Adapting to Dissonance: Experiences of Pre-K Teachers in Public Schools

• In Event: 51.078 - MTCC Roundtable Session 21
  In Roundtable Session: 51.078-11 - Early Childhood Workforce Voices

Abstract

Public school pre-K teaching has been conceptualized as a borderland (Sumsion & Britt, 2003)—a space where teachers negotiate the different languages, landscapes, and cultures that characterize ECE and the elementary grades. In this paper, we examine how public school pre-K teachers negotiate moments of dissonance (Delaney, 2015) in the borderland, and the implications for their job satisfaction and professional identities. By identifying moments of dissonance and how they are negotiated, we generate ideas for how to improve pre-K teacher experiences and, relatedly, their satisfaction and plans to remain in the profession. Ensuring support for pre-K teachers will be critical to the success of the current push to expand access to high-quality preschool.

Authors

• Bethany Wilinski, Michigan State University

• Alyssa L Morley, Michigan State University

• Jessica Marie Landgraf, Michigan State University