' ... , But I cannot do research': action-research and early childhood teachers. A case study from Greece

Abstract

Although action-research is a well-known research methodology in the field of education, in the case of Greece there are few actions-researches carried out by early childhood teachers. The absence of action-research in early childhood education settings is related to the way many early childhood teachers shape their professional role as well as the curriculum of their initial education and in-service training. This paper describes the case study of three Greek early childhood teachers who do action-research for the first time. According to the three teachers, fear of educational research, the children's age, time pressure, parents' demands, and colleagues' reactions are among the main obstacles in doing action-research in early childhood education.