors and evaluators serving in the EES program using in-depth individual interviews. It examined closely why mentors and evaluators want to work within the EES program, specifically looking at motivators and facilitators that engage them in their current role. Certain common themes emerged from the qualitative data analysis; evolving as a professional, prior experiences that motivated and facilitated their desire to become mentor/evaluators and utility of individualized mentoring strategies for teachers. In conclusion, strengths and limitations of the study are discussed as well as implications for the field of early childhood care and education.","PeriodicalId":45981,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47049852","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kathryn E. Boonstra, H. Miesner, E. Graue, Eric Grodsky
{"title":"Participation and learning in prek teacher workgroups: a communities of practice analysis of mathematics-focused professional development","authors":"Kathryn E. Boonstra, H. Miesner, E. Graue, Eric Grodsky","doi":"10.1080/10901027.2022.2104185","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2022.2104185","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Professional collaboration is widely seen as an important component in educator professional development, but we know little about the interactional processes that undergird teacher learning in collaborative workgroups. This paper focuses on four collaborative workgroups in a yearlong, mathematics-focused professional development series for pre-Kindergarten teachers. Using a communities of practice framework, we analyzed teacher workgroup conversations to understand how these interactions mediated teachers’ learning. We identified three modes of participation that characterized workgroup conversations and influenced the availability and quality of learning opportunities afforded to participants: interpersonal management, validation, and collective reasoning. Findings provide insight into how interactional processes in teacher workgroups may advance or inhibit teachers’ learning.","PeriodicalId":45981,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42753594","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}