The Work of Teaching

ISBN-13: 9783639187618 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 260 str.

Yuen-Ling Li

Opis

Kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong have been criticized for not incorporating the child-centered approach into their practice. This failure is often justified by the pressure of external constraints such as the demands of the academic curriculum, parents expectation of success and the emphasis on discipline within the Chinese culture. This book is to explore the extent to which such constraints were affected by the stage of a teachers professional development. Nine case studies were carried out. The data suggested that the professional development of teachers was limited by their inability to extend their thinking beyond their own personal concerns so that the needs of the children were not the major determinant of their classroom practice. Instead, external constraints dominated the teachers thinking. Ways of bringing about a transformation in teachers thinking to improve the quality of the childrens learning experience are considered. The analysis should help shed some light on schools professional learning, and should be especially useful to those who may be considering interventions/school support initiatives to raise quality.

O autorze

YuenLing Li,Associate Professor of Early Childhood (EC),the Hong Kong Institute of Education, is on the Editorial Advisory Boards of Forum on Public Policy, Journal of EC Teacher Education. Her writing has appeared in Educational Action Research,International Journal of Early Years Education, Contemporary Issues in EC,Teacher Development.