Teaching Practice for Early Childhood

A Guide for Students

Rosemary Perry

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9780415331081
• eBook ISBN:
  9781134329380
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Early Childhood Education

This fully updated new edition of Teaching Practice for Early Childhood will help student and recently graduated early childhood teachers make the most of their teaching in a variety of early years' settings.

Chapters cover vital topics such as ways of knowing and relating to children, the early childhood curriculum, and working collaboratively with colleagues and parents.
In addition, this new edition takes into account the current demands for quality, accountability and continuity in the early childhood curriculum, and includes fresh material on:

• the importance of social and emotional development
• the role of observation in assessing children's learning and growing, and the use of documentation as a form of accountability and teacher research
• the value of socially responsive learning environments.

This authentic, trustworthy and engaging text is written in a style that talks directly to its readers. By presenting the experiences of student teachers, as well as those of beginning and experienced teachers, the author brings into focus real situations, dilemmas, issues and rewards which student teachers are likely to face.

Chapter 1
Teaching practice in early childhood settings

In this chapter we are thinking about:

• what teaching practice is;
• professional attributes of early childhood teachers;
• opportunities for learning in teaching practice;
• preparing for teaching practice.

One day, as four-year-old Sam sat beside his teacher, he said, ‘You must have to do a lot of learning to be a preschool teacher.’ His teacher said, ‘Mmm ... yes, you do.’

‘You must have to watch a lot of kids’ television programmes,’ said Sam.

‘Yes’, said the teacher, ‘that’s one of the things ...’

‘What else did you have to learn?’ asked Sam.

‘Well,’ said his teacher, and paused, as Sam seemed about to add more of his own thoughts.

‘You’d have to learn about making ... and gluing ... playing … doing puzzles ... counting … writing and reading books ... building games … painting ... talking ... using good ideas ... and you’d do a lot of knitting them all together,’ contributed Sam.

‘Yes’, replied Sam’s teacher, ‘teachers learn about those things, and we have to learn a lot about children ... and think about what they know and do... and think about what we do.’

At this point, Sue, the teacher who was recounting this conversation, said it was interrupted.

From Sam’s perspective it was important that teachers learn to do all the things that children enjoy. From his teacher’s perspective these learnings were important too, together with gaining knowledge about children and developing an ability to reflect and act on this knowledge. Coupled together, Sam’s and his teacher’s ideas about what an early childhood teacher needs to learn provide a succinct overview of the contents of this book. In using this Guide to assist you in making the most of your teaching practice experiences you will be challenged:

• to build relationships with young children (by enabling children to do what they enjoy doing in ways that promote respect for diversity, equity and fairness);
• to extend your understanding of curriculum (by thinking about how children learn, what they need to know and how you will assess what they know);
• to provide supportive learning–teaching environments (by recognizing the physical, social and emotional factors that contribute to learning and by becoming familiar with effective behaviour guidance strategies);
• to collaborate with other important adults in a child’s life (by refining communication skills and establishing working relationships);
• to nurture your professional growth through research and inquiry (by thinking about what you do, how you do it, and why).

In developing your knowledge and abilities in relation to each of these aspects you will also be challenged to do ‘a lot of knitting them all together’, to use Sam’s phrase. It is important that you take up this ‘knitting’ challenge because by doing this you will build a more complete understanding of what it means to be a teacher of young children.

WHAT TEACHING PRACTICE IS

Teaching practice is an integral component of most pre-service teacher education courses (Cohen et al. 1996; McBurney-Fry, 2002; Posner, 2000). It refers to the period of time in which you, as a student teacher, gain firsthand experience in working with a particular group of children in an early childhood setting. Teaching practice can be undertaken in a number of forms, such as a day per week over a semester, or in two- to six-week blocks. A number of terms such as ‘the practicum’, ‘field experiences’, ‘professional experience’ or ‘internships’ are used to refer to this period. In many institutions ‘internship’ is the term used to refer to the final teaching practice. This final teaching practice is generally longer than previous periods and is aimed at inducting the student teacher more fully into the professional work of teachers. As an intern you will be expected to fulfil the responsibilities of an associate teacher. In this book, the terms ‘teaching practice’ and ‘the practicum’ will be used. The one exception will be when quoting student teachers’ comments in which they make reference to their teaching practice and use the student teacher vernacular ‘prac’.

As you undertake teaching practice you probably will be referred to as a student teacher or a pre-service teacher. These terms will be used interchangeably throughout this book. During your teaching practice you are generally guided by the teacher responsible for the particular group or class to which you have been assigned. In this book, this person will be referred to as your supervising teacher, although elsewhere this person may be known as the ‘centre-based’ or ‘school-based’ teacher, the ‘host’ teacher or the ‘cooperating’ teacher. In some placements you may be paired with another pre-service teacher to work with a particular class. Paired placements can have a number of benefits if you approach the experience positively. For instance, you can share observations, plan and evaluate together, work with smaller groups of children by sharing teaching responsibilities and observe how a peer handles particular behaviours and situations.

When undertaking your teaching practice you may also have access to a representative from your university or institute. This representative, who is likely to be responsible for advising you and for liaising with the supervising teacher, will be referred to as your liaison teacher.

PROFESSIONAL ATTRIBUTES OF EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHERS

Perhaps because teaching practice is regarded as such an important means of becoming a teacher, student teachers have mixed feelings of anticipation and apprehension as they commence their teaching practice. Tessa, for instance, after her first visit to her placement wrote in her journal:

After today I can say I am excited, happy and full of anticipation. Yet I am also full of fears and worries. My excitement and all the other positive feelings come from the fact that I really relate to the type of programme at the centre. It is one that helps children learn through expressing their own ideas and making their own choices about activities. This is great, but I am a little worried as I have never experienced a programme where the children have had quite so much choice and input. For the first couple of days, I hope I can spend a lot of time observing.

Do you have the same mixed feelings about teaching practice that Tessa experienced? There’s the excitement of being a part of a real early childhood setting, of getting to know children and their families, of planning and organizing the day and of extending a child’s understanding. At the same time there are the niggling doubts about your ability to cope with unfamiliar situations, manage the whole group, or establish a working relationship with your supervising teacher.

Although all of your teaching practice experiences will contribute in some way to your understanding of teaching, it is important that you learn how to use your experiences in order to learn from them. Your pre-service course may require you to focus on specific aspects of teaching during teaching practice. If you are looking for your own focus, however, the numerous Professional Standard Statements that have been developed in recent years by various boards, education departments and teacher organizations to define the professional standards expected of teachers may assist you. For instance, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in the United States expects accomplished early childhood teachers to meet rigorous standards in nine areas (cited in Hyson, 2003: 156). These areas are: understanding young children; equity, fairness and diversity; assessment; promoting child development and learning; knowledge of integrated curriculum; multiple teaching strategies for meaningful learning; family and community partnerships; reflective practice.

Katz (1995a) has suggested that becoming an early childhood professional involves:

• developing specialized knowledge;
• using that knowledge to assess and make decisions;
• acquiring high standards of practice.

It is important that you think about how to use your teaching practice experiences to develop your knowledge and abilities in relation to each of these aspects.

Developing specialized knowledge

Although you can gain much specialized knowledge by attending lectures and undertaking readings and assignments, when you enter the teaching practice setting this knowledge can be given added meaning. As one student, Rosanna, said: ‘When I came into contact with real children and parents, and real teachers and classrooms, I discovered that I became less sure about some things and learned a whole lot of new things about something I thought I knew well.’ Comments made by students in discussions following a teaching practicum indicate that this is a common experience. For instance, Donna described how her knowledge of two-year-olds had been affirmed during her teaching experience in a childcare centre:

At Uni we were told that two-year-olds are beginning to pretend and I’ve noticed that this group just loves home corner … so yesterday I went in to them and they were making cups of tea ... and I said to Jay, ‘Do you think Mike would like a cup of tea? P’raps you could ask him,’ and he did ... and you should have seen the look on Mike’s face. He was so pleased.

As Donna drew on her knowledge of two-year-olds to guide her actions and observed their effects, she was also discovering new knowledge about two-year-olds, having never worked with that age group before. She said:

They need a lot more reassurance about everything compared with three-year-olds ... like three-year-olds are more able to play with each other while two-year-olds are more inclined to have parallel play. The other day I did a sociogram of two little girls, Rachel and Heather ...
and it was really interesting to see how Rachel moved from one thing to another without once interacting with anyone ... and Heather kept coming and talking to me. She wouldn’t talk to other children. She’d only talk to me. So they really seem to prefer to talk to adults than children their own age.

By the second week of his teaching practice with a group of four- to five-year- olds, Tim had become particularly aware of the respectful relationship between the teacher and the children. He felt this contributed to a very positive environment for learning. Tim said: ‘I can see how Miss S. treats children as individuals. She really values their contribution. She doesn’t come across as being superior. She never raises her voice and yet the children always respond.’

I asked Tim whether he had noticed anything in particular that Miss S. did in order to create this positive atmosphere. Tim paused, remembering the teacher at work:

Well, she really listens to what they say ... and she often makes comments such as, ‘That’s a good idea’ or ‘That’s good thinking.’
And if she asks them to do something, she explains why it needs to be done … like at tidy up, they all sit down and think about the jobs that have to be done, and she makes it clear what she expects them to do. They talk about what their jobs are so it’s very clear, and the tidying up gets done.

Plate 1.1 While beginning to play with others, two-year-olds seek the attention of adults. (Photo courtesy of Lady Gowrie Child Centre, Brisbane.)

Tim was aware of the children’s positive attitude to learning and that the teacher was contributing to this, but he needed the question to spark further thinking about some of the specific strategies the teacher was using. Asking yourself questions about what is happening and why things are happening in certain ways is a vital part of developing your specialized knowledge during teaching practice.

Felicity, a fourth-year student, was beginning to look at her specialized knowledge and ask herself questions about it in the light of her own values. During my visit we had been discussing her goals for the children and what she felt was important for them to learn. Here are some excerpts from that conversation.

Felicity said, ‘I think it’s how children get on with others ... and what they learn about themselves that’s important. Sure they’ve got to learn subject matter and skills ... but well, I believe children have to know themselves and know how to be with other people before they can learn anything else ... because if they can’t accept themselves they’re not going to learn.’

I asked her if that meant that the kinds of goals she would focus on would be related to children’s social abilities.

Felicity said, ‘Yes ... though I would also aim to develop abilities in other areas too. I think other things are important as well, but to learn other things you’ve got to know about yourself. If a child is always going to be fighting and always on the outside that child’s not going to learn anything. Do you understand what I’m saying?’

I replied that I did. Then Felicity asked, ‘Well, is what I’m saying right or wrong?’

My immediate response was, ‘There’s no right or wrong answer. It’s a decision you have to make in the light of your current specialized knowledge.’

Making assessments and decisions

Felicity’s question – ‘Is what I’m saying (or doing) right or wrong?’ – highlights the dilemma that lies at the heart of every decision or judgement an early childhood teacher has to make. If dilemmas and decisions are recognized as part of teaching then teaching becomes ‘a process of doing research’ that stems from teachers’ own questions about everyday practice (Stremmel, 2002: 62). By thinking of yourself as a teacher and a researcher you set yourself the goals of gaining insights into teaching and learning, becoming more reflective and bringing about positive changes in your centre and in the lives of children (Cochran-Smith and Lytle, 1993, 1999). Achieving such goals is quite a task even for the most experienced teacher. Fortunately, pre-service courses offer you time and assistance in developing the skills that contribute to your ability to make sound professional judgements. You are not expected to make these decisions in your first teaching practice. Rather, as you gain experience in different practice teaching situations you can develop the knowledge and ...

Table of contents

• COVER PAGE
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT PAGE
• ILLUSTRATIONS
• FOREWORD
• PREFACE
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• CHAPTER 1: TEACHING PRACTICE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD SETTINGS
• CHAPTER 2: WAYS OF KNOWING AND UNDERSTANDING CHILDREN
• CHAPTER 3: EARLY CHILDHOOD CURRICULUM
• CHAPTER 4: CREATING PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTS FOR LEARNING AND TEACHING
• CHAPTER 5: CREATING SOCIALLY SECURE ENVIRONMENTS FOR LEARNING AND TEACHING
• CHAPTER 6: BECOMING A TEACHER AND A RESEARCHER OF TEACHING
• CHAPTER 7: GAINING THE MOST FROM THE TEACHING PRACTICE EXPERIENCE
• CHAPTER 8: STORIES FROM BEGINNING TEACHERS WHAT IS THE REALITY?
• REFERENCES