Doctoral Dissertations
Date of Award
8-2000
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Major
Human Ecology
Major Professor
James D. Moran III
Committee Members
Julia A. Malia
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to better understand the transition from an infant classroom to a toddler classroom from the perspective of the childcare teachers. How they constructed meaning of the transition was the focus of this study. Using participant observation and interviewing as methods,the words and actions of teachers in a childcare center were captured. Five to six hours per week for total of six months were spent in an infant classroom and a toddler classroom. From Field notes and interview transcripts,four themes were developed: (a)Teachers played both a mother and an educator role with the infants before and after the transitions, (b)Some of the teachers became connected to and later disconnected from the infants, (c)After The Transitions, some teachers felt they were losing the infants. However,these same teachers also thought the infants were ready to move the toddler room,(d)The teachers felt powerlessness because they did not make the decisions about the transition process. The teachers who played a mother role were the ones who formed connections and who experienced loss as a result of the transition. The findings from this study can help educators restructure childcare programs. The data suggest that they may want to keep the same teachers and children together for longer periods of time.
Recommended Citation
Dean, Eliza Labouisse, ""When they start doing things like that, they are ready to go" : what the infant's transition from the infant classroom to the toddler classroom means to teachers. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2000.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/8257