“Reality Shock”: New Early Childhood Education Teachers

Abstract

Beginning teaching is challenging; this article examines the realities of practice for beginning early childhood teachers. Fourteen participants in their first year of teaching were interviewed; they worked in private and public early childhood education settings. Findings reveal that the reality of moving from the role of the student to teacher was disconcerting for these new teachers. This article reports the beginning teachers' views about the issues they faced, their perceptions of preservice teaching, and the impact that this had on their transition from student to teacher. While in college they were encouraged to start developing their philosophy of teaching, and they describe their experiences of putting their philosophy into practice. They also conveyed their opinions about working in environments where there was a lack of teaching and learning resources. The move to being a “real” teacher was a formidable experience for these participants and this should be recognized relatedly. Early childhood teachers work in a different context from teachers in general, so as beginning teachers the uniqueness of their concerns needs to be addressed.