High-quality school based learning practices are believed to have lasting effects on young children’s achievement. These practices include early mathematics instruction that now extend to promoting geometric and spatial sense in young children. The key contributors to these quality experiences are the early childhood teachers, whose developmentally appropriate practices are noted to shape future success of young learners. Therefore, the present study explored prekindergarten teachers’ instructional practices used to promote geometric and spatial sense in their classrooms. Additionally, this research examined the perceptions, understandings, and experiences that informed the VPK teachers’ geometric and spatial instruction. Participating in the study was a sample of five VPK teachers from three child development centers in a mid-sized county in Northern Florida. The data sources examined in the study consisted of classroom observations, video-stimulated recall interviews, and document analysis. The findings indicated that Voluntary prekindergarten teachers’ (VPK) emphasis on Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) emerged as a major theme that typically presented along with subthemes such as play, active/hands-on, and guided instruction during geometric and spatial activities. The data also suggest that VPK teachers’ instructional practices were informed by both their experiences working with mentors and their role as lead teacher. However, the data also suggest that the VPK teachers in the study had an incomplete knowledge of the VPK developmental standards and benchmarks for instruction, and demonstrated surface level understandings of geometric and spatial concepts in general. Finally, the findings from this study may be beneficial when considering professional development trainings for current VPK teachers in an effort to improve the quality of mathematics instruction. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Teacher Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2018. / June 27, 2018. / Includes bibliographical references. / Lindsay Dennis, Professor Directing Dissertation; Motoko Akiba, University Representative; Elizabeth Jakubowski, Committee Member; Ithel Jones, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_647271 |
| Contributors | Norton, Lakeshia M. (author), Dennis, Lindsay Rae (professor directing dissertation), Akiba, Motoko (university representative), Jakubowski, Elizabeth M. (committee member), Jones, Ithel (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Education (degree granting college), School of Teacher Education (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, doctoral thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (131 pages), computer, application/pdf |
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