Christoph MischoKatrin WolsteinSabrina TietzeSvenja Peters

Professional vision of early childhood teachers: Assessment, generalizability and relationships

Shortlink: https://www.waxmann.com/artikelART104307

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Abstract

In recent years, the demands on staff in day care facilities have increased significantly. One aspect of professional competence refers to professional vision. Competency models and previous research describe professional vision as an important competence aspect of professionals in educational settings. Regarding professional vision, some researchers differentiate between ability to a) perceive or identify relevant teaching events, b) interpret and evaluated these events and c) generate alternative options of action is made. Hence, professional vision is a knowledge-driven perception process which is affected by conceptual knowledge as well as experience-based knowledge. In German-speaking countries, professional vision of early childhood teachers has rarely been investigated. This study explores the question, whether professional vision can be assessed using a video-based presentation of interaction sequences using the thinking aloud-technique and a focused interview. By doing so, we differentiated the interaction domains of Emotional Support, Classroom Organization and Instructional Support. The contribution of each facet of measurement (way of assessment: thinking aloud vs. interview, video sequences, aspect of professional vision: perception/description, evaluation, generating options of action, and the domain of interaction) is investigated in a generalizability study. Furthermore, the generalizability of the presented video sequences is analyzed. Correlations with the educational level and work experience may be interpreted as an indication for the validity of the measurement. The findings are discussed in terms of methodological and practical issues regarding the field of early childhood professionals.

Keywords
Professional vision, early childhood teacher, thinking aloud-technique, interview, generalizability theory

APA citation
Mischo, C., Wolstein, K., Tietze, S. & Peters S. (2020). Professionelle Wahrnehmung bei KiTa-Fachkräften: Erfassung, Generalisierbarkeit und Zusammenhänge. Journal for Educational Research Online (JERO), 12(3), 23-49. https://www.waxmann.com/artikelART104307