Preschool Teachers’ Work with Curriculum Content Areas in Relation to Their Professional Competence and Group Size in Preschool: A Mixed-methods Analysis

Figures & data

Table 1. Percentage of preschool teachers’ responses to all variables*, (N = 698).

Variables	Low (1,2) (%)	Medium (3) (%)	High (4,5) (%)
Language	1.1	4.6	94.2
Reading	37.7	37.4	24.9
Writing	28.6	40.3	31.1
Mathematics	1.3	11.7	87.1
Science	2.6	19.1	78.3
Technology	7.4	32.4	60.1
Aesthetics	5.7	31.2	63.1
Music	6.6	20.2	73.2
Art	2.3	14.8	82.8
Rhythm	7.4	31	61.7
Play	0.7	2.7	96.5
Motor Skills	1.6	6.2	92.2

*Likert scale variables (Rating from 1: least emphasis to 5: highest emphasis).

Table 2. Cross-tabulation analysis of the relationship# among preschool teachers’ ratings* (low, medium, high) in reading and writing and professional background indicators and group size.

Reading
	Graduation year		Continuing Professional Development		Experience (years in preschool)		Group size
	After 1998 (%)	Before 1998 (%)	Yes (%)	No (%)	0–9 (%)	≥10 (%)	<12 (%)	13–28 (%)	>28 (%)
Low (1,2)	44.1	55.9	39.5	60.5	33.3	66.7	6.1	80.8	13
Medium (3)	43.4	56.6	40.2	59.8	28.6	71.4	6.9	78.8	14.3
High (4,5)	45.6	54.4	43.6	56.4	31.4	68.6	5.8	83.1	11
Writing
	Graduation year		Continuing Professional Development		Experience (years in preschool)		Group size
	After 1998 (%)	Before 1998 (%)	Yes (%)	No (%)	0–9 (%)	≥10 (%)	<12 (%)	13–28 (%)	>28 (%)
Low (1,2)	41.9	58.1	39.4	60.6	32.8	67.2	6.6	79.8	13.6
Medium (3)	46.8	53.2	37.6	62.4	32.3	67.7	6.8	80.6	12.5
High (4,5)	43	57	45.6	54.4	27.9	72.1	5.6	81.4	13

# p > 0.05; * Rating from 1: least emphasis to 5: highest emphasis; (N: 698).

Table 3. Five themes emerging from the thematic analysis of the preschool teachers’ explanations of the least emphasized curriculum content areas – reading and writing (N = 128).

Themes	Definitions	Responses (%)
A child-directed approach	Arguments involving that it is not part of the preschool teachers’ professional assignment to teach children to read and write. Children’s interest is emphasized as guiding their work with reading and writing.	35.1
A cognitive developmental approach	Answers maintaining that the age and developmental level of the children guide if the preschool teachers involve reading and writing activities.	27.3
A structural approach	Structural aspects, such as group size and time, are expressed to hinder the preschool teachers from involving reading and writing activities.	21.9
An activity-oriented approach	Answers based on interpretations of the curriculum content areas as involving language-developing activities, but not concrete reading and writing activities.	9.4
A holistic approach	Explanations indicating interpretations of the assignment in the curriculum through a holistic approach, in which reading and writing are included in various activities; a comprehensive approach permeates their understanding of all curriculum content areas.	6.3