Making sense of instruction within the changed kindergarten: perspectives from preservice early childhood educators and teacher educators

Many within early childhood and early childhood teacher education are concerned about the changed kindergarten. At the same time, students entering early childhood teacher education programs were educated in these changed schooling systems that emphasize standards and accountability, which can impact the ways in which they make sense of teaching children. Thus, there appears to be a need to better understand how early childhood teacher educators and teacher candidates are making sense of the various types of learning experiences children are and should be having in kindergarten and what this means for the early childhood teacher education process. In this article, we begin to address this issue by sharing findings from a study of how samples of teacher educators and early childhood teacher candidates in Texas and West Virginia made sense of the instructional practices taking place in the changed kindergarten and whether they felt they were appropriate for kindergartners. Such findings bring to light the similarities and differences in their sensemaking and offers the chance to consider strategies to facilitate further cooperation between them so that they can work together to ensure all children engage in high-quality learning experiences that prepare them for success in and out of school.