A Croatian Study of Practitioners’ and Kindergarten Teacher Students’ Opinions of their Role in Children’s Lives
Keywords:
Kindergarten teachers, Kindergarten teacher students, Perception of children, Perception of the kindergarten teacher’s role
Abstract
In the project Methods and Models in the Education of Preschool Children in Kindergartens conducted at the Faculty of Teacher Education in Zagreb, we were interested in practitioners’ and kindergarten teacher students’ opinions, motivation, satisfaction, expectations and attitudes with regard to their work. Two ope-ended questions regarding the role of the kindergarten teacher in children’s lives, were set as a separate mini-questionnaire. For the purposes of this particular study, practitioners (N=69) and first-year university kindergarten teacher students (N=65) had to complete two sentences: “Children are like...because ...” and “Kindergarten teachers are like... because...”. Their responses were content analysed and then compared. Analysis shows that both students and kindergarten teachers perceive children in a very positive way and evaluate their job as highly valuable. They also highly value their role in children’s lives (as another parent, teacher, helper, model, safe haven, etc.). The most significant difference between practising teachers and students is their perception of working conditions, where students show a more idealistic approach.Downloads
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Chartier, A., & Geneix N. (2006). Pedagogical approaches to early childhood education. UNESCO.
Chung, L. C., Marvin, C. A., & Churchill, S. L. (2005). Teacher factors associated with preschool teacher-child relationships: teaching efficacy and parent-teacher relationships. Journal of Early
Childhood Teacher Education, 25, 131–142.
Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. (2008). Basics of qualitative research. Sage Publications.
Dahlberg, G., Moss, P., & Pence, A. (1999). Beyond quality in early childhood education and care - postmodern perspectives. London: Falmer Press.
Daniels, H. (1996). An introduction to Vygotsky. London and New York: Routledge.
Državni pedagoški standard predškolskog odgoja i naobrazbe (2008). Narodne novine 063/2008. Retrieved October 16 2012 from http://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/339617.html
Einarsdottir, J. (2010). The role of preschool teachers: Icelandic preschool educators’ discourses. Early Years, 23(2), 103–116.
Fumoto, H. (2011). Teacher-child relationship and early childhood practice. Early Years, 31(1), 19–30.
Isenberg, J. P. (1990). Teachers’ thinking and beliefs and classroom practice. Childhood Education, 66, 322–32.
IT za inkluzivno društvo (2010). Zakon o predškolskom obrazovanju i vaspitanju. Retrieved October 7 2012 from http://www.inkluzija.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14:zakon-opredkoskom-obrazovanju&catid=35:zakoni&Itemid=21
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Manning, B. H., & Payne, B. D. (2010). Student teacher personality as a variable in teacher education. The Teacher Educator, 20(2), 2–12.
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Ministarstvo znanosti obrazovanja i sporta (2010). Predškolski odgoj i naobrazba u 2010. Retrieved August 12 2012 from http://public.mzos.hr/Default.aspx?sec=2195
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Piaget, J., & Inhelder, B. (1986). Intelektualni razvoj deteta. Beograd: Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva.
Petrović-SoÄo, B. (2007). Kontekst ustanove za rani odgoj i obrazovanje – holistiÄki pristup. Zagreb: Mali profesor.
Pollard, A., & Filer, A. (1996). The social world of children’s learning: Case studies of pupils from four to seven. London: Cassell.
Puriola, A. (2002). The multiple faces of everyday life: Frame analysis of early childhood practices. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 10(2), 31–47.
Rijavec, M., Miljević-RiÄ‘iÄki, R., & Vizek Vidović, V. (2006). Profesionalna vjerovanja i samoprocjene kompetencija studenata - budućih uÄitelja i uÄitelja poÄetnika. Odgojne znanosti,
8(1(11)), 159–170.
Sindikat vzgoje, izobraževanja, znanosti i kulture Slovenije (2009). Zakon o vrtcih: Neuradno preÄiÅ¡Äeno besedilo (ZVrt-NPB4). Retrieved October 1 2012 from http://predpisi.sviz.si/vzgoja-inizobrazevanje/vrtci/zakon-o-vrtcih/index.php
Å agud, M. (2006). Odgojitelj kao refleksivni praktiÄar. Petrinja: Visoka uÄiteljska Å¡kola u Petrinji.
Wallace, M. (2005). Innovations in planning for school improvement: Problem and potential. In D. Hopkins (Ed.), The practice and theory of school improvement (pp. 147–168). New York: Springer.
Published
2013-06-30
How to Cite
Miljević-Riđički, R., Pahić, T., & Šarić, M. (2013). A Croatian Study of Practitioners’ and Kindergarten Teacher Students’ Opinions of their Role in Children’s Lives. Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, 3(2), 51–69. https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.239
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