Browsing by Subject "Reflection"

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the topic of the teacher as a person in ECEC teacher education. Previous research has shown that pedagogical practices are dependent on science and socio-political and economic trends but also subjective to interpretation by the individual teacher. According to Gallas (2010), just like researchers, teachers are never entirely objective. Personal beliefs, values and views influence a teacher's pedagogical work. Awareness and reflection not only as improving pedagogical practices for better results but also as rethinking one’s own motivations behind pedagogical choices and socio-emotional competences can have a profound effect on a teacher’s professional identity (Virmani et al., 2020). Research suggests that a holistic approach to teacher education (Körkkö, 2021; Klein, 2008), of building an inner perspective of the student’s own self, helps future teachers’ work practices. The research questions of this study look at how the teacher as a person is acknowledged and how the personhood of the teacher is supported in ECEC teacher education. To answer the research questions, an analysis of the curriculum for ECEC teacher education at the University of Helsinki was conducted. The method used was Discourse analysis with Bakhtin’s Dialogic theory as a theoretical framework. The results of this study suggest that the topic of the teacher’s personhood is sporadically present and rarely supported. The teacher as a person is meaningful when related to professional development. In general, the curriculum gives an impression of the teaching profession as normative and prescriptive, focused only on child-centred results. Leaving the person out of the professional in the curriculum could lead to teacherhood being seen as a technical occupation. Taking the personal aspect under consideration, on the other hand, could shed more light on teacher burnout and job dissatisfaction.