A school-based project in five kindergartens: The case of teacher development and school development

A school-based project in five kindergartens: The case of teacher development and school development

• Li, Yuen Ling School of Early Childhood Education, Hong Kong Institute of Education

International Journal of Early Years Education, 12(2), 143-155, 2004

Routledge

2004

• R Educational Policy & Administration
  • RE School Management, School-Parents Relationship
• D Curriculum
  • DC Pre-Primary Education Programmes

Teacher Improvement Foreign Countries Learning Theories Kindergarten Collegiality Followup Studies Action Research Teacher Attitudes Teacher Effectiveness Mentors

• Hong Kong

• 1997.7 onwards

• Pre-Primary Education

Kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong are blamed for not putting child-initiated learning theory into practice. Their competence is challenged. An earlier study ( Li, 2003 ) suggested that the professional development of kindergarten teachers was limited by their inability to extend thinking beyond their own personal concerns so that the needs of the children were not the major determinant of their classroom practice. It was argued that to confront and modify the teachers' personal beliefs the presence of models, action research and joint collaborative activity were the keys. This report was a follow-up study of a school-based project, providing opportunities for teachers to engage in collaborative investigation of school curriculum and of pedagogical innovations. In this study, the practice and belief of a group of around 60 teachers were tracked during their participation in the project and the merits of peer coaching, mentoring and collaborative teamwork were examined. Classroom observations and semi-structured interviews (40-60 minutes) were adopted as the main research procedure. Teaching records, videoed teaching episodes and feedback on project workshops were sources of data collected for triangulation. The findings of the study suggest that collegiality holds some promise for change in teachers' practice, though questions concerning the constancy of change are of concern.
[Copyright of International Journal of Early Years Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0966976042000225534]

• English

Journal Articles

• 09669760

• 10.1080/0966976042000225534

https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/en/bibs/94427ef6

2010-09-06