Towards collaborative professional learning in the first year early childhood teacher education practicum: issues in negotiating the multiple interests of stakeholder feedback

Abstract

This paper analyses data from two sources of stakeholder feedback - first year pre-service teachers and supervising teachers/centre directors - about the issues involved in creating more collaborative approaches to the first year early childhood teacher education practicum at an Australian regional university. The collection of this feedback was part of a broader participatory action research project directed at maximising both the effectiveness of the pre-service teachers' knowledge acquisition and meaning-making and the sustainability of the partnership underpinning the practicum. The paper provides new insights into a hitherto under-researched area, that of pre-service early childhood teachers' professional learning experiences in child care contexts. It uses, as a basis, the work of Cardini. The main findings are that there are multiple viewpoints and competing interests, resulting in asymmetries, dissonance and the potential for conflict.