TITLE:
A Day in the Life of an Early Childhood Teacher: Identifying the Confronting Issues and Challenges That Arise
AUTHORS:
Sarah Ohi
KEYWORDS:
Teaching, Teachers, Teachers’ Roles, Early Years, Early Childhood, De-Professionalization, Professional Identity
JOURNAL NAME:
Creative Education,
Vol.5 No.11,
June
25,
2014
ABSTRACT: Recent emphasis upon Early
Childhood as an educational priority for the Australian Government has resulted
in increases in funding, government initiatives, course providers and the
introduction of new policies to the sector in order to improve the quality of
early childhood education. The study reported here investigated the “reality”
of what it means to be an Early Childhood Teacher within this changing context
and identified the roles and responsibilities and the associated challenges. A
case study involving observation and interviews with five Bachelor qualified
Teachers from varied early childhood settings was undertaken in order to gain
knowledge about their experiences and perspectives on their work. The data were
analyzed using a grounded theory approach involving the identification of key themes and issues about the nature of
teachers’ work. The findings revealed that in their everyday
practice teachers played a complex array of roles that required them to contribute far more than just their teaching
skills and knowledge. They were expected to concurrently enact the roles of educator, leader, advocate, communicator,
counsellor and administrator whilst juggling everyday challenges including a “lack
of time”, the need for “further support and more resources” and “building
successful partnerships with parents”.