The First Step to Becoming a Kindergarten Teacher :Difficulties and Challenges .The first year in the field of teaching after finalising the formal training is a year of great expectations and anticipation on the side of the novice teachers, as well as feelings of nervousness and lack of confidence. The literature addresses this subject from the aspect of teachers in school, where it has been found that it is a period of challenges, dilemmas and difficulties. Little though has been written from the aspect of kindergarten teachers. The authors assumed that novice kindergarten teachers experience similar experiences. During this first year, it is obligatory for the novice kindergarten teachers to attend a professional development workshop. The aim of the workshop is to provide a significant support system for the novice teacher in this challenging year. The aim of this research was to examine the novice kindergarten’s dilemmas and challenges in this critical first year, and their attitudes towards the professional development workshop concerning the relevance of the workshop in assisting the kindergarten teachers in dealing and coping with the dilemmas that arose from the field. The findings indicate that the novice kindergarten teachers, experience similar dilemmas in their first year in the field as teachers. It was also found that the workshop was not a significant factor in helping the novice kindergarten teachers cope with this challenging experience. This leads to the conclusion that it is necessary to revaluate this framework in order to making it a place of significance for the novice kindergarten teachers. Key words: Novice kindergarten teachers: Professional Development workshop:
Board # 73 : Professional development workshop to promote writing transfer between first-year composition and introductory engineering laboratory courses
