The current study focused on examining the developmental stages of preschool teachers in the Arab Gulf region. Specifically, the needs and concerns of teachers were investigated using a pretest/posttest (12-month interval) design. Participants included two greoups of preschool teachers, trained (n= 35) and untrained (n=122) Contrary to expectations, the sequential nature of development stages of teachers did not emerge. Instead, the results showed that teachers become less concerned about teaching as they progress in their careers. When data from the present study were factor-analyzed they yielded only two areas of concerns that seemed applicable cross-cultrally. When data were subjected to analysis of variance, results revealed that training had a significant main effect on teaching concerns while teaching experience did not. Further exploration of the category experience showed that, for Factor II, the trained group of teachers had a larger drop in their level of teaching concerns than the untrained group. This was especially evident with two subgroups, low (1 to 3) years of teaching experience and high (8 to 16) years of teaching experience. The trained group with medium (4 to 7) years of teaching experience maintained a consistently low score on both pretest and posttest. Teaching experience for Factor II appears to have a main effect in reducing the level of concerns of teachers over their teaching. This was especially evident between pretest and posttest for the low-and high-experience trained teachers.

No description available.

This inquiry is about genuine practice in Early Childhood Education and the value of trusting relationships among child care practitioners as they converse about their practice. This participatory research project outlines the processes and describes the meaning that sustained, stmctured conversation about genuine practice had on four Vancouver area child care practitioners over a six month period. Conversation was used as both a method of collecting data and a process to undertake to improve practice. Conversation provided us with a way to reconstruct and reinterpret our experiences, improve our understanding of ourselves as teachers and our understanding of children, and restructure our personal knowledge of teaching and children. The participants understood being genuine as "being me" and "being connected" to children and themselves. They also spoke of it as acts of resistance against ways of being that can oppress children. I explain why genuine practice is an important concept for educators to discuss and should be used to supplement the current focus on curriculum planning in child care training. Feniinist epistemology, curriculum theory and autobiography have influenced this work. It is also informed by my 20 years of child care practice. This research stems from my desire to know my role as teacher better and to add to the growing knowledge about the value of conversation and genuine practice. Sustained, structured conversation can be a valuable tool for professional development. It can help practitioners become more reflective by providing contexts where they are able to achieve a sense of trust, and listen well to one another. Sustained, structured conversation can also support the improvement of practice when participants refrain from giving advice but ask genuine questions and share stories of their practice. The participants reported that they became more reflective in their work with children as they became reacquainted with their beliefs and values. They showed a greater propensity toward self-questioning as the conversations advanced. The participants also reported that the conversations provided emotional support needed during times of work-related stress and that building relationships outside of the work place was an important feature of the research.

This inquiry is about genuine practice in Early Childhood Education and the value of trusting relationships among child care practitioners as they converse about their practice. This participatory research project outlines the processes and describes the meaning that sustained, stmctured conversation about genuine practice had on four Vancouver area child care practitioners over a six month period. Conversation was used as both a method of collecting data and a process to undertake to improve practice. Conversation provided us with a way to reconstruct and reinterpret our experiences, improve our understanding of ourselves as teachers and our understanding of children, and restructure our personal knowledge of teaching and children. The participants understood being genuine as "being me" and "being connected" to children and themselves. They also spoke of it as acts of resistance against ways of being that can oppress children. I explain why genuine practice is an important concept for educators to discuss and should be used to supplement the current focus on curriculum planning in child care training. Feniinist epistemology, curriculum theory and autobiography have influenced this work. It is also informed by my 20 years of child care practice. This research stems from my desire to know my role as teacher better and to add to the growing knowledge about the value of conversation and genuine practice. Sustained, structured conversation can be a valuable tool for professional development. It can help practitioners become more reflective by providing contexts where they are able to achieve a sense of trust, and listen well to one another. Sustained, structured conversation can also support the improvement of practice when participants refrain from giving advice but ask genuine questions and share stories of their practice. The participants reported that they became more reflective in their work with children as they became reacquainted with their beliefs and values. They showed a greater propensity toward self-questioning as the conversations advanced. The participants also reported that the conversations provided emotional support needed during times of work-related stress and that building relationships outside of the work place was an important feature of the research. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

Detta är en kvalitativ studie som använder sig av semistrukturella intervjuer samt den sociokulturella teorin. De begrepp som blir viktiga för studien är stöttning, proximal utvecklingszon, mediering, och Vygotskijs syn på lek.  Syftet är att ta reda på vilket sätt förskollärare resonerar kring sitt deltagande i barns fria lek. För att vårt syfte ska kunna besvaras ställer vi följande frågor: I vilka leksituationer träder förskollärare in i barnens fria lek?  Vilket syfte har förskolläraren när hen går in i barnens fria lek?  Vilka strategier använder förskollärare sig av för att komma in i barnens fria lek? Resultatet visar att begreppet fri lek är svårt och tolkas på olika sätt. Förskollärares deltagande sker oftast när barnen behöver stöttning eller hjälp. Slutsatsen för denna studie visar att beroende på vilken syn förskolläraren har på lek, kan all fri lek generellt sett vara lek eller uppfattas som lek. / This is a qualitative study that uses semi-structural interviews and the socio-cultural theory. The concepts that become important for the study are support, proximal developmental zone, mediation, and Vygotsky's view of play.  The purpose is to find out in what way preschool teachers reason about their participation in children's free play. In order for our purpose to be answered, we ask the following questions: In which play situations do preschool teachers enter the children's free play? What is the purpose of the preschool teacher when she enters the children's free play? What strategies do preschool teachers use to enter children's free play?  The results show that the concept of free play is difficult and is interpreted in different ways. Preschool teachers' participation usually takes place when the children need support or help. The conclusion of this study shows that depending on the preschool teacher's view of play, all free play can generally be play or perceived as play.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka vad för uppfattningar förskollärare har om sin närvaro i den fria leken i förskolan. Leken är en viktig beståndsdel i barnens livi förhållande till deras lärande. Detta framhålls både inom forskning och i förskolans läroplan, där de betonar vikten med leken som viktig för barn att utvecklas både psykiskt och fysiskt.  I tidigare forskning och bakgrund redogörs forskning kring förskollärarens roll och uppfattningar om den fria leken i förskolan. Teoretiska perspektiv synliggörs om förskollärarens roll i barns fria lek, något som har en inverkan på förskolans verksamhet och läroplanens utformning. Metodvalet för denna studie är semistrukturerade intervjuer, som har tematiserats och färgkodats. Det valda teoretiska perspektiven handlar om förskollärarens roll att vara en aktiv lekpartner kontra observatör i relation till den fria leken. Dessa ligger till grund när vi analyserade resultatet kring vår undersökning. Resultatet visar på att den fria leken i förskolan aldrig någonsin är "fri". Att den fria leken är en svår balansgång för förskollärarna att låta barnen leka fritt och parera mellan att sätta gränser. Slutsatsen visar att beroende på om barn är leksvaga eller lekstarka uttrycker fler av förskollärarna vikten av att vara lyhörd inför barns fria lekar, för att kunna avgöra behovet av vägledning beroende på hur de tolkar barnens behov och fria lekar.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-11-09T10:24:12Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Andréa Freitas Miori.pdf: 1119631 bytes, checksum: a7cb7f6bbacb0a7240570681a15c80fe (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-11-09T10:24:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Andréa Freitas Miori.pdf: 1119631 bytes, checksum: a7cb7f6bbacb0a7240570681a15c80fe (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-08-28 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This work aims to analyze the production of Brazilian thesis and dissertations about the nursery school teacher’s function, having as theoretical support authors experts in early childhood education such as Rizzo, Falk, Portugal, Zabalza, Kramer, Artes, Rosembergand Campos. The survey of thesis and dissertations was accomplished at CAPES Bank of Thesis and Dissertations and at the Brazilian Digital Library of Thesis and Dissertations, from 2000 to 2015. The thesis and dissertations were selected based on the following descriptors: social function of the nursery school and nursery school teacher. Data were synthesized in charts and tables, grouping the production found in answers to the following research questions:where and when did the research works happen?; Which are their focuses of analysis, objectives, methodology and main results?. The results suggest that the nursery school teacher is still a professional who is diminished due to the binomial ‘taking care’/’teaching’. This professional has not yet been recognized as a teacher.The results also indicate the centrality attributed to the nursery school teacher’s work in the Thesis and Dissertations analyzed – what allows us to affirm that this research hypothesis – that the research works tended to approach the dichotomy taking care/teaching, leaving the discussions about the teachers’ work and functions behind – was partially confirmed. In fact, the dichotomy taking care/teaching was present in all the research works and abstracts analyzed, though the discussions about the teachers’ work were not in a second level in those works, also showing up as a central theme.The research works revealed that the teachers’ and the other nursery school agents’ functions have not yet been clearly defined and the nursery school teacher profession has still been under construction / Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo analisar a produção de teses e dissertações brasileiras a respeito da função do professor de creche. Este trabalho tem como apoios teóricos autores especialistas em educação infantil como Rizzo, Falk, Portugal, Zabalza, Kramer, Artes, Rosemberg e Campos. O levantamento das teses e dissertações foi realizado no Banco de Teses e Dissertações da Capes e na Biblioteca Digital Brasileira de Teses e Dissertações, no período de 2000 a 2015. As teses e dissertações foram selecionadas com base nos seguintes descritores: função social da creche e a função do professor de creche. Os dados foram organizados em quadros-síntese de informações e tabelas, agrupando a produção encontrada em resposta às seguintes questões de pesquisa: onde e quando foram realizadas as pesquisas, quais são seus focos de análise, objetivos, metodologia e principais resultados. Os resultados sugerem que o professor de creche ainda é um profissional desvalorizado em função do binômio cuidar/educar. Esse profissional ainda não é reconhecido como professor. Os resultados indicam também a centralidade atribuída ao trabalho do professor de creche nas Teses e Dissertações analisadas. A dicotomia cuidar/educar está presente em todas as pesquisas e resumos analisados, assim como as discussões sobre o trabalho dos professores. As pesquisas revelam que as funções dos professores e não estão claramente definidas e que o professor de creche ainda é uma profissão em construção

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2009. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Mar. 10, 2010). Thesis advisor: Priscilla Blanton. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The aim of this thesis was to find out if and why aspiring preschool teachers who study science and technology in their undergraduate courses show a greater interest in biology than the other subjects. The investigation was conducted on 64 students who during the time of this investigation, wrote thesis as the final step in their education. The to-be preschool teachers in the survey showed the greatest interest in the subject of biology, while interest in chemistry and physics turned out to be very low. Early childhood experience from preschool age can affect the view on a topic that a person later develops. It is therefore important that there are teachers in preschool that can help give children a positive image of all the natural sciences and technology.

This dissertation was initiated to investigate the preprimary teacher's role in identifying and assisting learning disabled preprimars. The literature section consists of a study of the normal process of child development and the phenomenon of learning disability and its manifestation in preprimars. The philosophy of inclusion and a number of existing programmes for learners with learning disabilities were examined. The empirical research assessed the responses of preprimary teachers from the Eastern Cape to a questionnaire, their experiences in dealing with preprimars with learning disabilities in a typical preprimary group were analyzed and a summary of the findings was made. Recommendations have been given to teachers regarding the identification of learning disabilities in preprimars, the assistance and support needed to enable the teacher to assist the learning disabled preprimar and the need for additional training to equip her to do so. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Orthopedagogics)