Fostering a capacity for connectedness: The contribution of “humanness” in hybrid early childhood initial teacher education programmes

Abstract

This thesis provides an in-depth understanding of human connections between lecturers and ECE student teachers in one hybrid early childhood initial teacher education programme in Aotearoa New Zealand. More specifically, the focus of the research is the ECE student teachers’ perspective of their experiences of human connections with their lecturers in the online component of the programme, and the role that digital technologies play in enabling or constraining the human connection. This research is informed by socio-cultural theory and adopts a phenomenographic approach to gather qualitative data. Data were collected from nine ECE student teachers by means of semi-structured interviews, focus groups and the ECE student teacher contributions to asynchronous online discussions. By analysing data from three different sources, I was able to gain a more in-depth understanding of ECE student teachers’ experience of human connections in the online learning environment with their lecturers and the ways that digital technologies mediated a connection. Key findings from this study suggest ECE student teachers can experience human connections with their lecturers in the online learning environment, which are mediated by the pedagogical use of digital technologies. The four main themes generated from the data analysis that were useful in nurturing a human connection between ECE student teacher and their lecturers were: knowing their lecturer as a real person, informal communication, lecturers’ feedback and feedforward and a sense of community. However, ECE student teachers had different perceptions of the human connections they experienced, how they experienced them, the value of those connections and the place digital technologies played in mediating such connections. Therefore, lecturers need time and space to employ a range of socio-cultural pedagogical strategies that align with the use of appropriate digital technologies to ensure that they respond to the diverse preferences of ECE student teachers when nurturing human connections. This thesis contributes new understanding to the growing body of scholarship advocating for community focussed online learning design and practice, particularly in relational qualifications such as hybrid initial teacher education in Aotearoa New Zealand. The new information from this study supports the argument that policy and practice for hybrid initial teacher education programmes in Aotearoa New Zealand should be grounded in relational, socio-cultural theory challenging the neo-liberal standardisation of hybrid learning.