<p> The quality of educators’ teaching practices is a crucial aspect of children’s learning. This is why researchers, policy makers, teacher educators and educational leaders have focused their efforts on developing methods and programs to support educators’ teaching practices. Although teachers are the ones who actually apply the contents and skills learned in professional development programs, there is little research that considers their perspectives. The purpose of this study was to explore Latina immigrant early childhood teachers’ professional identity and perspectives about their professional learning and development (PLD) experiences. Data collection consisted on eight in-depth face-to-face interviews with early childhood educators who work in four multicultural Head Starts, and who self-identified as Latina Spanish-speaker. Data analysis was conducted using open and axial coding techniques. The main findings suggest that Latina immigrant teachers share some values, beliefs and experiences that might play a role in shaping their careers, as well as their identities as teachers and learners. Also, the findings suggest that teachers present a positive attitude towards ongoing professional learning. However, they believe that in order to be effective for their learning, PLD programs should include more active, collaborative and contextualized approaches. Additionally, the findings indicate that teachers perceive that their work environments constrain their possibilities to fully exercise their profession.</p><p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10813868 |
| Date | 19 June 2018 |
| Creators | Gueneau de Mussy Crorkan, Andrea |
| Publisher | Mills College |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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