Miten mennyt meissä kajahteleekaan: Varhaiskasvatuksen opettajien kokemuksia hakeutumisestaan alalle ja siirtymisestään opettajiksi toiselle ja korkeaasteelle
Keywords:
early childhood education, teaching profession, study of experienceAbstract
In this study, we explore those experiences that have influenced early childhood education (ECE) teachers’ entry into the field and their subsequent transition from working as ECE teachers in kindergartens to working as secondary and higher education teachers. The theoretical underpinnings of the study relate to teachers’ professional development, which is considered to begin before entering education programs aimed at teacher qualification. The target group of this study includes eight project workers who have earlier worked as ECE teachers in kindergarten but later shifted to work in other positions in the field of education and training. The research material is a discussion among participants in which they shared their experiences of ECE through photographs, videos, poems and songs. Photo-telling, which combines image and narrative as a research method, was chosen as the methodological approach. The analysis of the data was based on Gadamer’s hermeneutic circle analysis process. In teachers’ experiences, applying to the field of early childhood education was influenced by their own childhood experiences of kindergarten. As ECE teachers, they found it important to implement child-centred pedagogy. Insufficient resources at work were seen as a key reason for leaving ECE teacher duties as they created an ethical burden for teachers. Based on the results of this study, we present some perspectives on how to develop professionalism of those working in ECE contexts.
