Senses of hauora and well-being in early childhood initial teacher education

Abstract

The experience of teacher education was identified as a key element and influence in the Healthy Families Waitakere work with early childhood teachers. One theme that emerged was the potential benefit of more focused discussions about teacher hauora and well-being during teacher education. With this observation as an impetus, we put together a team to investigate student teacher experiences of hauora and well-being across four teacher education providers. In this research we aim to explore the experiences of ECE student-teachers progressing towards their teaching qualification. The study will focus on their experiences of hauora and well-being during study for their professional teaching practice. The research will include analysis of the role and the impact of teacher education for student-teacher knowledge in this area, as well as the views and experiences of teacher educators and allied/professional staff involved in ECE teacher education. In this presentation, we outline the proposed research partnership with the professional early childhood community of learners, and explore the audience’s ideas about hauora and well-being.