This paper examines how early childhood teachers employed in kindergarten, understand and manage their changing roles regarding digital technologies. Nineteen participants were involved in the study. Symbolic interactionism provided the theoretical lens to investigate each early childhood teacher’s lived experiences and grounded theory provided the methodological theory and methods. Following data analysis, a central category, Professional Agency, and three major categories, Professional Identity, Pedagogical Practices, and Relationships with Families, were derived. These categories, together with the relevant empirical literature, form the key features of the Early Childhood Teacher Management of Digital Technologies Framework. This Framework contributes to knowledge and presents a substantive theory that explains how early childhood teachers manage their changing roles with digital technologies in their kindergarten.
CorbinJ.StraussA. (2008). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (3rd ed.). SAGE.
5.
CorbinJ.StraussA. (2015). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (4th ed.). SAGE.
6.
CreswellJ. (2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. SAGE.
7.
CrottyM. (1998). The foundations of social research. Allen & Unwin.
8.
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations for the Council of Australian Governments. (2009). Belonging, being & becoming: The early years learning framework for Australia. Commonwealth of Australia.
EdwardsS. (2016). New concepts of play and the problem of technology, digital media and popular-culture integration with play-based learning in early childhood education. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 25(4), 513–532. https://doi.org/10.1080/1475939X.2015.1108929
ErnestJ. M.CauseyC.NewtonA. B.SharkinsK.SummerlinJ.AlbaizN. (2014). Extending the global dialogue about media, technology, screen time and young children. Childhood Education, 90(3), 182–191. https://doi.org/10.1080/00094056.2014.910046
14.
EteläpeltoA.VähäsantanenK.HökkäP.PaloniemiS. (2013). What is agency? Conceptualizing professional agency at work. Educational Research Review, 10, 45–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2013.05.001
MoghaddamA. (2006). Coding issues in grounded theory. Issues in Educational Research, 16(1), 52–66.
18.
NicholsonJ.ManiatesH. (2016). Recognising postmodern intersectional identities in leadership for early childhood. Early Years, 36(1), 66–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/09575146.2015.1080667
19.
NuttallJ.EdwardsS.MantillaA.GrieshaberS.WoodE. (2015). The role of motive objects in early childhood teacher development concerning children’s digital play and play-based learning in early childhood curricula. Professional Development in Education, 41(2), 222–235. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2014.990579
20.
O’DonoghueT. (2007). Planning your qualitative research project: An introduction to interpretivist research in education. Routledge.
21.
Ottenbreit-LeftwichA. T.GlazewskiK. D.NewbyT. J.ErtmerP. A. (2010). Teacher value beliefs associated with using technology: Addressing professional and student needs. Computers & Education, 55(3), 1321–1335. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2010.06.002
22.
PunchK. (2009). Introduction to research methods in education. SAGE.
23.
RemenyiD. (2014). Grounded theory: The reader for researchers, students, faculty and others. Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited.
24.
RumbleP. (2010). In search of the middle school teacher: What differentiates the middle school teacher from primary and secondary school teachers? [Unpublished PhD thesis]. University of the Sunshine Coast.
25.
SanninoA. (2010). Teachers’ talk of experiencing: Conflict, resistance and agency. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26(4), 838–844. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2009.10.021
26.
SchrieverV. (2018). Digital technology in kindergarten: Challenges and opportunities. In KhanA.UmairS. (Eds.), The handbook of research on mobile devices and smart gadgets in K-12 education (pp. 57–76). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-2706-0.ch005
27.
SeidmanI. (2006). Interviewing as qualitative research: A guide for researchers in education and the social sciences. Teachers College Press.
28.
StraussA.CorbinJ. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. SAGE.
29.
StraussA.CorbinJ. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (2nd ed.). SAGE.
30.
VähäsantanenK. (2015). Professional agency in the stream of change: Understanding educational change and teacher’s professional identities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 47, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2014.11.006
31.
VähäsantanenK.EteläpeltoA. (2011). Vocational teachers’ pathways in the course of a curriculum reform. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 43(3), 291–312. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2011.557839
32.
YoungK. (2017). Perspectives of preservice teachers on roles of secondary school teachers in Queensland: An interpretivist study [Unpublished PhD thesis]. University of Adelaide.
33.
ZabatieroJ.StrakerL.MantillaA.EdwardsS.DanbyS. (2018). Young children and digital technology: Australian early childhood education and care sector adults’ perspectives. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 43(2), 14–22. https://doi.org/10.23965/AJEC.43.2.02
