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Science professional development for early childhood educators : some identified issues

Campbell, Coral and Jobling, Wendy 2009, Science professional development for early childhood educators : some identified issues, in Proceedings of the 11th NZ Early Childhood Research Conference / Symposium, [NZ Early Childhood Research Conference], [Wellington, New Zealand], pp. 1-10.

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Title Science professional development for early childhood educators : some identified issues
Author(s) Campbell, Coral
Jobling, Wendy
Conference name NZ Early Childhood Research Conference (11th : 2009 : Wellington, New Zealand)
Conference location Wellington, New Zealand
Conference dates 21 - 23 January, 2009
Title of proceedings Proceedings of the 11th NZ Early Childhood Research Conference / Symposium
Publication date 2009
Start page 1
End page 10
Publisher [NZ Early Childhood Research Conference]
Place of publication [Wellington, New Zealand]
Summary In a small research project, using a qualitative approach we surveyed eleven pre-school teachers/coordinators asking them for information about the science experiences within their EC setting. We identified the opportunities they had for science professional development and clarified the level of their qualifications and those of a further 22 staff. In addition, we conducted four case studies to interrogate this further, and interviewed four early childhood educators asking for more detail about the science they provided and about their comfort in teaching science. The interviews revealed that although early childhood educators indicated that they provided a large number of varied experiences, often they were unsure of the science content or the science understanding. This limited their abilities to develop the activities further. Early childhood educators also indicated that whilst there was access to some science professional development, more would be welcome. The types of professional development which they felt would be most beneficial were "hands-on" play experiences - a "quick fix" approach. This presentation will discuss the findings of the research through a socio-cultural framework, noting some of the issues being raised in our discussions with the educators.
Language eng
Field of Research 130102 Early Childhood Education (excl Maori)
Socio Economic Objective 930202 Teacher and Instructor Development
HERDC Research category E2 Full written paper - non-refereed / Abstract reviewed
Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30022812

Document type: Conference Paper
Collection: School of Education
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Created: Fri, 29 Jan 2010, 10:16:35 EST by Kylie Koulkoudinas