Previous studies have attempted to establish an empirical link between teachers beliefs and practices. However, weak theoretical framing and ambiguity in the measurement of beliefs and practices have contributed to challenges in researching the relationship between teachers beliefs and practices, resulting in uncertainty in the prevalence of different beliefs, the amount of individual variance in beliefs, and how beliefs influence teachers classroom practices. The current study proposes a theoretical framework based on the extant literature and uses a person-oriented approach to examine early childhood teachers content-related beliefs regarding the skills necessary for school readiness. Teachers belief profiles are used to explore the link between teachers beliefs and their use of instructional time and other observed classroom practices. The influences of contextual considerations such as teacher background, classroom composition, school setting, and regional contexts on both teachers belief profiles and their classroom practices were investigated. The study found no evidence that teachers belief profiles were associated with their practices, but results suggest that contextual considerations may be more important and relevant to teachers classroom practices than previously recognized. The findings are discussed in light of previous studies and evidence regarding child behaviors that are predictive of school success. Implications for teacher education and professional development are described, as well as the need for further investigation of teachers professional contexts and the potential benefits of qualitative or mixed-methods approaches.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-06062013-105545 |
| Date | 07 June 2013 |
| Creators | Yun, Cathy Kyuhee |
| Contributors | Deborah W. Rowe, David K. Dickinson, Mark W. Lipsey, Dale C. Farran |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-06062013-105545/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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