| This dissertation examined the essence and structure of family child care providers' pedagogical lived experience with regard to the facilitation of young children's learning. Informed by Van Manen's phenomenological discourse on pedagogy, two enabling questions framed this qualitative study: What is the pedagogical relationship between family child care providers and children in their care? What meaning do providers ascribe to pedagogical experiences of children in their care? Four certified family child care providers were interviewed and observed in Northeast Ohio over a three month period. Additional data were gathered from provider journals and document analysis. Four themes emerged from the results of the study: background, learning, teaching, and evidence of capability and time. From further synthesis, data analysis also uncovered the following abstracted inferences: transcending the self, justifying a coherence that gives rise to acceptance, initiating the centrality of pedagogical engagement, and contemplating the course of their journey. Core meanings were linked to the conceptual framework pertaining to theory (socio-cultural), policy (Developmentally Appropriate Practice), and an example of a contemporary, exemplary approach to educare (Reggio Emilia). Lastly, four fundamental essences were distilled from the meaning of pedagogical lived experience in family child care: ethics, authenticity, paradox, and continuity. Recommendations included further research on the pedagogical influence of family child care providers and suggestions to improve policy in supporting these educare programs. Understanding the importance of themes generated through the voice of these participants is critical to moving toward exemplary family child care, as this study asserts. |
