When less expected problems become critical: first-year teaching in early childhood classes

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to explore preservice early childhood education (ECE) teachers’ expectations and concerns before they started their careers and the challenges they faced in the first year. Sixteen preservice ECE teachers from the same teacher education programme in Turkey were interviewed about their expectations for their first year before their graduation. Then, they were interviewed at the end of the first and the second semesters about their experiences and difficulties of teaching in public schools, and the positive aspects of their work. Although participants were aware of many difficulties in public schools, some of the challenges they faced in disadvantaged school settings, such as infrastructural inadequacies, non-curricular tasks, and material shortages, were beyond their initial anticipation and not in line with their teacher education programme experiences. Teacher education programmes should provide pre-service teachers with experiences in disadvantaged school settings to be better prepared.

KEYWORDS:

• Beginning teachers
• first year of teaching
• early childhood education
• motivation

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Zeynep Temiz

Zeynep Temiz completed her MS and PhD degrees at Middle East Technical University (METU) at the Department of Elementary Education. She is currently teaching at Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University in Karaman, Turkey. Her study focuses on preschool education, teacher education, environmental education, narrative skills, and beginning teachers.

Çiğdem Haser

Çiğdem Haser is an Associate Professor of Didactics at the Department of Teacher Education at the University of Turku, Finland. Her research focuses on mathematics education, teacher education, and the intersection of these fields.