The purpose of this study was to explore the structure and contents of knowledge about the integrated early childhood curriculum management, which kindergarten teachers construct at practicum and early career stages, how it changes, and what influence...
The purpose of this study was to explore the structure and contents of knowledge about the integrated early childhood curriculum management, which kindergarten teachers construct at practicum and early career stages, how it changes, and what influences such changes. The research questions were as follows.
1 .How is the change in the kindergarten teachers' knowledge on the 'integrated early childhood curriculum management' on the concept map before and after practicum and at the first career period at kindergarten?
2 .What are the facors that influence on the change in the kindergarten teacher's knowledge on the 'integrated early childhood curriculum management'?
2-1. What influenced the knowledge change at practicum?
2-2. What influenced the knowledge change at the first career period at kindergarten?
This research studied 17 third-year college students at a three-year early childhood education course. They composed concept maps on 'integrated early childhood curriculum management' three times, that is, before practicum, after practicum, and after first career period, and were interviewed about these concept maps and the causes of knowledge change two times after composition.
For the research question no.1, we analyzed the elements and keyword frequency of the concept maps composed by students before practicum, after practicum, and after first career period in order to calculate their centrality and specificity scores. For the research question no. 2, we conducted a content analysis of interview data on the causes of knowledge change. The research outcomes can be summarized as follows.
First, the number of proposition in the concept map increased as the students move to later stages. The number of examples used in the map increased after practicum but did not increase much around the first career period. The number of hierarchies used in the map did not change after practicum, and decreased at the first career period. The the number of interconnections used in the map decreased after practicum, but, after first career period, equalled that before practicum.
Second, in respect of knowledge contents, the most frequently used concepts were '5 curriculum area' and 'activity' before practicum, and ' 5 curriculum area' after practicum. 'Activity' was most frequently used in the concept map composed after first career period.
Third, in terms of knowledge centrality score and the specificity score , '5 curriculum area' recorded both the lowest centrality score and the highest specificity score before practicum. '5 curriculum area' still recorded the lowest centrality score after practicum, but it was 'institutional attribute' that showed the highest specificity score after practicum. Finally, 'parents/home' recorded the lowest centrality score after first career period, and '5 curriculum area' showed the highest specificity score.
Fourth, it turned out that 'the characteristics of kindergarten that offered practicum', 'the supervisor's monitoring and advice on practicum', 'actual experience of teaching children', 'the variety of teaching methods', 'recent learning', and 'participation in research' influenced knowledge change after practicum. And it was 'the characteristics of kindergarten that the teacher work for', 'difficulties in adapting to the teaching job', 'the age of children that the teacher care for', 'the integration of theory and practice', and 'the variety of actual teaching situation' that influenced knowledge change after first career period.
These research outcomes suggest the following lessons.
First, the teacher's knowledge on the 'integrated early childhood curriculum management' is more concerned with actual practical knowledge than objectives, goals, or theoretically-grounded knowledge. Thus it is needed to provide students with a solid basis of knowledge required to play the teacher's role in implementing educational curriculum.
Second, it turned out that the kindergarten teacher's knowledge change in accordance with her situation during practicum and after first career period as well as her personal experience. Thus it is followed that it is needed to provide a support that can facilitate the development of expertise in each stage.
Third, the teacher's situation during practicum and after first career period as well as her personal experience not only has positive effects but also negative impacts on the teacher's knowledge construction. This shows that, in order that the teacher can use her experience as catalyzer for knowledge construction, we need to provide support such as the formation of learning community or the improvement of the teacher's reflective capacity.