Love, Care and Politics in Low Income Early Childhood Settings: The Process of Constructing a Professional Identity.

This paper reports on a planned 4-year longitudinal study in Adelaide, South Australia, that seeks to trace the development of student teachers' constructs about becoming a teacher in three settings, namely, day care, preschool, and early primary school, in low-income and middle-to-high-income areas. Thus far, the study has focused on 20 student teachers in practicum courses over the course of 1 year. During this time the students provided their opinions on 19 constructs related to their role as teachers and caregivers in day care center environments. The results indicated that students felt, on average, more confident in caring for young children, more aware of health and hygiene issues, and more comfortable in their relationships with center staff after completing their practicums in the day care centers. The study also found that students placed in centers with a high percentage of children from low-income families seemed oblivious to the socioeconomic circumstances that made it necessary for such families to keep their children at the centers for long hours while the parents work. (Contains 28 references.) (MDM)