Assessing Pre-service Early Childhood Teachers' Perceived Preparedness on Early Childhood Social-Emotional Competencies and Resources Needed

Abstract

The study assessed the perceived preparedness of early childhood pre-service teachers on early childhood social-emotional competencies and the resources they needed to feel competent. Twenty-eight junior and senior pre-service teachers from the field of Birth through Kindergarten- Teacher Education and the Child Development concentration of Family Community Services from one Human Development and Family Science department in a southeastern university participated in the study. A self-constructed survey using the online platform Qualtrics was utilized to collect data. Frequencies, descriptive statistics, and a one-way ANOVA were conducted to analyze the data. Overall, pre-service teachers perceived they were moderately prepared (3) to very well prepared (5) on the subscales of the survey. When looking at academic rank, juniors scored higher than seniors on all the total subscale scores. The resources that were rated most important amongst the participants were discussions with mental health professionals and experienced teachers. A thematic analysis was used to analyze the open-ended question about resources. The most frequent responses to the open-ended question were workshops, trainings, and professional development. More research on this topic is warranted across diverse early childhood programs. Implications for the field of early childhood care and education and suggestions for future research have been discussed.