Analysis of concept mapping of early childhood teachers’ perception on teaching profession subjects of theory area in teacher training course

Objectives This study aims to explore the perception of the teaching profession subjects of theory area in early childhood teacher training course with using concept mapping analysis. Methods The participants of this study were 33 early childhood teachers. Research participants stated freely their thoughts and experiences about the focus question, categorized their statements, and rated the importance. The conducted data were analyzed using multidimensional scale analysis(ALSCAL) and hierarchical cluster analysis(method by Ward linkage). Results The results were as follows. First, 30 statements were generated finally based on the recognition of the teaching profession subjects of theory area in early childhood teacher training course and divided into two dimensions: ‘out-of-teacher context / in-teacher context’ and ‘out-of-school context / in-school context’ through multidimensional scale analysis. In addition, the statements were classified into six clusters of ‘Educational perspective and attitude as a teacher’, ‘Teacher's welfare and rights’, ‘Communication and relationships in school community’, ‘The foundations of education’, ‘Linkages with educational practice’ and ‘Social trends in education’ through cluster analysis. Second, according to the importance results, ‘Teacher's welfare and rights’ and ‘Educational perspective and attitude as a teacher’ ranked higher, but ‘Social trends in education’ ranked lower. Conclusions The results of this study can be used as a basis for reorganizing the curriculum of the early childhood teacher training program to suit the current social situation and needs, and for exploring ways to strengthen the link between practice and theory.