The association between preschool teachers’ beliefs and practices about developmentally appropriate practices

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to explore whether preschool teachers’ self-reported beliefs could predict their self-reported practices about developmentally appropriate practices (DAP). A related purpose was to examine whether classroom size and teachers' experience are significant predictors of their self-reported beliefs and practices. A total of 264 preschool teachers completed the Teachers’ Beliefs Scale (TBS) and the Instructional Activities Scale (IAS). Most of the teachers endorsed beliefs about child-initiated learning beliefs and integrated/social/cultural curriculum. For self-reported practices, most of the teachers embraced broad integrated activities. Overall, low-to-moderate correlations were found among the TBS and IAS subscales. The hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis showed that teachers’ DAP beliefs (integrated/social–cultural curriculum and child-initiated learning) explained 13% of the variance in teachers’ self-reported practices. Also, teachers’ experience and classroom size were significant predictors of teachers’ practices.

KEYWORDS:

• Preschool teacher
• developmentally appropriate beliefs and practices
• instructional beliefs

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Ahmed Hassan Hemdan Mohamed is an associate professor at the College of Kindergarten, Assiut University, Egypt. He is currently an assistant professor at the Psychology Department, College of Education, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman.

Dr Ibrahim Amin Al-Qaryouti is an associate professor at the Early Child Education Department College of Education, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman.