The purpose of the study was to examine beginning preschool teachers' conceptions of teaching young children and their perceptions of the origins of these ideas. The participants were six preschool teachers employed during their first two years after graduating with A.S. degrees in early childhood education from five different two-year colleges. This qualitative multi-case study used observations, videotapes, and in-depth interviews to collect data about the experiences of the six teachers. The Ethnograph (Seidel, 1988) software program was employed to manage the data. An adapted model of pedagogical content knowledge, as described in the literature on teacher knowledge (Shulman, 1986; Grossman 1990), was used to organize the data along a learning-to-teach continuum, as described in the teacher socialization literature (Feiman-Nemser, 1983; Zeichner & Gore, 1990). This continuum begins with early experiences, progresses through formal teacher education, and continues throughout a teacher's career. The major findings of the study indicate earlier experiences provided the teachers with predispositions toward particular curriculum content and interactional styles. Their conceptualization of what and how to teach to young children was developed and enriched during formal teacher education with coursework contributing primarily to curricular knowledge. Practicum experiences, including opportunities to bring on-campus learnings into settings for young children, were a major source of the development of instructional strategies. A combination of coursework and direct experiences with children of varying ages and in various contexts contributed to the teachers' overall understanding of children. The teachers reported learning from colleagues, trying things out, and "just being with children" as rich sources of practical knowledge (Elbaz, 1981) during their early years of professional experience. Both explicit and implicit connections were made between how knowledge was gained during these induction years and the content and process of their formal teacher education programs, as well as with their prior experiences. This study, in contrast to previous studies of preschool teachers, provides descriptive data of the substance and process of five early childhood teacher education programs from the perspectives of their graduates. Insights were thus gained into the aspects of the teacher preparation experiences the teachers found have made valuable contributions to their present work.

This thesis is a qualitative case study of curriculum change within a contemporary Australian university. The curriculum change involved a repositioning of early childhood teacher education into a course structure that would qualify teachers to work across both the early childhood and primary years. The study explores the ways some of the institutional social practices of a university at a particular socio historic moment constructed ways of 'being' for the people involved in the change process. In particular, the research investigates language as a social practice within the university and focuses on the ways university curriculum texts privileged some discourses over others, legitimating particular versions of teaching and excluding others.

The thesis topic seeks to address to what extent early childhood practitioners have adopted teaching methodology and pedagogical practices to embrace the SACSA Framework in the Communication and Language Learning Area.

This study investigated 15 child care centres to find out their responsiveness to the needs of families from non-Anglo backgrounds. Results of this study showed a need to improve service quality in child care to best serve the needs of children from non-Anglo backgrounds. Forty Filipino, 15 Cambodian and 30 Sudanese families were involved in this study.

Submitted by SBI Biblioteca Digital (sbi.bibliotecadigital@puc-campinas.edu.br) on 2016-05-10T13:06:20Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Ricardo Alves Taveira.pdf: 1151021 bytes, checksum: c5d09ee17fb521dd9ae01f24204b8fd0 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-10T13:06:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ricardo Alves Taveira.pdf: 1151021 bytes, checksum: c5d09ee17fb521dd9ae01f24204b8fd0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-12-17 / This work addresses the initial training of Educators teachers and physical education teachers, with an emphasis on children movement body culture of early childhood education, aged between three and five years what the design on this body manifestation that such teachers They have and how they work with their students. It is a qualitative research, based on the cultural-historical theory of Vygotsky and authors linked to the culture of body movement and training of teachers (Children's Education and Physical Education). Used as instruments to build the empirical material research, participant observation and semi-structured interviews in two schools that have early childhood education in the city Espirito Santo do Pinhal/ SP. The choice of body culture movement is justified by the understanding that human movement is not restricted to a mechanical and insulation displacement, but in a form of body language we express and embed feelings, emotions, cultural influences, among others, contributing to overall development of children. The analysis of the material found in search field understand the investigated problems, which refers to the understanding of human movement as a necessary element and a member of the educational practice in early childhood education as a component that is linked in a timely manner in the relationship between teachers working in this cycle and the relationship between the students themselves, considering the historical and social context and promoting the use of the different aspects that interfere in Early Childhood Education (social, emotional, motor, cognitive) and also contributing in the areas of teacher training . These results indicate the need to structure the interdisciplinary work in this school stage in understanding the meanings that the body carries as a living collection of historical, social, cultural factors contributing to the development of children and the preparation of these professionals from their initial training. / Este trabalho aborda a forma??o inicial dos professores Pedagogos e dos professores de Educa??o F?sica, com ?nfase na cultura corporal de movimento de crian?as da Educa??o Infantil, com idades entre tr?s e cinco anos, ou seja, qual a concep??o sobre essa manifesta??o corporal que tais professores possuem e como trabalham com seus alunos. ? uma pesquisa qualitativa, fundamentada na teoria hist?rico-cultural de Vygotsky e em autores ligados ? cultura corporal de movimento e ? forma??o de professores (Educa??o Infantil e Educa??o F?sica). Utilizamos como procedimentos metodol?gicos para constru??o do material emp?rico da pesquisa, a observa??o participante e a entrevista semiestruturada em duas escolas que possuem a Educa??o Infantil na cidade Esp?rito Santo do Pinhal/ SP. A escolha pela cultura corporal de movimento se justifica pelo entendimento de que o movimento humano n?o se restringe apenas a um deslocamento mec?nico e isolado, mas numa forma de linguagem corporal em que expressamos e embutimos sentimentos, emo??es, influ?ncias culturais, dentre outros, contribuindo ao desenvolvimento global das crian?as. A an?lise do material encontrado em campo busca compreender a problem?tica investigada, que se refere ? compreens?o do movimento humano enquanto elemento imprescind?vel e integrante da pr?tica educativa na Educa??o Infantil, como um componente que se articula de forma pontual na rela??o entre os professores que atuam nesse ciclo, al?m das rela??es entre os pr?prios alunos, considerando-se o contexto hist?rico-social e favorecendo o aproveitamento dos diferentes aspectos que interferem na Educa??o Infantil (social, afetivo, motor, cognitivo) e, ainda, contribuindo nas ?reas de forma??o de professores. Os resultados desta pesquisa indicam a necessidade de se estruturar o trabalho interdisciplinar nesta etapa escolar, no entendimento dos significados que o corpo traz consigo, enquanto um acervo vivo de fatores hist?ricos, sociais, culturais, contribuindo com o desenvolvimento das crian?as e o preparo desses profissionais, desde suas forma??es iniciais.