Abstract:

Child observation and assessment are deemed as some of the key issues in the field. The objective of this research is to depict a holistic perspective on the significance, necessity, and competency of those training for child observation and assessment, based on the experiences and recommendations of preschool teacher candidates and instructors of the course in the preschool teacher education programs. The participants are comprised of 142 preschool teacher candidates who have taken the child observation and assessment course in six universities in the same province and six instructors responsible for the child observation and assessment course in these universities. A variety of instruments were utilized to gather data, including document analysis, face-to-face interviews, online questionnaire forms including both open-ended, and close-ended questions in this qualitative descriptive study. The findings led to the conclusion that the practices of those involved in preschool education for observing and assessing young children are crucial. The practice and theoretical knowledge base should be aligned when teaching undergraduate students about child observation and assessment. After graduation, field practices will reflect the improvements that are made on undergraduate courses. The significance of raising their awareness of assessment was emphasized in order to close the gaps in the assessment practices of preschool candidates.

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