| Summary: | This exploratory study sought to better understand the experiences and resources that pre-service early childhood education and care (ECEC) teachers in British Columbia use in their emergent practice. The participants for this study were five female pre-service ECE teachers enrolled at a small British Columbia university. Participants were divided into two groups, the first comprised of 3 students enrolled in a two year diploma program in ECEC and the other comprised of 2 students enrolled in a four year BA program in ECEC. Both groups participated in one 90 minute interview at their university. The interview was semi-structured and posed questions about the experiences and resources participants use in their ECEC practice. Using a variety of qualitative methods, data were coded and analyzed for themes. The results from this study showed that for participants, the experience of being a pre-service teacher in a university education program, which included participating in practicum and reading course materials, was the main factor that was influencing participants’ emergent ECEC practice. A number of other results emerged from this study as well. These were participants’ desire for professional community, a perception that ECEC was a temporary career and lastly, several implications of the BA program in ECEC, which was relatively new at the time of this study. The findings from this study suggest that the experiences of pre-service ECEC teachers are crucial to planning and service delivery in ECEC and that more research is needed in this area, particularly in the province of BC. Recommendations were provided for both the BC provincial government and post-secondary institutions with ECEC teacher education programs to consider carefully the needs and experiences of pre-service ECEC teachers.
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