First-year practicum experiences for preservice early childhood education teachers working with birth-to-3-year-olds: An Australasian experience

ABSTRACT

This article reports on a project, “Collaboration of Universities Pedagogies of Infants’ and Toddlers’ Development—‘down under’ (CUPID),” in which the practicum experiences of 1st-year preservice initial teacher education (ITE) students at five universities across Australia and New Zealand (NZ) engaging in early childhood education (ECE) teacher programs were evaluated as part of a larger longitudinal project. The results from year 1 of their qualification experiences highlight the diverse and complex approaches to practicum experiences, ranging from specialized events with birth-to-3-year-olds to generic practicum with a wider age group. The implications of the practicum experience, in its many iterations, are explored in terms of the treatment of infant and toddler pedagogy as a specialization, and as an integrated component of the curriculum. While an assumption appears to exist that infant and toddler specialization is optimum, the early results of this study, at end of year 1 of the qualification, suggest that associated practicum experiences are not consistently offered to 1st-year students in this domain nor is a pedagogy specialism for this age group promoted. This article speculates on the reasons why this phenomenon occurs, the limitations and potentialities such a view upholds, and the implications for teachers in their work with birth-to-3-year-olds in the current policy context of both countries.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express thanks to all the Australasian CUPID sites—researchers, lecturers and students—who participated in this 1st year of the study, as well as the U.S. CUPID team for sharing their larger project with us.

Funding

This paper would not have been possible without generous funding from the University of Waikato Summer Scholarship program and the Wilf Malcolm Institute for Research.

Notes

1. Ratio requirements for New Zealand: under 2s 1:5 over 2s 1:6 then 2:7–20 (Schedule 2: substituted, on July 1, 2011, by regulation 14 of the Education (Early Childhood Services) Amendment Regulations 2011). Ratio requirements for Australia: birth to 2 years 1:4 (all states/territories), 2 to 3 years 1:4 (Victoria) and 1:5 (all other states/territories), ages 3 to 5 differ for each state—ranging from 1:10 to 2:25 (depending on the type of service offered).

2. An associate teacher is a qualified ECE teacher in the ECE service who works with the student, supervises during practicum, and contributes to students’ assessment and the practicum report.

3. A visiting lecturer assesses students’ practices through observation and written work in relation to the learning outcomes for the course. The visiting lecturer discusses progress with student and associate teacher to ensure student is able to critically identify through written work informed by theory and research

4. NVivo software is a package which imports and stores data relating to qualitative studies such as transcripts, audio-recordings, and relevant literature (Paulus, Woods, Atkins, & Macklin, 2015).

Additional information

Funding

This paper would not have been possible without generous funding from the University of Waikato Summer Scholarship program and the Wilf Malcolm Institute for Research.