Search results for: Oottander Christina

The purpose of this exploratory, longitudinal study is to explore the effect of preschool teacher education on competence, confidence, and attitudes towards science and science teaching in relation to a developing professional identity. The results suggest that there was a gradual change in perceptions of the professional role of preschool teachers during the teacher education program. The data show that the students generally already had a positive and relaxed attitude towards science activities with children when starting the program, and that this positive attitude grew with increasing competence and confidence. Nevertheless, many of them still found science activities to be awkward in preschool, mainly due to a wish to protect the children from school culture.