Description:
The purpose of this chapter is to examine the research base on preservice early childhood teacher education to ask what is known about particular programs and pedagogies, and the relations between program components and preservice teacher learning and practice. Focusing primarily on empirical studies of preservice teacher education conducted over the past decade, we review the methodological and theoretical lenses used to conceptualize early childhood preservice teacher education with the aim of identifying innovations and promising practices as well as gaps in the knowledge base. At a time when so much policy attention is being given to developing the early childhood workforce, we argue that early childhood teacher educators need to develop a carefully targeted program of research along with an advocacy and policy agenda if the important contributions of preservice teacher education programs are to be acknowledged and capitalized upon. (author abstract)
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