ABSTRACT

Teachers’ positive relationships with families contribute to the social, emotional, and intellectual development of children in early childhood education programs. Effectively involving, communicating, and partnering with families requires a unique set of professional abilities. Teachers must hold a deep understanding of the cultural and socioeconomic needs and characteristics of families and possess social skills and dispositions that allow them to effectively engage the adults in children’s lives in sensitive and supportive ways. Are preservice teachers of young children well prepared to carry out this important role in their teacher education programs? Although 60% of teacher education programs require a course on families, few include authentic experiences in which candidates interact with families face-to-face. In the present article, the four authors – a teacher educator, a supervising teachers, and two early childhood teacher education candidates – reflect on a project which included seven elaborate experiences with families in lieu of a traditional, required course. We share our diverse perspectives on the impact of each experience, presenting excerpts from candidates’ reflective journal entries and from the field notes of the teacher educator and supervising teacher. Implications of our experiences for teacher education are presented.

摘要

教师与家庭的积极关系有助于幼儿教育计划中儿童的社交、情感和智力发展。有效地参与、沟通和与家庭合作需要一套独特的专业能力。教师必须深入了解家庭的文化和社会经济需求和特征，并具备社交技能和性格，使他们能够以敏感和支持的方式有效地让成年人参与儿童的生活。幼儿的职前教师是否做好了在教师教育计划中发挥这一重要作用的准备？尽管 60% 的教师教育课程需要关于家庭的课程，但很少包括候选人与家庭面对面互动的真实体验。在本文中，四位作者——一名教师教育者、一名监督教师和两名幼儿教师教育候选人——反思了一个项目，该项目包括七个与家庭的精心体验，而不是传统的必修课程。我们分享我们对每项经历的影响的不同观点，展示了候选人反思日志条目以及教师教育者和监督教师的现场笔记的摘录。介绍了我们的经验对教师教育的影响。展示候选人反思日志条目和教师教育者和指导教师的实地笔记的摘录。介绍了我们的经验对教师教育的影响。展示候选人反思日志条目和教师教育者和指导教师的实地笔记的摘录。介绍了我们的经验对教师教育的影响。