Early childhood educators' experiences and perceptions of professionalism and professionalisation in the Asian context

Hilary Monk, Sivaneswary Phillipson

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

    10 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Increasingly early childhood educators are referred to as professionals, but how do they view themselves in terms of professionalism? What does it mean to be an early childhood professional? This study explored the views of 78 Asian early childhood educators who were upgrading their qualifications to degree level. In groups of five to eight, participants visually created and explained metaphors of professionalism as a class activity. The visual metaphors were analysed using Gleeson s polytextual thematic analysis with Rogoff s personal, interpersonal and institutional planes as the theoretical framework. Findings revealed that the educators perspectives of professionalism and professionalisation related to their work-life roles, their cultural understandings and relationships, and how they believed they were viewed by others in relation to the status of early childhood education. This study provides an insight into perceptions and challenges related to the developing professionalism and professionalisation of early childhood educators in Asian contexts.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)3-22
    Number of pages20
    JournalAsia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education
    Volume45
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2017

    Keywords

    • Professionalism
    • professionalisation
    • early childhood teachers
    • visual metaphors

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