Boundary Places in the Social Environment of Early Childhood Care and Education : An analysis of the teachers’ decisions to allow children to use the terrace

Concerning the social environment in an ECCE context, there is one point of view that suggests that a teacher’s norms and customs affect how he or she teaches students. In such environments, boundary places that connect the main instructional areas to each other function as Asyl in a way that allows children to behave as individuals. The purpose of this study is to clarify the relationships and conditions for such functions; this is established by analyzing ECCE teachers’ ideas about children and the time spent in boundary places. As a method, the study began with a group interview of six ECCE teachers at the target nursery. Then, we presented the case of children who use a terrace as a boundary place at this nursery. Then, interview data were analyzed using SCAT to conduct a qualitative data analysis. As a result, the following two conditions about ECCE teachers allowing children to behave as individuals in the boundary place emerged. One condition is that the layout and size of the space must allow for constant observation of all students, even if the teacher is in the classroom and the child is in a boundary place. Another is ECCE teachers’ understanding and empathy for children’s behaviors and the ECCE institution’s policies that promote them. When these conditions are satisfied, boundary places provide a symbiotic relationship between the individual and group or ECCE teachers and children.本研究費の一部は，日本学術振興会特別研究員奨励費によるものである

How Do the Kindergarten Teachers Behave for In-School Staff Development Utilizing the KJ Method?

The purpose of this study was to examine the behavior of kindergarten teachers during an in-school staff development training program utilizing KJ method. The study focused on the nature of the verbal interaction between individual teachers. The study also examined how kindergarten teachers respond to criticism and comments from their colleague. We elicited feedback from the kindergarten teachers via an interview designed to examine their behavior. The SCAT method of qualitative analysis was used to decode the implicit meanings in the feedback data on a step-by-step basis. The study found that, firstly, kindergarten teachers were not retentive when presenting, asking questions, and giving opinions. This behavior pattern contradicted the social stigma against the offering of one’s opinion and contributed to a sense of security that was conducive to the eliciting of further opinions. Secondly, the kindergarten teachers exhibited behavior that was very accepting of the opinions of others. This behavior extended even to the most-senior and expert kindergarten teachers who were receptive to suggestions and opinions from less-experienced teachers. The results of this study therefore suggest that it is important to create a non-threatening environment and to behave in a receptive manner when aiming at quality improvement within the kindergarten teaching profession

Collaboration between kindergarten teachers and researchers in practice research : Difference in recognition of practice research <Collaboration with the local community>

In practice research on early childhood care and education, collaboration between practitioners and researchers has been actively implemented. However, such partnerships have not always been successful. In such cases, it is necessary to consider the possibility of a difference in the recognition of practice research between the two parties. The purpose of this study was to clarify such recognition differences between kindergarten teachers and researchers. Interviews with kindergarten teachers and researchers who collaborated in performing practice research were qualitatively analyzed. Results showed that recognition of five items of research － research themes, scope, duration, results, and application possibilities － differed between researchers and kindergarten teachers. Teachers, being more practice oriented, prefer more concrete research themes and scope, whereas researchers lean more toward abstract themes and scope. In addition, teachers give little consideration to research duration, whereas researchers focus on the need to gather and analyze the data within the determined period. Moreover, neither of the parties is fully aware of these differences. Consequently, interaction in the collaboration may come to resemble a “tug-of-war” with both partners asserting their own viewpoints

Collaboration between kindergarten teachers and researchers in practice research : The role of graduate students <Collaboration with the local community>

The aim of this study was to examine how the role of graduate students differs when university professors participate in collaborative research. The study method involved the researcher interviewing three kindergarten teachers who had participated in various forms of practice research. The teachers were aware of four roles of graduate students. The following was shown as four roles. (1) Graduate students sympathize with teachers, and give them a boost by acting in an approving manner towards the teachers’ practice. (2) Graduate students supplement and explain the words of the university professors, leading them to act as intermediaries. (3) Graduate students give their opinions to teachers in a positive way. (4) Graduate students also take on a guidance role by supporting teachers. When university professors participated in the research, the graduate students took on an intermediary role between the university professors and the kindergarten teachers. However, the students tended to take on a stronger guidance role when the university professors were not present. In other words, the role of the graduate students changed in the presence of university professors. Therefore, the various roles adopted by the graduate students contributed to the success of collaborative research between teachers and researchers

Obrazovna svrha neuplitanja: slučaj japanskoga mimamoru pristupa kao dio profesionalizma predškolskih učitelja

Teachers’ moment-by-moment interactions with children are powerful determinants of children’s learning outcomes and development. Successful guidance involves teachers’ intentionality, yet one’s intent to teach may be hard to discern. Teachers using indirect, non-observable approaches are prone to be misunderstood as not actively guiding children’s learning. Therefore, the present study revisited the conceptualization of Intentional Teaching, using the Mimamoru Approach within the Japanese early childhood education context as an exemplar. We investigated how Japanese educators defined the Mimamoru Approach and how it meaningfully reflected their professionalism. Three early childhood teachers participated in a focus group interview and shared their reactions towards a short video about an incident in a preschool classroom. Their narratives explicated the core values and processes of the Mimamoru Approach: illustrating the non-intervening approach as indicative of trusting and respecting children’s independence and initiative. Implications of this study suggested the subtle Mimamoru Approach and the observable US practices in Intentional Teaching should not be viewed as dichotomous, but as examples on a spectrum that considers teachers’ professionalism within cultural contexts.Trenutačne i kontinuirane interakcije učitelja s djecom moćne su odrednice ishoda učenja i razvoja djece. Uspješno vodstvo uključuje namjeru učitelja, a namjeru pojedinca da poučava ipak je nekada teško razlučiti. Učitelje koji koriste indirektne, neprimjetne pristupe skloni smo krivo razumjeti kao one koji dječje učenje ne usmjeravaju aktivno. Stoga ovo istraživanje revidira konceptualizaciju namjernoga poučavanja, navodeći kao primjer mimamoru pristup unutar konteksta japanskoga ranog obrazovanja. Istražili smo kako japanski edukatori definiraju mimamoru pristup i kako on uvelike odražava njihov profesionalizam. Tri učitelja ranoga obrazovanja činila su fokus-grupu unutar koje su sudjelovali u intervjuu u kojemu su podijelili svoje reakcije na kratki video o događaju u predškolskoj učionici. Njihovi narativi objasnili su temeljne vrijednosti i procese mimamoru pristupa: neuplitanje kao pokazatelj povjerenja i poštivanja dječje neovisnosti i inicijative. Implikacije ove studije sugeriraju da suptilni mimamoru pristup, kao i vidljive prakse namjernoga poučavanja u SAD-u, ne treba promatrati kao dihotomne, već kako primjere profesionalizma učitelja na istom spektru, ali unutar različitih kulturoloških konteksta