Search results for: Early childhood education

This article examines how a community action research approach supported the implementation of an educational support programme for children, parents and local educators. The aim was the creation of a learning community that acknowledged, valued and used the expertise and experience of all involved. Five years of working together on action research projects has increased the educational capital in the community and has developed a sense of ownership and responsibility for the educational welfare of children from all involved.

The authors focus on preparing early childhood and early childhood special education preservice teachers for inclusive settings. The use of inclusive sites for well sequenced and focused field experiences provides the opportunity for preservice teachers to develop skills and attitudes for teaching all children. One institution's site-based methods courses, with preservice teachers in school sites for a significant portion of their coursework accompanied by their faculty members, enhanced the course content and preservice teaching at the sites. Measures of self-perceptions of preservice teachers indicate significant growth in preservice teachers' confidence and skills for working with students with special needs through structured inclusive field experiences.

The purpose of this reflective position paper is threefold: to provide teacher educators with three literature-based reasons to share with their students about why it is important to listen to parents; to identify familiar comments, concerns, and feelings that the students have voiced about listening to parents; and to provide five practical cooperative-learning activities that will potentially influence their students' practices.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the teaching efficacy of student teachers in the Childhood Education Program at the University of Jordan. Results showed that a third of the student teachers had an internal locus of attribution, whereas two thirds had an external locus of attribution. Data showed that student teachers who had high levels of internal attribution also had a higher capacity to utilize effective teaching strategies compared to those with high levels of external attribution.