Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-126).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-126). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.S.)--Northern Michigan University, 2006 / Bibliography: leaves 34-36.

This research proposes to identify the range of knowledge and attitudes among kindergarten teachers toward childrens' sexual behaviors. The following behaviors are addressed: 1. Masturbation 2. Heterosexual play 3. Homosexual play 4. Questions related to sexuality. Specifically, the study is developed through the examination of the following eight sub-problems: (1) The first sub-problem is to determine the frequency with which teachers observe these specified behaviors; (2) the second sub-problem is to determine if teachers consider these specified behaviors to be normal expressions of child development, non-normal expressions of child developments, or if they don't know how to consider them; (3) the third sub-problem is to determine if teachers consider these specified behaviors to be sexual, non-sexual, or if they don't know how to consider them; (4) the fourth sub-problem is to determine whether teachers respond to these specified behaviors by suppressing them, ignoring them, or discussing them with the class; (5) the fifth sub-problem is to determine if years of experience in teaching at a kindergarten level is related to the frequency with which teachers observe these specified behaviors; (6) the sixth sub-problem is to determine if years of experience in teaching at a kindergarten level is related to whether teachers consider these specified behaviors as sexual, nonsexual, or to their not knowing how to consider them; and finally, (8) the eighth sub-problem is to determine if years of experience in teaching at a kindergarten level is related to whether teachers' response to these specified behaviors is suppressing them, ignoring them, or discussing them with the class. The present study is limited to kindergarten teachers only, as well as to four districts within the San Joaquin Valley area: Lodi Unified School District, Stockton Unified School District; Lincoln Unified School District; and the Manteca Unified School District. The study is also limited in representativeness, since participation was voluntary. Results will not include generalizations; only the data is described.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 120-132).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-132). Also available in print.

The purposes of the present study are to: (a) describe the beliefs and practices of the US and Taiwan (TW) public and private kindergarten teachers regarding developmentally appropriate practice (DAP), (b) examine the group differences between the four groups of teachers, and (c) identify the salient factors related to the variability of developmentally appropriate beliefs and practice in these teachers. Three hundred and fifty-seven kindergarten teachers participated in the study. The group sizes were 123, 123, 57, and 54 for Taiwan private, Taiwan public, US private, and US public kindergarten teachers, respectively. A survey was used to collect data. Findings from this study showed: (a) Both the US and Taiwan kindergarten teachers highly endorsed beliefs about DAP; (b) US and Taiwan kindergarten teachers also held strong beliefs about developmentally inappropriate practices (DIP); (c) DAP activities occurred regularly in the classrooms; (d) developmentally inappropriate practice (DIP) activities also took place a lot although they were lower than the DAP activities; (e) the Taiwan teachers had higher beliefs about DAP and lower beliefs about DIP than the US teachers; (f) the US teachers reported both higher DAP and DIP activities than the Taiwan teachers; (g) there were no differences between public and private kindergarten teachers; (h) hierarchical regression analyses using teacher's personal demographic variables as the first block and numbers of boys and girls as the second block were generally not effective; (i) there were different sets of best predictors from the backward regression for different dimensions of developmentally appropriate beliefs and practices; and (j) beliefs about DAP and DIP were usually more powerful than the demographic and classroom variables in predicting the DAP and DIP activities. Future studies are needed to refine the Teacher Belief Scale and Instructional Activity Scale instruments and include classroom observations to verify and expand the findings. Future teacher training on DAP should promote beliefs about DAP and reduce beliefs about DIP. Enhancing teachers' skills to implement the DAP activities and decrease the DIP activities is suggested.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy