Practice matters: how practicum experiences change student beliefs

ABSTRACT

Development of professional competencies is a key outcome of undergraduate programs preparing practitioners to work with infants and toddlers. Competencies for working with young children were examined among 1300 undergraduate students at 12 universities. Students completed a series of online questionnaires indicating their knowledge, beliefs, and hypothetical practices with young children; end-of-semester scores were analyzed using linear regression. Having had a practicum course is associated with more positive dispositions for supporting the development of teacher–child relationships, building partnerships with diverse families, guiding children’s behavior, and fostering development and learning. Further, we examined development of dispositions over the course of a semester based on undergraduates’ current and past practicum experiences. Implications for programs who prepare infant and toddler practitioners are discussed.

Acknowledgments

Data collection and preparation for this paper was a collaborative effort of the members of the Collaborative for Understanding the Pedagogy of Infant/toddler Development (CUPID).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Of the 1302 respondents, 38 participated in the survey during both Fall and Spring semester and reported practicum data each time. For these cases, data were used for one semester, with a priority placed on the semester in which a student was currently enrolled in a practicum course. If the student was enrolled in practicum in both semesters or in neither semester, their earliest participating semester (Fall 2015) was selected. Three cases were dropped due to reporting patterns of practicum completion that were not feasible (e.g., reported a practicum in Fall semester and then reported never having had a practicum in the Spring semester).