In the course of controversies over preschool goals and methods for disadvantaged children, practices identified with professional preschool education predating Head Start have become labeled "traditional", and teachers associated with it are stereotyped as "sentimental". A cluster of teacher attributes implied by the…

Presents recent studies of teachers and teaching, advocating a developmental view of teachers similar to the stages of growth that children experience as they reach maturity, and discusses the implications of these developmental stages for teaching. (HTH)

Discusses goals of early education, and the qualities of programs, teachers and administration which would help to implement these goals. (NH)

It is proposed in this paper that the goals of teacher education programs should include not only the acquistion of knowledge and skills, but also a class of outcomes called "dispositions." A disposition is defined as an attribution which summarizes the trend of a teacher's actions across similar contexts. The construct is descriptive and…

Teacher-child relationships are complex phenomena which can be described and observed from a variety of angles, on many different levels. Recent research contributes some information applicable to the analysis of teacher-child relations and identifies issues for further study. Teacher functions or duties may depend, in part, upon the teacher's…

This report explores background variables related to preschool teaching, and emphasizes that statistics fluctuate in early childhood education. The increase for preprimary enrollment of 3- and 4-year-olds was 26 percent from 1966 to 1967. Accurate figures on preschool teaching personnel are not available, but a large proportion of Head Start…

Four dimensions of training for preschool teaching are suggested in this paper: (1) developmental stages of the teacher; (2) training needs of each stage; (3) location of the training; and (4) timing of training. The growth of preschool teachers generally occurs in stages associated with survival, consolidation, renewal, and maturity. Training…

Three hypotheses concerning the problems of disadvantaged children developed during the 1960s: (1) they are deprived; (2) they are deficient in certain skills and knowledge; and (3) they are not so much deprived or deficient as they are different, with strengths that should be respected and maximized. These hypotheses provide a background for four…

Teacher education can be thought of as sets of activities intended to socialize candidates into the segments of the occupation of teaching. It is suggested that these activities have at least eight interrelated parameters, and that variables in each of these parameters impinge upon the processes of socialization. The variables discussed are: (1)…

Social studies methods instructors were asked to describe: (1) their own teaching goals and strategies; and (2) attributes they deemed essential for good teaching in elementary and secondary schools. Survey results indicated that the teacher educators' instructional techniques were limited and that their goals were unrelated to the qualities they…

Early childhood education is defined as group settings which are deliberately intended to effect developmental changes in children in the age range from birth up to the age of entering first grade. The following parameters of early childhood education are proposed and explored: (a) characteristics of clients, (b) characteristics of teachers and…

Literature related to eight major categories of variables affecting the experiences provided to children in preschools is reviewed in this paper. Categories initially discussed include contextual factors, characteristics of clients, characteristics of teachers and other assisting adults, and the preschool curriculum. A short discussion of the…