EMERGING AS EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER: CRITICAL CHALLENGES

• DOI: 10.22533/at.ed.03919040211

• Palavras-chave: Atena

• Keywords: beginning early childhood teachers; teacher education; professional development.

• Abstract:

  This study aims to understand

  the experiences of beginning early childhood

  teachers as they transition roles from student

  to first-year teacher. Research has shown that

  are major areas of concern for novice teachers:

  relationships, knowledge of the curriculum,

  evaluation and grading, issues in autonomy and

  control, and workload and time management.

  Research also has identified a troubling support

  gap for new teachers during their first critical

  years in the job. Fifteen early childhood teachers

  in their first year of teaching were interviewed for

  this case study research. Interviews’ data were

  submitted to content analyze process which

  allowed identifying major themes, namely:

  initial expectations and feelings; problems and

  difficulties; types of support; achievements;

  critical moments; perceived changes. The data

  highlight the need to reflect on early childhood

  teacher education. The emphasis should be on

  how to help teachers to construct professional

  understanding from field-based experiences.

• Número de páginas: 15