A comparison of early childhood and elementary education students’ beliefs about primary classroom teaching practices

Two professional preparation paths lead to teaching positions in the lower primary grades; their different histories and emphasis result in potentially conflicting paradigms. We examined the viewpoints of 119 pre-service teachers who were either at the beginning or near the end of their programs in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEarly childhood research quarterly Vol. 17; no. 1; pp. 126 - 137
Main Authors File, Nancy, Gullo, Dominic F.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Inc 01.01.2002
Subjects
Beliefs
College Students
Comparative Analysis
Developmentally appropriate practice
Developmentally Appropriate Practices
Early Childhood Education
Educational Practices
Elementary Education
Preservice Teachers
Primary classroom practice
Primary Education
Student Attitudes
Student Teacher Attitudes
Student Teachers
Teaching beliefs
Primary classroom practice
Developmentally appropriate practice
Teaching beliefs
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Summary:Two professional preparation paths lead to teaching positions in the lower primary grades; their different histories and emphasis result in potentially conflicting paradigms. We examined the viewpoints of 119 pre-service teachers who were either at the beginning or near the end of their programs in early childhood (ECED) or elementary education (ELED). They completed a survey of their beliefs about primary classroom practices. ECED students, compared to ELED students, favored practices more consistent with the constructivist nature of National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) guidelines in several areas, including teaching strategies, expectations of the children, assessment strategies, and teacher- and child-directed activities. One significant difference was found between beginning students and student teachers, with student teachers favoring more frequent use of less developmentally appropriate behavior management strategies.
ISSN:0885-2006
1873-7706
DOI:10.1016/S0885-2006(02)00130-8