Section archive - Teacher Education Programs

The article describes a cross cultural study of early education professionals regarding their perceptions of status, working conditions, and public appreciation. The study was conducted in Guatemala, Hong, Kong, Hungary, India, Mexico, Peru and the United States. Cross cultural data indicate high agreement on the professionals' perceptions. Participants felt discouraged and unappreciated and needed greater financial and emotional support.

Despite the available literature stressing the importance of involving parents in their children's early education, beginning teachers have often expressed that their professional training has not prepared them to work with families. The article describes a project designed to assist preservice teachers to work with the families of the young children they teach. The project gave the preservice teachers a hands-on opportunity to become a resource for the families, while giving the students confidence, competence and communication skills.

The article explores the topic of self-study, and how it is conducted and reported. The authors make an argument for the need for learning through self-study and its documentation, so that it may be accessible to others and meaningful for other preservice teachers and teacher educators. Although the term self-study suggests singular and individual research, the data, research methods, and ideas may contribute greatly to a deeper understanding of the relationships between teaching about teaching and learning about teaching.

The article examines the issue of networking and knowledge transfer as ways to facilitate school improvement. The networking idea is based the economic concept of the formation of social relationships between individuals, based on collaboration, spreading best practice, and driving innovation.