{"title":"How Do Children Learn? Beliefs and Practices Reported by Kindergarten Teachers in Singapore","authors":"Ching Ting Tan, N. Rao","doi":"10.17206/APJRECE.2017.11.3.81","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This study explored the curriculum-related beliefs and practices reported by Singapore kindergarten \nteachers at a time when concerted efforts are being made to promote children’s holistic development \nthrough a child-centered curriculum that emphasizes active learning through play and interaction. A \nquestionnaire was administered to a sample of 167 teachers of 4- to 5-year-olds. Factor analyses \nrevealed three reliable factors for teachers’ beliefs and four factors for their classroom practices. \nTeachers endorsed philosophies in child-centeredness and teacher-centeredness but there was stronger \nendorsement of child-centered approach. Correlation and regression analyses conducted revealed \nsome relationships between beliefs and reported practices as well as associations of beliefs and \npractices with certain personal and kindergarten factors. Overall, beliefs in child-centeredness and \nteacher-centeredness predicted interactive academic activities, and beliefs in teacher-centeredness \ninfluenced reports of engaging in structured academic and teacher-led activities after controlling for \ndemographic and contextual variables.","PeriodicalId":37367,"journal":{"name":"Asia-Pacific Journal of Research in Early Childhood Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2017-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"11","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Asia-Pacific Journal of Research in Early Childhood Education","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.17206/APJRECE.2017.11.3.81","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"Social Sciences","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 11
Abstract
This study explored the curriculum-related beliefs and practices reported by Singapore kindergarten
teachers at a time when concerted efforts are being made to promote children’s holistic development
through a child-centered curriculum that emphasizes active learning through play and interaction. A
questionnaire was administered to a sample of 167 teachers of 4- to 5-year-olds. Factor analyses
revealed three reliable factors for teachers’ beliefs and four factors for their classroom practices.
Teachers endorsed philosophies in child-centeredness and teacher-centeredness but there was stronger
endorsement of child-centered approach. Correlation and regression analyses conducted revealed
some relationships between beliefs and reported practices as well as associations of beliefs and
practices with certain personal and kindergarten factors. Overall, beliefs in child-centeredness and
teacher-centeredness predicted interactive academic activities, and beliefs in teacher-centeredness
influenced reports of engaging in structured academic and teacher-led activities after controlling for
demographic and contextual variables.
期刊介绍:
The journal serves as a vehicle for reporting and sharing the results of studies by early childhood education in the Pacific area. It is peer reviewed to insure that only high quality manuscripts are accepted for publication. The journal is multi-disciplinary and serves educators and other professionals concerned with the education and care of young children. It focuses primarily on research activities in the Pacific Rim area, though research reports from other areas are not excluded. The journal includes research articles related to the education and care of children from birth to age 8 and to related topics. These include reports of empirical research, reviews of research, critiques of research, and articles related to the applications of research to practice.