A follow-up exploration of the implementation of teachers' learning after professional development programme in Early Childhood Education (ECE): A case study
Date of Award
2018
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Master of Philosophy in Education
Department
Institute for Educational Development, Karachi
Abstract
Early years are significant in a child' life, when s/he needs proper support and guidance from the surrounding adults. It is the responsibility of these adults to create a stimulating environment both at home and at early childhood education (ECE) settings, by providing play-based opportunities that can positively involve and nurture children in the early years. In the context of Pakistan, National Curriculum for Early Childhood Education (2017) placed great emphasis on creating a child friendly environment and teachers' training. However, due to the scarcity of resources and budgetary issues, the policy was not implemented on a scale that the majority of the schools having ECE sections could gain benefit. Some private sector institutions provided training to teachers in ECE but the training provided by the institutions is limited to some parts of country and not much provision for continuous monitoring and support to the trained teachers. Therefore, these teachers face issues to sustain the practices in the classroom after training. Hence, the purposes of this research were to study teachers' understanding of ECE, teachers' current classroom practice and factors promoting and hindering ECE practices being implemented in the classroom after the AKU-IED Continuing Professional Education Programme. The case study method was used to conduct the study, and purposive sampling was used to select the research participants. Interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis of the lesson plans were used to collect data. The findings of the research revealed that the programme helped teachers in developing their understanding about ECE concepts and pedagogy. Teachers began using enabling teaching methods and created learning environments in their classrooms that promote students' learning. Besides, factors, including teachers' attitude, support from the management and working as teams also promoted an enabling learning environment in the school. However, teachers were facing various challenges, such as following outdoor play time, implementing plan- do-review, and managing children's transition from home to school, and classroom management. Therefore, besides training, teachers need continuous feedback, support, and mentoring from their own schools to overcome these issues and to provide quality ECE. Moreover, the component of classroom management, the play based activities to support children and teachers in transition and the practicum aspect need to be included in the programme.
Recommended Citation
Salima, . (2018). A follow-up exploration of the implementation of teachers' learning after professional development programme in Early Childhood Education (ECE): A case study (Unpublished master's dissertation). Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.