Early Childhood Educators Construct Their Own Identity

Drs. Debra Harwood & Mary-Louise Vanderlee&

Stephanie Tukonic

7th International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Barcelona, Spain

1

Educator, collaborator, planner, caregivers, babysitters, specialists,

advocates, teachers , foundation builders

2

The main characteristics of a profession that are most frequently repeated in the literature include:

specialized training

ethical standards

a strong identity with the field as a profession or vocation

(Goode, 1960; McCully, 1962; Wilensky, 1964; Brown & Pate, 1983).

3

The ways in which early childhood educators conceptualize and narrate themselves as professionals

Professionalism from within a meaning-making paradigm

Early childhood educators articulate & identify for themselves the aspects of professionalism that define them

Goal-gain new insights into defining ‘professionalism from within’

(Osgood 2009, 747)4

5

Years of practice

Feelings of commitment

Stage of educator development

Role & responsibilities

Educational level

Enjoyment of job

Level of competence

Ethic of care

Leadership/ mentorship capacity6

Novice

• Survival stage

• Do I have what it takes to be a teacher?

Advanced Beginner• Consolidation

• How do I develop my competence?

Proficient• Renewal

• How do I seek new challenge versus lose effectiveness?

Expert

-maturity/

Generativity

-What impact have I had on

the lives of children/

Families?

Lilian G. Katz, (1972). Developmental Stages of Preschool Teachers. The

Elementary School Journal, Vol. 73, No. 1, pp. 50-54 7

Split delivery model system

Under 4 year olds—child care delivery system

ECEs college trained diploma-2 years

Over 4 years-education system (team teaching)

Ont. Certified teachers in K university trained-4+ years

ECEs in K class are diploma certified

8

1. What are early childhood educators’ perceptions of professionalism?

2. What are the specific aspects that define professionalism in the field of ECE?

3. What is the perceived impact of higher levels of education on perceptions of professionalism?

9

N=54 participants (practicing ECEs )

All female

Years of experience-3 categories

less than 10 years experience (n=11)

10-20 years experience (n=18)

Over 20 years of experience (n=24)

10

Quantitative

Collect Data

QUAN Data Analysis

Qualitative

Collect and QUAL Data Analysis

Transformation

QUAN Data Analysis

Transformation Model Data Analysis

11

SPSS 19.0 Perceptions of Professionalism (i.e., commitment to the

field, of specialization education, expert knowledge, pedagogy, ethics)

Independent variables Roles in Early Childhood Education ECE Director ECE and Director

Years of Experience Less than 10 years 10 to 20 years Greater than 20 years

Level of Education Two levels of education (i.e., college) Greater than two levels of education (i.e., university degree/course, graduate

courses/degree)

12

Spearman rho correlation All participant perceptions of

professionalism in ECE Role in ECE Years of Experience Level of Education

Mann Whitney U Level of Education

Kruskal-Wallis Role in ECE Years of Experience

Chi-Square Role in ECE v. Years of Experience Role in ECE v. Level of Education Level of Education v. Years of Experience

Quantitative

Collect Data

QUAN Data Analysis

Qualitative

Collect and QUAL Data Analysis

Transformation

QUAN Data Analysis

13

NVivo9

Five themes exposed from frequency report:

Knowledge

Child Development

Professional Development

Caring

Communication

Quantitative

Collect Data

QUAN Data Analysis

Qualitative

Collect and QUAL Data Analysis

Transformation

QUAN Data Analysis

14

Transformation of QUAL Data

SPSS 19.0

Dichotomously scored for each theme

QUAN Data Analysis

Mann Whitney U

Level of Education

Kruskal-Wallis

Years of Experience

Role in ECE

Quantitative

Collect Data

QUAN Data Analysis

Qualitative

Collect and QUAL Data Analysis

Transformation

QUAN Data Analysis

15

No statistical significance between perceptions of professionalism in ECE & level of education

Strong sense of professionalism regardless of level of education

16

Significant variance between the years of experience and

a) feelings of being qualified to help others learn about ECE (mentorship);

b) being viewed as a professional by others

17

Significant variance among enjoyment of work and different roles (front line educator or administrative responsibility)

Administrators generally reporting less job satisfaction

18

1. List the qualities you would expect to find in an early years' educator that you would describe as a 'professional'.

2. Describe how you would recognize professionalism in early years' educators interactions across a range of workplace situations (e.g., conversing with fellow ECEs, talking to parents other professionals, etc.)

3. Other comments section 19

5 themes:

Knowledge (content & pedagogical knowledge)

Development of the child

Development as a professional

Attentive/care ethic

Communication

20

No statistical difference between type of role & the words used to describe the profession

No statistical difference between the level of education & the words used

21

Years of experience & knowledge & total amount of words used to describe professionalism

22

Well developed sense of professionalism regardless of stage of teacher development (advanced beginner, proficient, expert)

How to increase job satisfaction with administrators of ECE programs?

Knowledge, caring, communication, development of child and development of the self are all important constructs for defining professionalism in ECE

Implications for teacher training programs and continual professional development

23

Currently collecting data on perceptions of professionalism from kindergarten teachers and ECEs who co-teach within the same programs.

2nd round of data collection on BECE students will occur Jan. 2013

Comparative study in other cultures

24

Primary Contact:

Dr. Debra Harwood

dharwood@brocku.ca

25