From Practice to Theory: a social constructivist approach to teacher education

In contrast to a theory‐to‐practice teacher education program path is a social constructivist approach to teacher education, in which grounded theories are: (1) developed (individually and in small and large groups) based on information gathered from the world of practice, (2) compared and contrasted with already published theories and research, and (3) integrated with personal philosophies and values. Based on the grounded theories, ‘models’ of early childhood programs are then developed in groups. This article will present the effects of the social constructivist/grounded theory framework used in a beginning early childhood teacher education class. From inductive analyses of the data sources (on‐site observation and interview data, initial theories developed in small/large‐group discussion, critical reading information summaries, individual reflection papers, model program creations), six themes emerged: respectful interactions and environments, parent partnerships, diversity, connections between early childhood and elementary education, seeing issues from multiple perspectives, and early childhood education as a force for change. These themes were then connected to already published literature on constructivism and grounded theory, raising further questions for study about teacher education and teacher thinking.