A Curriculum of Open Possibilities: A New Zealand Kindergarten Teacher's View of Professional Practice

Autor/in	Dalli, Carmen
Titel	A Curriculum of Open Possibilities: A New Zealand Kindergarten Teacher's View of Professional Practice
Quelle	In: Early Years: An International Journal of Research and Development, 31 (2011) 3, S.229-243 (15 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0957-5146
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Kindergarten; Preschool Teachers; Video Technology; Curriculum Development; Early Childhood Education; Young Children; Teacher Attitudes; Observation; Interviews; Teaching Methods; Curriculum Implementation; National Curriculum; Case Studies; Educational Principles; Educational Philosophy; New Zealand + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Pre-school education; Preschool education; Erzieher; Erzieherin; Kindergärtnerin; Vorschulerziehung; Vorschule; Curriculum; Development; Curriculumentwicklung; Lehrplan; Entwicklung; Early childhood; Education; Frühkindliche Bildung; Frühpädagogik; Frühe Kindheit; Lehrerverhalten; Beobachtung; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Case study; Fallstudie; Case Study; Bildungsprinzip; Bildungsphilosophie; Erziehungsphilosophie; Neuseeland
Abstract	Thematic analysis of a continuous video record of a day in the life of a New Zealand kindergarten teacher, and of a narrative reconstruction of the day during a follow-up interview, yielded a view of early childhood professional practice as focused on a "curriculum of open possibilities". This paper discusses elements of the teacher's professional practice that contributed to her curriculum: her understanding that curriculum planning required relational involvement and being part of the children's life within the kindergarten community; that professional practice required teamwork and attunement to one's colleagues; and that acting professionally was about being fully present and "bringing everything together". It argues that behind the apparent "trivia" of the teacher's day there were layers of activity that maintained a fabric of connections that sustained the open possibilities. In this way, the teacher's role as a curriculum planner emerges as a finely balanced role that is creative and agentic rather than prescribed by narrow curriculum goals. The findings of the study are located within the emergent New Zealand literature on what it means to be a professional early childhood teacher in the contemporary early childhood sector, and research on New Zealand's early childhood curriculum, "Te Whariki". (Contains 7 notes.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10