Pre-service teachers' understanding of child abuse and their professional role in child protection

Article

Brown, Alice. 2008. "Pre-service teachers' understanding of child abuse and their professional role in child protection." Children Australia. 33 (1), pp. 25-32.
Article Title

Pre-service teachers' understanding of child abuse and their professional role in child protection

ERA Journal ID34204
Article CategoryArticle
Authors
AuthorBrown, Alice
Journal TitleChildren Australia
Journal Citation33 (1), pp. 25-32
Number of Pages8
Year2008
PublisherCentre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare
Place of PublicationSouth Melbourne, Australia
ISSN1035-0772
2049-7776
Web Address (URL)http://search.informit.com.au/fullText;dn=200805118;res=APAFT
Abstract

Universities play an integral role in training teachers in
the areas of understanding and preparedness to deal with
child abuse and neglect while at the same time
advocating for the 'rights of the child'. Unfortunately
pre-service teachers are at risk of being ill-prepared to
meet their mandated and teaching responsibilities if their
course content is not approached strategically. While
numerous studies have investigated teachers'
understandings of child abuse and the barriers in
detecting and reporting this abuse, this research
investigates pre-service teachers' understandings of child
abuse and their preparedness to deal with the signs,
symptoms and disclosures of child abuse. This paper
reports on findings concerning pre-service teachers'
views of their professional role in child protection and
their recommendations for content to be included in their
undergraduate degrees in teacher education.

Keywordsteacher education; child abuse; higher education research
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020390307. Teacher education and professional development of educators
390302. Early childhood education
399999. Other education not elsewhere classified
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Byline AffiliationsFaculty of Education
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