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University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Doctoral Dissertations

Teacher education

2010

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Full-Text Articles in Education

Enhancing Teacher-Child Interactions: A Pilot Study Using Focal Child Data, Kaitlin Noel Bargreen Dec 2010

Enhancing Teacher-Child Interactions: A Pilot Study Using Focal Child Data, Kaitlin Noel Bargreen

Doctoral Dissertations

Research suggests that teacher-child interactions in early childhood classrooms are an essential element to high quality programs and child outcomes. With the increase in state funded pre-kindergarten classrooms across the nation and the growing concentration on academic content for young children, careful attention is needed to children’s social-emotional development. Research suggests that it is a strong social emotional foundation that contributes to children’s successful transition into their elementary school years. Therefore, the purpose of this mixed method study was to pilot the use of focal child data as a professional development tool for pre-kindergarten teachers to examine teacher-child interactions. Studying …


The Professional Development Of Pre-K Mentor Teachers: Insights From A Face-To-Face And Online Community Of Practice, Lori Allison Caudle Aug 2010

The Professional Development Of Pre-K Mentor Teachers: Insights From A Face-To-Face And Online Community Of Practice, Lori Allison Caudle

Doctoral Dissertations

Early childhood classroom mentor teachers are often left with little support and guidance as they assume the role of teacher educators. The purpose of this collective case study was to explore how a community of practice comprised of pre-K mentors and a university program coordinator supported the development of shared and individual understandings about how to effectively supervise preservice teachers. Utilizing key tenets of sociocultural theory, four pre-K mentor teachers from two public schools in the Southeast participated in an online and face-to-face community of practice facilitated by a university program coordinator. The pre-K preservice teachers (n=6) were secondary participants …