Early Childhood Teachers at the Center: A Qualitative Case Study of Professional Development in an Urban District

Autor/in	Baker, Megina
Titel	Early Childhood Teachers at the Center: A Qualitative Case Study of Professional Development in an Urban District
Quelle	In: Early Childhood Education Journal, 46 (2018) 2, S.231-240 (10 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Baker, Megina)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1082-3301
DOI	10.1007/s10643-017-0858-6
Schlagwörter	Faculty Development; Urban Schools; Preschool Teachers; Early Childhood Education; Qualitative Research; Case Studies; School Districts; Preschool Curriculum; Observation; Teacher Attitudes; Interviews; Fidelity; Curriculum Development + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Urban area; Urban areas; School; Schools; Stadtregion; Stadt; Schule; Pre-school education; Preschool education; Erzieher; Erzieherin; Kindergärtnerin; Vorschulerziehung; Vorschule; Early childhood; Education; Frühkindliche Bildung; Frühpädagogik; Qualitative Forschung; Case study; Fallstudie; Case Study; School district; Schulbezirk; Beobachtung; Lehrerverhalten; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Curriculum; Development; Curriculumentwicklung; Lehrplan; Entwicklung
Abstract	Professional development for early childhood educators (ECE PD) is an essential component of supporting a professional early childhood workforce. Yet research on ECE PD frequently centers on narrow fidelity data, while teachers' individual voices and teaching contexts are only rarely considered in order to understand teacher experiences with PD initiatives. This qualitative case study utilizes the "critical ecology of the early childhood profession" framework (Miller et al., "Early childhood grows up: Towards a critical ecology of the profession," Springer, London) to examine process-related questions in a large urban district's PD initiative connected with the launch of a new district-developed kindergarten curriculum. Examining teacher experiences through an ecological lens, the study focuses on two kindergarten teachers, viewing them as active agents in their own professional learning and situating them within their particular teaching contexts. Data sources included classroom observations, teacher interviews, and curriculum fidelity data. Although fidelity data provided some information about teacher responses to the PD, triangulating this data with teacher accounts of adapting the curriculum to their particular context enabled more nuanced understandings about how teachers adapt information from PD sessions to their particular teaching contexts. This study demonstrates the need for research on ECE PD to go beyond fidelity data to explore process-related questions about teachers PD experiences. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01