The Multiple Meanings of Play: Exploring Preservice Teachers' Beliefs About a Central Element of Early Childhood Education

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 322-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara A. S. Sherwood ◽  
Stuart Reifel
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Central Element ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
Multiple Meanings

scholarly journals Two worlds collide? Mapping the third space of ICT integration in early childhood education

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pekka Mertala
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Third Space ◽  
Ict Integration ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
The Third ◽  
Ict Use ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
Children’S Views

The current stage of early years information and communication technology (ICT) integration research has been criticized for not paying enough attention to the unique pedagogical features of early childhood education. Similarly, children’s views about educational use of ICT have been underrepresented in research. This dissertation study contributes to resolving these gaps in the literature by exploring children’s ideas and preservice teachers’ beliefs regarding the role of ICT in early childhood education.The study consists of two data sets that are reported in three empirical articles. The first study focused on children’s ideas and their contextual roots. The second study explored preservice teachers’ beliefs about children and ICT at home. The third study investigated preservice teachers’ perceptions of ICT integration through the frames of teaching, education, and care, referred to as the EDUCARE approach. In this compilation, the findings of the empirical studies are scrutinized through the analytical device of third space theory.The findings suggest that there is a dissonance between the meanings children and preservice teachers give to ICT use. Children conceptualized ICT use as a leisure activity whereas preservice teachers approached ICT mainly through learning. The findings also imply that although EDUCARE has been described as a holistic framework in the context of ICT integration, the framework acts as a disintegrating vehicle: When ICT integration was approached from the perspective of teaching, the views were mainly positive. When the perspective was changed to care, the views were profoundly negative. Care-related concerns were associated with preservice teachers’ beliefs about children’s use of ICT at home being extensive and unregulated. Another exaggerated belief was considering children born-competent ICT users.The results of this study have several implications for early childhood education, as well as preservice teacher education. To make ICT pedagogy truly meaningful for children, ICT should be approached as a cultural form, and space should be given for children’s views, values, and experiences. Additionally, educational technology courses need to pay more attention to aspects of care, as well as to preservice teachers’ often unrealistic beliefs about children and technology.

scholarly journals How to Use Challenge-Based Learning for the Acquisition of Learning to Learn Competence in Early Childhood Preservice Teachers: A Virtual Archaeological Museum Tour in Spain

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Abril-López ◽  
Dolores López Carrillo ◽  
Pedro Miguel González-Moreno ◽  
Emilio José Delgado-Algarra
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Virtual Museum ◽  
Learning To Learn ◽  
Virtual Tour ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Challenge Based Learning ◽  
Museum Tour

This article presents the research results in relation to an interdisciplinary teaching innovation project—Teaching and Learning of Social Sciences and Teaching and Learning of Natural Sciences—with Early Childhood Preservice Teachers (ECPT) at the University of Alcalá (Spain) in the pandemic context by COVID-19 during 2020–2021 (N = 55): 52 women (94.55%) and 3 men (5.45%) from 20 to 22 years of age. The main research problem is to know if the ECPT improves the learning to learn competence after a challenge-based learning (CBL) linked to virtual tour in a museum. The main objective was to improve the learning to learn competence, during a virtual tour at the Community of Madrid Regional Archaeological Museum (MAR) (Alcalá de Henares, Spain) for a reflective training of students to understand problems of the past and present and future global challenges, promote collaborative and multidisciplinary work, and defend ethics and leadership. In order to ascertain the level of acquisition of this competence in those teachers who were being trained, their self-perception—pretest–posttest—of the experience was assessed through a system of categories adapted from the European Commission. ECPT worked, in small groups and using e/m-learning tools, ten challenges and one storytelling cooperatively with university teachers to solve prehistoric questions related to current situations and problems. Subsequently, two Early Childhood Education teachers from a school in Alcalá de Henares reviewed the proposals and adapted them for application in the classroom of 5-year-old boys and girls. The results show an improvement in this competence in Early Childhood Preservice Teachers: total score pre-post comparison paired-samples Wilcoxon test result shows a statistically significant difference (p > 0.001); an evaluation rubric verified the results of self-perception. Second, we highlight the importance of carrying out virtual museum tours from a challenge-based learning for the development of big ideas, essential questions, challenges, and activities on socioeconomic, environmental, and emotional knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Third, this experience shows the insufficient educational adaptation of the virtual museum tour to the Early Childhood Education stage from a technological and didactic workshops point of view, but there is a diversity of paleontological and archaeological materials and a significant sociocritical discourse.

scholarly journals Belief system of future teachers on Education for Sustainable Development in math classes

Uniciencia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Claudia Vásquez ◽  
María José Seckel ◽  
Ángel Alsina
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Primary Education ◽  
Belief System ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Mathematical Education ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Interpretative Approach

This paper studied the belief system of future Chilean teachers of Early Childhood Education and Primary Education regarding their competencies to incorporate Education for Sustainable Development (EDS) in the classroom, specifically, in math classes. To this end, a survey was applied to 87 Primary Education preservice teachers and 58 Early Childhood Education preservice teachers, which was analyzed from an interpretative approach. Results are not clear regarding ESD and its scope, despite being valued. In addition, there is a clear need for training in this regard and the potential of mathematical education as a tool to incorporate ESD into the school classroom. It is concluded that ESD-related competencies need to be incorporated in initial and permanent teacher training programs in a transversal way, in our case for Mathematics Education.

Cross-Cultural Psychology of Play and Early Childhood Education

2018 ◽  
pp. 184-201
Author(s):  
Asil Ali Özdoğru
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Cultural Psychology ◽  
Central Element ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Multicultural Environment ◽  
Globalizing World ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Theory Research

Play is a universal form of human behavior that has been observed across all cultures and constitutes a fundamental role in children's development. This chapter summarizes theory, research, and practice of play in early childhood education from a cross-cultural perspective. Even though there are common qualities of play, there is a great deal of variation within and across cultures. In the multicultural environment of globalizing world, early childhood professionals need to make better use of play from an intercultural perspective. Effective utilization of play in early childhood education needs a thorough understanding of scientific theories and cross-cultural research on play. Quality early childhood education programs incorporate play as a central element in the curriculum with consideration of both individual- and group-level differences. Developmentally and culturally appropriate practice in early childhood education demands the assessment and utilization of individual and cultural characteristics of children in the planning and implementation of play-based interventions.

The Importance of Future Kindergarten Teachers' Beliefs about the Usefulness of Games Based Learning

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dionysios Manessis
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Computer Games ◽  
Kindergarten Teachers ◽  
Computer Usage ◽  
Learning Beliefs ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education Data ◽  
Teachers Beliefs

This paper examines the importance of future kindergarten teachers' beliefs about the usefulness of Games Based Learning in Early Childhood Education. Data were collected by using questionnaires which were given to the participants at the end of an introductory level, Information and Communication Technologies course. The sample of this study was 200 students attending a Bachelor in Education degree at the faculty of Early Childhood Education, University of Athens, in Greece. Results indicated that the majority of the sample had very positive beliefs about the use of Games Based Learning in pre-school education. Most of the students agreed that educational digital games are a useful way to enhance young children's learning. Beliefs were significantly affected by: year of study, frequency of computer usage, experience in a pre-school classroom, previous experience in playing computer games, and previous courses about the use/integration of educational technologies in kindergarten classroom.

Cross-Cultural Psychology of Play and Early Childhood Education

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Asil Ali Özdoğru
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Cultural Psychology ◽  
Central Element ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Multicultural Environment ◽  
Globalizing World ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Theory Research

Play is a universal form of human behavior that has been observed across all cultures and constitutes a fundamental role in children's development. This chapter summarizes theory, research, and practice of play in early childhood education from a cross-cultural perspective. Even though there are common qualities of play, there is a great deal of variation within and across cultures. In the multicultural environment of globalizing world, early childhood professionals need to make better use of play from an intercultural perspective. Effective utilization of play in early childhood education needs a thorough understanding of scientific theories and cross-cultural research on play. Quality early childhood education programs incorporate play as a central element in the curriculum with consideration of both individual- and group-level differences. Developmentally and culturally appropriate practice in early childhood education demands the assessment and utilization of individual and cultural characteristics of children in the planning and implementation of play-based interventions.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document