High-quality preschool education produces substantial long-term educational, social, and economic benefits, but large benefits occur only when teachers are professionally prepared and adequately compensated. Qualifying the teacher candidates depends on many interrelated components of a teacher education. The aim of this study is to evaluate the student selection policy, decision-making policy, recruitment policy, teacher candidates&rsquo / educational profiles, faculty development and assignment policy, curriculum and instruction, and the graduates&rsquo / competences from the perspectives of the faculty members in the preschool teacher education program. For this purpose, decision-oriented program evaluation CIPP model is taken as a framework. In order to reach in-depth and detailed information from the participants, study is designed as a qualitative phenomenological research. Participants are selected through purposeful sampling strategies that include criterion sampling and snowball sampling procedures from the population of 150 academicians in the 55 preschool teacher education program in Turkey. Data is collected through semi-structured interviews and open-ended questionnaires from 58 participants. According to the content analysis, findings indicated that there is need for the additional tests in the student selection, improvement in the faculty development policy, accreditation, faculty initiative in curriculum planning and implementing, alternative strategies in practicum, and collaboration of the local authorities and the faculties in the recruitment policy of the graduates. In this respect, it is believed that the findings will pave the way for the program developers to reform the program accordingly, will give further insights about the real experiences of the academicians and take their suggestions to improve the program and will help the researchers to raise some new questions about the preschool teacher education program to investigate.

High-quality preschool education produces substantial long-term educational,social, and economic benefits, but large benefits occur only when teachers are professionally prepared and adequately compensated. Qualifying the teacher candidates depends on many interrelated components of a teacher education. The aim of this study is to evaluate the student selection policy, decision-making policy, recruitment policy, teacher candidates&rsquo / educational profiles, faculty development and assignment policy, curriculum and instruction, and the graduates&rsquo / competences from the perspectives of the faculty members in the preschool teacher education program. For this purpose, decision-oriented program evaluation CIPP model is taken as a framework. In order to reach in-depth and detailed information from the participants, study is designed as a qualitative phenomenological research. Participants are selected through purposeful sampling strategies that include criterion sampling and snowball sampling procedures from the population of 150 academicians in the 55 preschool teacher education program in Turkey. Data is collected through semi-structured interviews and open-ended questionnaires from 58 participants. According to the content analysis, findings indicated that there is need for the additional tests in the student selection, improvement in the faculty development policy, accreditation, faculty initiative in curriculum planning and implementing, alternative strategies in practicum, and collaboration of the local authorities and the faculties in the recruitment policy of the graduates. In this respect, it is believed that the findings will pave the way for the program developers to reform the program accordingly, will give further insights about the real experiences of the academicians and take their suggestions to improve the program and will help the researchers to raise some new questions about the preschool teacher education program to investigate.

Raising the qualification level for preschool staff is often seen by policymakers as a means of improving the quality of preschool. However, research examining the relation between qualifications of preschool staff and preschool quality has given inconsistent results. This suggests that one’s competence as a teacher is not necessarily reflected by one’s level of teacher qualification. The aim of this study was to contribute to knowledge about preschool teacher competence and its relation to education and practice. This was accomplished through documenting and examining perspectives on preschool teacher competence from currently enrolled Swedish preschool teacher students and recently graduated Swedish preschool teachers, who have prior work experience in early childhood education. In particular, this study focused on gaining a deeper understanding of which competences preschool teacher students and preschool teachers attribute to their education. Interviews were conducted with one preschool teacher education student and two recently graduated preschool teachers. The findings showed three competences reported as important by the participants: critical (self-)reflection, the competence to listen to the children, and the competence to care. Moreover, the participants believed that being confident in one’s profession, knowing why they are doing what they are doing, and the competence to reflect are competences gained in preschool teacher education. Lastly, the participants described a connection between theory and practice, which suggest that students with prior work experience do not experience a ‘reality gap’ between their education and the practical field. The research conducted in this study contributes to what is known about teacher competence and, more specifically, it gives more insight into the development of competence in preschool teacher education.

This paper focuses on preschool student teachers in Sweden. Underpinned by Pierre Bourdieu’s sociological concepts, the motivations and trajectories which led them to enter the preschool teacher field, their perception of their education, and how they plan to teach once they become teachers is specifically researched in relation to social origin. Preschool teacher education has undergone many changes in recent decades which have led to higher academic demands in a field which is not traditionally theoretically based, and little research which looks into how this affects those training to become preschool teachers has been done. Through a survey of 125 respondents and seven interviews with students at two different university-colleges, the students are discussed based on their different types of capital and social origin. The life trajectories and habitus, which are shaped by their capital and social origin, is explored to describe their perception of their education and their opinions on how they plan to teach their students once they graduate. By doing so, the study reveals the pattern of trajectories which lead people to preschool teacher education occurs through either a break from their low social origin or through choices which took them further away from their high capital assets and led them to preschool teacher education as a last option. Differences in perception of preschool teacher education and the increased academic demands made on them is also seen to be characteristic based on those with a social origin with high capital assets against those who grew up with little to no capital. Finally, it is shown that regardless of social origin the high academic demands placed on preschool teachers does little to change their perception of what and how a preschool teacher should educate.

Education and training affect the way children's behavior, we shape children's attitudes and values. One of the ways which we can develop the personality of a child in kindergarten is to use the principle of individuation. The theoretical part is, besides development of individualization in the upbringing and education of children of preschool age, given the current requirements for the individualization of children in kindergartens. It discusses the development and acceptance of the basic needs of children of preschool age, specifies the conditions, the position of teacher for individualizing education of children in kindergarten. The practical part verifies the possibility of individualization in age heterogeneous and homogeneous model. Assesses differences and experience in these models in the approaches of preschool teachers including the effect of a specific environment specific kindergarten.

This study addressed the problem of insufficient information concerning the impact of variability in requirements and credentials for Florida Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) teachers statewide on VPK program quality. This study examined the variance in the professional credentials of VPK lead instructors in Florida school districts and whether or not this variability makes a significant difference in program quality as measured by VPK Provider Kindergarten Readiness Rates. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) statistical tests were conducted, as appropriate, for each of four research questions. Research findings indicated there was no statistically significant difference in the mean VPK Provider Kindergarten Readiness Rates based on the professional credentials for VPK lead instructors when controlling for the socio-economic status of the children enrolled at each site. Recommendations were made for future research to replicate the study using a different indicator of program quality, perhaps a measure of student progress throughout the school year. Also, the first groups of students to participate in Florida’s voluntary prekindergarten (VPK) program are now enrolled in upper elementary grades making a longitudinal study both feasible and worthwhile in evaluating the effectiveness of a largescale preschool program. The researcher further recommended that the idea of improving the qualifications of the prekindergarten workforce must persist, supported by continued research and adequate funding.