Enjoyment and intentionality in early childhood education
Abstract
This paper explores teacher enjoyment and the notion of the intentional teacher in early childhood education. The research is part of a wider interrogation challenging existing discourses associated with the intentional teacher. A mixed-method research design was used to gather perspectives from early childhood teachers in relation to their experiences of enjoyment in their teaching practices and the connection with being an intentional teacher. Findings from participant responses highlight important aspects associated with early childhood teacher enjoyment and intentionality. The connection between enjoyment and intentional teaching was reflected in reports of ways of doing or acting, as well as in ways of being associated with teacher identity. Connection was made between experiences of enjoyment and intentional teaching through contributing, adding value, and personal impact. Association was also made with promoting social justice. Whilst small in scale, the research highlights the importance of challenging existing and potentially limiting discourses of the intentional teacher by giving attention to how intentional teaching is generated, as an internal encounter associated with ways of being and becoming and the role that enjoyment plays within this process.
Downloads
References
Aspelin, J. (2011). Co-existence and co-operation: The two-dimensional conception of education. Education, 1(1), 6–11. https://doi.org/10.5923/j.edu.20110101.02
Bandura, A. (1995). Self-efficacy in changing societies. Cambridge University Press.
Bates, S. (2018). Early childhood teacher health and wellbeing: Rights, risks, and implications. Early Childhood Folio, 22(1), 31–35. https://doi.org/10.18296/ecf.0057
Baumeister, R., & Muraven, M. (1996). Identity as adaptation to social, cultural, and historical context. Journal of Adolescence, 19(5), 405–416.
Beijaard, D., Koopman, M., & Schellings, G. (2022). Reframing teacher professional identity and learning. In I. Menter (Ed.), The Palgrave handbook of Teacher Education(pp. 1–23). Springer International Publishing.
Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. A. (2007). The bioecological model of human development. In W. Damon & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of Child Psychology(pp. 793–828). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470147658.chpsy0114
Burić, I., & Macuka, I. (2018). Self-efficacy, emotions and work engagement among teachers: A two wave cross-lagged analysis. Journal of Happiness Studies, 19(7), 1917–1933. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-017-9903-9
Child Poverty Action Group (NZ), Neuwelt-Kearns, & Ritchie, J. R. (2020). Investing in Children? Privatisation and Early Childhood Education in Aotearoa New Zealand. Child Action Poverty Group Incorporated.
Deleuze, G. (2014). Difference and Repetition. Bloomsbury Academic.
Denee, R., & Cherrington, S. (2023). Intentional teaching for visual arts in Early Childhood Education: Teachers’ practices and perceptions. Teachers’ Work, 20(1), 5–18. https://doi.org/10.24135/teacherswork.v20i1.368
Dunham, N., & Delaune, A. (2022). Deterritorialising intentional teaching. [Presentation]. 50th Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia Conference, Sydney, NSW.
Education Review Office, Te Tari Arotake Mātauranga. (2020). Indicators of quality for early childhood education: What matters most.
Ekman, P. (2007). Emotions revealed: Recognizing faces and feelings to improve communication and emotional life. Owl Books.
Epstein, A. S. (2007). The intentional teacher: Choosing the best strategies for young children’s learning. National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Epstein, A. S. (2014). The intentional teacher: Choosing the best strategies for young children’s learning(Rev. edition). National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Freire Institute. (n.d). Concepts used by Paolo Freire. http://www.freire.org/paulo-freire/concepts-used-by-paulo-freire
Gergen, K. J. (2011). Relational being: Beyond self and community. Oxford University Press.
Goulding, C. (2002). Grounded theory: A practical guide for management, business and market researchers. SAGE.
Graves, A. M., Parker, S. K., & Collins, C. (2012). Driven to work and enjoyment of work: Effects on managers’ outcomes. Journal of Management, 38, 1655–1680.
Grieshaber, S., Krieg, S., McArdle, F., & Sumsion, J. (2021). Intentional teaching in early childhood education: A scoping review. Review of Education, 9(3), 3309. https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3309
Hedges, H. (2022). Children’s Interests, Inquiries and Identities: Curriculum, Pedagogy, Learning and Outcomes in the Early Years(1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003139881
Hernik, J., & Jaworska, E. (2018). The effect of enjoyment on learning. 508–514. https://doi.org/10.21125/inted.2018.1087
Krause, K., Bochner, S., & Duchesne, S. (2003). Educational psychology for learning and teaching. Thomson.
Laurence, G. A., Fried, Y., Yan, W., & Li, J. (2020). Enjoyment of work and driven to work as motivations of job crafting: Evidence from Japan and China. Japanese Psychological Research, 62(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpr.12239
May, H. (2019). Politics in the playground: The world of early childhood in Aotearoa New Zealand(Revised edition 2019). Otago University Press.
McLaughlin, T., & Cherrington, S. (2018). Creating a Rich Curriculum through Intentional Teaching. Early Childhood Folio, 22(1), Article 1. ERIC.
Ministry of Education. (2017). Te whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa = Early childhood curriculum guidelines.
Oyserman, D., Elmore, K., & Smith, G. (2012). Self, self-concept and identity. In M. Leary & J. Tangney (Eds.), Handbook of self and identity(2nd ed., pp. 69–104). Guilford Press.
Proietti-Ergün, A. L., & Dewaele, J.-M. (2021). Do well-being and resilience predict the foreign language teaching enjoyment of teachers of Italian? System, 99, 102506. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2021.102506
Ritchie, J. (2020). Ko tēnei te wā .... Te Tiriti o Waitangi education, teacher education, and early childhood care and education. Journal of Educational Leadership, Policy and Practice, 35(1), Article i_current. https://doi.org/10.21307/jelpp-2020-006
Ritchie, J., & Rau, C. (2008). Whakawhanaungatanga—Partnerships in bicultural development in early childhood care and education[Teaching and Learning Research Initiative]. http://www.tlri.org.nz/sites/default/files/projects/9207_summaryreport.pdf
Roberts-Holmes, G., & Moss, P. (2021). Neoliberalism and early childhood education: Markets, imaginaries and governance(First Edition). Routledge.
Schellings, G., & Beijaard, D. (2023). Beginning teachers’ professional identity work and its support. In I. Menter (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Education (Fourth Edition)(pp. 161–169). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818630-5.04085-9
Stets, J., & Burke, P. (2005). A sociological approach to self and identity. In M. R. Leary & J. Tangney (Eds.), Handbook of self and identity(pp. 128–152). Guilford Press.
Tse, V. V., Abra, M., & Tanaka, M. (2017). Becoming authentic teachers through transformative inquiry: Final practicum challenges. McGill Journal of Education, 52(3), 657–676.
Tyler, J., Davies, M., & Bennett, B. (2018). Increasing early childhood education enrolment and attendance rates in South Auckland, New Zealand. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 21(1), 100–111.
Xiao, Y., Fathi, J., & Mohammaddokht, F. (2022). Exploring a structural model of teaching enjoyment, teacher self-efficacy, and work engagement. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 918488. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.918488
Copyright (c) 2023 Nic Dunham, Andrea Delaune
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.