The preschool teacher pipeline problem: why motivated students lose faith in training
A Swedish study reveals a critical gap in teacher education: students enter preschool programs passionate about the work but grow disconnected from classroom instruction itself. The disconnect between university theory and real preschool practice undermines both retention and quality, signaling systemic reform is needed before the sector faces a staffing crisis.
Originaltitel: En ovanligt motiverad omotiverad student – Wilmas berättelse om att vara förskollärarstudent
<p>This article focuses on one preschool teacher student, Wilma, in order to investigate how her identitydevelopment is shaped through experiences in preschool teacher education and other relevant socialpractices. Drawing on the concepts of social practice and figured worlds, the article examines the complexityof becoming a preschool teacher. The empirical material consists of an interview with Wilma, analysedthrough Systemic Functional Linguistics and the conceptual framework Patterns of Participation. Theanalysis shows that Wilma is highly motivated to become a preschool teacher, while increasingly lessmotivated to participate in the teaching activities offered within her education. The article problematiseshow Wilma’s patterns of participation shape her developing professional identity and shows how she movesfrom trusting the preschool teacher education programme to questioning it. In this process, fellow studentsand teacher educators play important roles. The article also shows how dissonance arises as Wilma navigatesuniversity-based and preschool-based understandings of preschool as a social practice. Implications forpreschool teacher education are discussed.</p>