Greek pre-service kindergarten teachers’ beliefs about and practices of developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood education

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Greek pre-service kindergartenteachers’ beliefs about and practices ofdevelopmentally appropriate practicesin early childhood educationKonstantina Rentzou a & Maria Sakellariou aa Department of Early Childhood Education , University ofIoannina , Ioannina, GreecePublished online: 08 Oct 2010.

To cite this article: Konstantina Rentzou & Maria Sakellariou (2011) Greek pre-servicekindergarten teachers’ beliefs about and practices of developmentally appropriate practicesin early childhood education, Early Child Development and Care, 181:8, 1047-1061, DOI:10.1080/03004430.2010.509796

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Early Child Development and Care

ISSN 0300-4430 print/ISSN 1476-8275 online© 2011 Taylor & FrancisDOI: 10.1080/03004430.2010.509796http://www.informaworld.com

Greek pre-service kindergarten teachers’ beliefs about and practices of developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood education

Konstantina Rentzou* and Maria Sakellariou

Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, GreeceTaylor and FrancisGECD_A_509796.sgm(Received 17 May 2010; final version received 16 July 2010)10.1080/03004430.2010.509796Early Childhood Development and Care0300-4430 (print)/1476-8275 (online)Original Article2010Taylor & Francis0000000002010Ms [email protected]

The continuum of beliefs reported by Greek pre-service kindergarten teachers andhow those beliefs relate to classroom practices are explored in this article.Considering the potentially important influence of teachers’ beliefs on theirpractices, the level of early childhood teachers’ beliefs about developmentallyappropriate practices (DAPs) and the relationship between their beliefs andpractices are regarded as important topics of study in early childhood education.This study was designed in order to investigate Greek pre-service kindergartenteachers’ self-reported beliefs and practices related to the National Association forthe Education of Young Children’s policy statement for DAP. Research resultsindicated that participants favour DAP both as far as their beliefs and theinstructional activities they implement are concerned. Even though the analysisindicated correlations among DAP and developmentally inappropriate practice(DIP) beliefs and practices, beliefs have not been found to predict practices.

Keywords: pre-service kindergarten teachers; beliefs; practices; developmentallyappropriate practice (DAP); developmentally inappropriate practice (DIP);National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC); teacherbeliefs and practices survey: three- to five-year-olds

Introduction

Traditional research has centred its attention on ‘the process–product approach’ para-digm according to which there is a direct unidirectional causal link among teachers’classroom behaviours, students’ classroom behaviours and students’ achievement(Erdiller & McMallen, 2003; Fang, 1996; Faour, 2003).

However, following the influences of cognitive psychology on research and theapplications of ethnographic and qualitative methodology on the study of teaching asa thoughtful profession (Fang, 1996; Faour, 2003; Kim, 2005) and based on the ideathat the guiding theory determining teachers’ decisions in planning, teaching andassessing would be best conceptualised by understanding what teachers believe to beimportant (Charlesworth et al., 1993; McMullen, 1999; Smith & Croom, 2000). Lastdecades research designs have focused on teachers’ beliefs about teaching and theimplicit theories behind those beliefs, which are commonly accepted as the drivingforce for instruction (Charlesworth et al., 1993; Erdiller & McMallen, 2003;

*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

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Liu, 2007; McMullen, 1999; OECD, 2009; Pajares, 1992; Palenzuela, 2004; Phillips,2004; Ruto-Korir, 2010; Smith & Croom, 2000; Wang, Elicker, McMullen, &Mao, 2008).

Although beliefs have been characterised as a ‘messy construct’ (Pajares, 1992),difficult to define as well as to elicit, they are defined as personal constructs that canprovide an understanding of a teacher’s practice (Hedge & Cassidy, 2009a, 2009b;Liu, 2007; Maxwell, McWilliam, Hemmeter, Ault, & Schuster, 2001; Nespor, 1987;Pajares, 1992; Palenzuela, 2004; Phillips, 2004; Richardson, 1996; Ruto-Korir, 2010;Smith & Croom, 2000; Stipek & Byler, 1997; Vartuli, 1999; Wang et al., 2008). Also,according to Kagan (1992) teachers’ beliefs are their assumptions about their students,classrooms and academic materials to be taught (p. 65).

Research reveals that teachers’ beliefs have strong implications for the waythey teach as well as the decisions they make with regard to classroom practice(Charlesworth et al., 1993; Clark & Peterson, 1986; Fang, 1996; Faour, 2003; Hedge& Cassidy, 2009a, 2009b; Kagan, 1992; Lara-Cinisomo, Sidle Fuligni, Daugherty,Howes, & Karoly, 2009; Liu, 2007; Maxwell et al., 2001; OECD, 2009; Pajares, 1992;Palenzuela, 2004; Phillips, 2004; Richardson, 1996; Ruto-Korir, 2010; Smith &Croom, 2000; Stipek & Byler, 1997; Thompson, 1992; Vartuli, 1999; Wang et al.,2008). Further, early research on early childhood education (ECE) and teachers’beliefs, from the USA and other countries, has consistently suggested that early child-hood teachers’ implicit beliefs and theories are a predictor of their in-class behaviouror instruction, and thus beliefs are considered as being a reliable tool for examiningpractice (Erdiller & McMallen, 2003; Lara-Cinisomo et al., 2009; Liu, 2007; Maxwellet al., 2001; OECD, 2009; Phillips, 2004; Ruto-Korir, 2010; Stipek & Byler, 1997).

Yet, not all research results reveal correlations between beliefs and practices. Infact, numerous research designs have documented inconsistencies between professedbeliefs and observed practices, with an implication that teachers are unaware of theconflict between them (McCarty, Abbott-Shim, & Lambert, 2001; McMullen, 1999;Parker & Neuharth-Pritchett, 2006; Raymond, 1997; Smith, 1997; Smith & Croom,2000).

Based on the assumption that belief systems are dynamic in nature, undergoingchange and restructuring, as individuals evaluate their beliefs against their experiences(Thompson, 1992), further examination of the correlations between teachers’ beliefsand practices and exploration of the factors affecting them is needed. This needbecomes even more imperative, since it is suggested that a better understanding of theteachers’ belief system or conceptual base will significantly contribute to enhancingthe educational effectiveness (Fang, 1996; Maxwell et al., 2001; OECD, 2009).

Teachers’ beliefs about and practices of DAP

Developmentally appropriate practice (hereafter referred to as DAP) was chosen asthe belief system of this study because it is currently held by many early childhoodprofessionals as the most representative of ‘best practices’ in early childhood care andeducation (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997; Dunn & Kontos, 1997; Hedge & Cassidy,2009a; Liu, 2007; McMullen & Alat, 2002; McMullen et al., 2005; Suk Lee, Baik, &Charlesworth, 2006). Moreover, many research studies have correlated positiveeffects of DAP with developmental outcomes of children (Faour, 2003; Hedge &Cassidy, 2009a, 2009b; Kim, 2005; Liu, 2007; McMullen et al., 2005; Parker &Neuharth-Pritchett, 2006; Phillips, 2004; Ruto-Korir, 2010).

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The theoretical underpinnings of DAP come primarily from the work of Dewey,Piaget, Vygotsky, Erikson, Bronfenbrenner, Gardner, and Bowlby (Erdiller &McMallen, 2003; Faour, 2003; Kim, 2005; Liu, 2007). These theories and others,together with decades of experience shared by practitioners, were used to develop thefirst DAP policy statement articulated by the National Association for the Educationof Young Children (NAEYC) in 1987 and then as revised in 1997 (Bredekamp, 1987;Bredekamp & Copple, 1997).

DAPs have come as an answer in the imperative need for quality early childhoodeducation and care and have strongly influenced the field of early childhood educationand care. Hedge and Cassidy (2009b) argue that it is assumed by many that in anycountry DAP can serve as the minimum foundation for quality.

Though DAPs have strongly influenced the field of early childhood education andcare around the world, a number of scholars in the field (Cannella & Viruru, 2004;Grieshaber & Cannella, 2001; Hedge & Cassidy, 2009b; Liu, 2007; Phillips, 2004;Ruto-Korir, 2010) have criticised and questioned the concept of DAP as being apredominantly Euro-American middle-class construct that has limited generalisabilityacross various cultures.

However, critics supporting the idea of DAP assert that the concept of DAP is notprescriptive, but serves as a guideline that may be used by teachers to guide their prac-tices in the classroom (Hedge & Cassidy, 2009b). Based on that assumption, a host ofresearch, both from the USA and other countries around the world, has focused onearly childhood teachers’ beliefs about and practices of DAP (Buchanan, Burts,Binder, White, & Charlesworth, 1998; Charlesworth et al., 1993; Doliopoulou, 1996;Faour, 2003; File & Gullo, 2002; Hedge & Cassidy, 2009a, 2009b; Jones, Burts,Buchanan, & Jambunathan, 2000; Kim, 2005; Kim & Buchanan, 2009; Kim, Kim, &Maslak, 2005; Lara-Cinisomo et al., 2009; Liu, 2007; Maxwell et al., 2001; McMullen& Alat, 2002; McMullen et al., 2005; Parker & Neuharth-Pritchett, 2006; Phillips,2004; Ruto-Korir, 2010; Smith, 1997; Stipek & Byler, 1997; Suk Lee et al., 2006;Vartuli, 1999; Wang et al., 2008). These research designs, which have contributed toan understanding of how teachers perceive and practice DAP, describe how teachersperceive and/or implement DAP, and they examine various factors which are relatedto teachers’ beliefs and practices.

Research designs which have examined correlations between teachers’ beliefsabout and practices of DAP have shown two distinct patterns of relationship. On theone hand, there are those studies that have found inconsistencies between teachers’beliefs and their classroom practices. On the other hand, there are those studies whichhave shown that teachers who had stronger beliefs about DAP were more likely toimplement DAPs than teachers with less strong beliefs about DAP (Charlesworthet al., 1993; Doliopoulou, 1996; Dunn & Kontos, 1997; Faour, 2003; Hedge &Cassidy, 2009a; Kim, 2005; Kim et al., 2005; Liu, 2007; McMullen, 1999; McMullenet al., 2005; Parker & Neuharth-Pritchett, 2006; Ruto-Korir, 2010; Suk Lee et al.,2006; Vartuli, 1999; Wang et al., 2008).

Generally, literature review on teachers’ beliefs about and practices of DAPreveals that teachers in ECE endorse DAP more in their philosophy than in their class-room practices (Hedge & Cassidy, 2009a; Lara-Cinisomo et al., 2009; Liu, 2007;Parker & Neuharth-Pritchett, 2006; Ruto-Korir, 2010; Wang et al., 2008).

The barriers to implementing DAP include social, psychological and environmen-tal or work-related and institutional factors. Research results also suggest that teacherswith strong beliefs in DAP tend to practise DAP more frequently. They also have a

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higher internal locus of control, stronger personal teaching efficacy in their classroomdecision-making, higher educational levels and ECE backgrounds (Hedge & Cassidy,2009b; Liu, 2007; McMullen, 1999; Parker & Neuharth-Pritchett, 2006; Phillips,2004; Wang et al., 2008).

To conclude, literature review clearly shows that NAEYC’s DAPs have become aparadigm in ECE since their inception in 1987. Many measurement instruments havebeen developed to quantify early childhood educator’s DAP beliefs and practices. Arich body of research has examined the factors related to teacher’s DAP beliefs andpractices. However, the findings have been inconclusive and contradictory. A possiblereason is according to Liu (2007) that the multivariate phenomena have often beeninvestigated by using univariate methods. In addition, cross-cultural studies on teachers’DAP beliefs and practices beyond the descriptive level have been minimal.

The present study

Though the field of teachers’ beliefs about and practices of DAP has been extensivelyresearched in the USA and other countries, to the best of our knowledge a single studyon that topic has been conducted in Greece (Doliopoulou, 1996).

The present study aimed at exploring Greek pre-service kindergarten teachers’beliefs about DAP. Thus, the aim of the present study was to examine whether pre-service teachers implement the philosophy of DAP during their practical training inGreek kindergartens.

DAP has been chosen as the belief system of the present study not only because ithas exerted great influence, universally, in the filed of early childhood education andcare, but also because DAP is taught as a methodological approach in Greek highereducation institutions and is espoused by many in higher education as the best practicefor Greek children.

For the purposes of the present study, DAPs are defined as teaching appropriatelyaccording to the age, the uniqueness of the individual child and the context (or culture)of the child. Further DAP refers to child-centred teaching. Children are active learners,who construct meaningful knowledge through interactions with adults, peers and theenvironment, and by solving conflicts and problems (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997).Teaching based on DAP principles should be developmentally (age) appropriate,individualised, context-based and multicultural.

On the other hand, as developmentally inappropriate practices (hereafter referredto as DIP) may be characterised as those practices in which the teacher ‘attempts topour knowledge through lecture and other whole-group activities’ (Hart, Burts, &Charlesworth, 1997, p. 3). When DIP is implemented, the teacher, instead of being afacilitator, tries to disseminate knowledge through more formal and direct instruc-tional means, the curriculum is compartmentalised into the traditional content areasand limited emphasis is given on children’s independence, needs and differences (SukLee et al., 2006).

The term ‘beliefs’ was operationally defined, for the purposes of the present study,to refer to the self-reported working philosophies or theories of practice held by thepre-service teachers whom the researchers examined.

Student teachers have been chosen as the population of the present study sinceaccording to Smith (1997) the student teaching experience may be one of the mostimportant points in order to examine teacher beliefs. Teachers’ beliefs are formed onthe basis of direct experience, prior inferences made from those direct experiences, or


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information provided by an outside source, such as college courses, professionalliterature and in-service training courses (Palenzuela, 2004).

Pre-service teachers bring to teacher education programmes a plethora of oftentacit and unexamined beliefs about schooling, teaching, learning and the self asteacher (Bullough & Gitlin, 2001; Raths, 2001) and they often select attributes andpractices of their own former teachers and synthesise them into an idealised image ormodel of the teacher they want to become (Cole & Knowles, 1993).

In addition, people who enter formal education programmes bring with them manyexpectations that represent long-held beliefs about teachers’ roles and practices, andabout classrooms and schools. These preconceptions, coupled with their pre-serviceeducation experience, come together in the creation of images and expectations ofpractice which strongly influence pre-service teachers’ actual experiences of and inclassrooms and schools (Cole & Knowles, 1993).

Many years ago, Zeichner and Tabachnick (1981) postulated that the thousands ofhours that prospective teachers spend as pupils in the classroom shape their beliefs.These conservative beliefs remain latent during formal training in pedagogy at theuniversity and become a major force once the candidate is in his or her own classroom(Raths, 2001).

According to File and Gullo (2002) the obligation to examine our educationalpractices, while always important, is a vital task for pre-service teachers today. Do wehave a clear sense of what we want students to learn? How effective are ourprogrammes at accomplishing our purposes? These are two important questions whichshould be asked when higher education module guides are formed.

Based on the assumption that the examination of teachers’ beliefs can enhancetheir effectiveness and considering the importance of this process to be carried outduring university courses, the present study aims to examine whether Greek pre-service teachers endorse and implement DAP and to shed light in that limited researchfield in Greece.

Method

Sample

Participants in this study were 55 female Greek pre-service kindergarten teachersenrolled in an early childhood education course at a large Greek university. Thestudent teachers were in the final semester of their major. In this institution, studentsbegin their professional programme after completion of their general educationrequirements. Upon entering the professional programmes, the course sequence takesfour years. During the course students, in order to be awarded with a bachelor degree,participate in theoretical lessons. Thus, after their second semester they have toparticipate in practices in Greek kindergartens, where they have to implement theoryinto practice. During their final semester students participate in a four-week practiceat a kindergarten.

The age of the participants ranged from 20 to 28 years (M = 22.09; SD = 1.80). Allparticipant students had their four-week practice in state kindergartens. Sixty-sevenper cent of them stated that the kindergarten in which they did their practice waslocated in an urban area, whereas 33% in a suburban area. Eighty-five per cent statedthat the classroom in which they did their practice was organised in mixed age groups,whereas for 15% it was organised in one age group. As far as the group size in thekindergarten, where participants did their practice, is concerned, 53% of them were in


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a class with 11–15 children, 19% in a class with 16–20 children, 17% in a class with6–10 children and 11% in a class with more than 21 children.

Measures

Teacher beliefs and practices survey: three- to five-year-olds

The teacher beliefs and practices survey, devised for teachers of three- to five-year-old children (Kim, 2005; Kim & Buchanan, 2009), was designed to reflect theconcepts of DAP as presented in the revised 1997 NAEYC guidelines. More precisely,the teacher beliefs and practices survey is a measure for critically examining teachers’beliefs about and practices of DAP.

The survey, which was revised by Kim (2005) from the old measurement of DAP,Teacher Questionnaire (Charlesworth, Hart, Burts, & Hernandez, 1991), consists of acover letter, teacher demographics and the main questionnaire. The main question-naire consists of two subscales: the Teacher Beliefs Scale (TBS) (43 items) and theInstructional Activities Scale (IAS) (30 items). Each subscale includes questions thatdescribe DAP and DIP with a five-point Likert scale.

The first question in the TBS asks respondents to indicate the relative importanceof various sources of influence (after their students) in their decision-making process(Item 1). Respondents are asked to rank from most to least influence the importantfigures in a provided list: parents, the school system policy, the principal, one’s self,state regulations and other teachers (1 = most influence; 6 = least influence). For therest of the items in the TBS (Items 2–43), respondents’ personal beliefs about earlychildhood programmes are measured. The pre-service teachers evaluated each itemusing a five-point Likert scale with the following anchors: 1 = not at all important, 2 =not very important, 3 = fairly important, 4 = very important and 5 = extremely impor-tant. The items include both developmentally appropriate (27 items) and inappropriate(15 items) beliefs about kindergarten practices. The TBS uses a degree-of-importancerating scale rather than an agree/disagree scale or a yes/no format, with the intentionof providing an indication of the relative value of the importance of beliefs aboutDAP.

For the IAS, students were asked to choose how frequently certain appropriate andinappropriate practices occur in their classrooms. Each item was measured on a five-point Likert scale with the following anchors: 1 = almost never (less than monthly),2 = rarely (monthly), 3 = sometimes (weekly), 4 = regularly (two to four times a week)and 5 = very often (daily). The descriptions include both developmentally appropriate(18 items) and inappropriate (12 items) practices for kindergartens. Scores from thequestions describing inappropriate beliefs and practices were recoded in the analysisprocedure, so the higher scores represent the teachers’ stronger beliefs about andpractices of DAPs.

The TBS and IAS are widely used as popular instruments with early childhoodeducation and care researchers. The validity of the instruments was established in aseries of observational studies used to confirm practitioners’ responses on the TBSand IAS instruments (see McMullen et al., 2005).

Procedures

For the purposes of the present study, the English version of the survey was translatedinto Greek by a native speaker who was a doctoral student (member of the research


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team) with knowledge and experience in ECE in the USA and in her native country.The translation was done individually and then compared and discussed with the othermember of the research team until a consensus was reached. In each case, attentionwas given to cross-language and cross-cultural equivalence in terms of the educationalmeaning of the items instead of simply a word-by-word translation.

Analysis of results

Internal consistency reliability for the total survey, as measured by Cronbach’s alpha,was .79. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were .81 for the TBS and .79 for the IAS.

The first question of the TBS aims to identify those factors that affect the wayteachers organise and implement their instruction. Participants reported that the firstfactor that influences their instruction is ‘another teacher’ (M = 4.87; SD = 1.39) andthe second most influential factor is ‘state regulation’ (M = 4.15; SD = 1.82). The thirdmost influential factor is, according to participants’ reports, the ‘principal/director’(M = 3.78; SD = 1.33). ‘Parents’ have been reported as the fourth most influentialfactor (M = 3.25; SD = 1.52). According to participants’ reports the least influentialfactors are the ‘school system policy’ (M = 2.69; SD = 1.17) and ‘they themselves’(M = 2.35; SD = 1.59).

A total of nine dependent variables were created from the scores of the survey.First, a score was calculated to represent each subscale, that is, the TBS and the IAS.Second, scores were calculated for DAP and DIP items in both the TBS and IAS. Thenine dependent variables that were created are the following:

(1) DAP Beliefs (DAPBEL) = a summed score of all 27 DAP Beliefs items.(2) DIP Beliefs (DIPBEL) = a recoded and summed score of all 15 DIP Beliefs

items.(3) Composite Beliefs (CB: DAPBEL + DIPBEL) = a summed score of all 42

Beliefs items with the DIP items recoded so that higher scores reflectedstronger DAP beliefs.

(4) DAP Activities (DAPACT) = a summed score of all 18 DAP Activities items.(5) DIP Activities (DIPACT) = a recoded and summed score of all 12 DIP

Activities items.(6) Composite Activities (CP: DAPACT + DIPACT) = a summed score of all

30 Activities items with the DIP items recoded so that higher scores reflectedmore frequent DAP activities.

(7) DAP (DAPBEL + DAPACT) = a summed score of all 45 DAP items.(8) DIP (DIPBEL + DIPACT) = a recoded and summed score of all 27 DIP items.(9) Total = a summed score of CB + CP.

Table 1 provides descriptive information on the survey scores.To closely reflect the 1997 NAEYC guidelines for DAP, items were compared to

the guidelines categories. The categories for the TBS include: ‘creating a caringcommunity of learners’, ‘teaching to enhance development and learning’, ‘construct-ing appropriate curriculum’, ‘assessing children’s learning and development’, ‘recip-rocal relationship with parents’ and ‘programme policies’. On the other hand, thecategories for the IAS include: ‘creating a caring community of learners’, ‘teaching toenhance development and learning’, ‘constructing appropriate curriculum’ and ‘recip-rocal relationship with parents’. Due to the fact that these categories are not mutually


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exclusive, this survey is not designed to classify items in different categories. Manyitems reflect more than one area, in line with the guidelines’ integral and holisticcharacteristics (Hart et al., 1997; Kim, 2005). Table 2 depicts descriptive statistics onthe beliefs and instructional activities subscale based on those categories.

Bivariate correlations and linear regression analyses were employed in order toexamine correlations among variables and to test the hypothesis whether beliefspredict practices. Table 3 represents bivariate correlations results for the ninedependent variables that were created from the survey scores. Even though a numberof significant correlations were revealed among variables, the analysis indicated thatGreek pre-service kindergarten teachers’ beliefs do not predict their instructionalactivities (r = .183; p = .090).

Furthermore, we explored correlations among sample’s demographic data,kindergarten schools’ characteristics and the mean scores attributed to the TBS andIAS. The analysis indicated that pre-service teachers’ and kindergarten schools’characteristics do not predict participants’ beliefs and practices. Finally, bivariatecorrelation analysis among the factors which pre-service teachers reported thatinfluence the way they organise and implement instruction and the mean scores inthe IAS and TBS revealed negative correlation significant at the 0.01 level onlybetween teachers’ beliefs and the variable which refers to other educators’ asinfluential (r = –.366).

Table 1. Descriptive statistics on the survey scores (n = 55).

DAPBEL DIPBEL CB DAPACT DIPACT CP DAP DIP Total

Minimum 3.11 2.13 3.21 2.61 1.83 2.63 2.98 2.22 3.19Maximum 4.59 4.13 4.17 4.56 4.50 4.13 4.58 4.11 4.06Mean 3.99 3.05 3.65 3.59 2.90 3.32 3.83 2.99 3.51SD .37 .40 .26 .50 .54 .30 .35 .39 .21Range 1.48 2.00 .96 1.95 2.67 1.50 1.60 1.89 .87Skewness −.51 .105 .128 .03 .24 .22 −.150 .29 .59Kurtosis −.47 .173 −.82 −.68 .42 .64 −.48 .59 −.21

Table 2. Descriptive statistics on Teacher Beliefs and Instructional Activities Scales’subcategories (n = 55).

Teacher Beliefs Scale Instructional Activities Scale

Subcategories M SD Skewness Kurtosis M SD Skewness Kurtosis

Creating a caring community of learners

4.13 .35 −.60 .36 3.20 .53 −.24 −.33

Teaching to enhance development and learning

3.53 .28 .41 −.12 3.64 .38 .09 .02

Constructing appropriate curriculum

3.29 .38 .06 −.37 3.21 .36 .31 −.10

Assessing 3.63 .46 .27 .58 NA NA NA NAReciprocal relationships

with parents3.95 .67 −.28 −.47 2.60 1.22 .51 −.27

Programme policies 4.47 .74 −1.59 2.81 NA NA NA NA


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Discussion and recommendations

Teachers’ beliefs about DAPs and the implementation of the developmentallyappropriate principles in the classroom have remained mostly understudied in Greece.

Research results of the present study suggest that participating pre-servicekindergarten teachers favour DAPs both as far as their beliefs and practices areconcerned. Participants reported higher scores in the DAP beliefs (M = 3.99) subcat-egory than in the DAP activities (M = 3.59) subcategory. Further, participating pre-service teachers reported higher scores in the DIP beliefs subcategory (M = 3.05)rather than in the DIP activities (M = 2.90) subscale.

The importance of the DIP beliefs has been reported by other researchers, too(Israsena, 2007; Kim, 2005; Kim & Buchanan, 2009; Liu, 2007).

Bredekamp and Copple (1997) have postulated that individual teachers occupydifferent positions along the continuum of teaching practice. Thus, according toBuchanan et al. (1998) the majority of teachers typically use some combination ofinstructional techniques in their classrooms rather than adhere to one particulartheoretical approach. Further, in their thorough review of research on DAP, Dunn andKontos (1997) report that only about one-fifth to one-third of the early childhoodclassrooms fully demonstrate DAP.

The above assumption is in accordance with the research results of the presentstudy, since as the analysis has indicated there are differences among reported beliefs(both DAP and DIP) and reported practices.

Our results substantiate previous research results. Vartuli (1999) found that thebelief scale was significantly higher than the practice scale. Teachers reported higherdevelopmentally appropriate beliefs than DAPs on the summed and mean scaledscores. The higher the score, the more developmentally appropriate the beliefs were.Teacher beliefs were more developmentally appropriate than self-reported practicesfor every paired beliefs and practice item.

Hedge and Cassidy’s (2009a, 2009b) research results also indicated that teachers’beliefs were more developmentally appropriate than their stated practices or actualpractices in the classroom.

Discrepancy between teachers’ beliefs and practices has been reported by otherresearchers too (Charlesworth et al., 1993; Doliopoulou, 1996; Dunn & Kontos, 1997;Faour, 2003; Israsena, 2007; Kim, 2005; Kim et al., 2005; Liu, 2007; McMullen,1999; McMullen et al., 2005; Parker & Neuharth-Pritchett, 2006; Phillips, 2004; Ruto-Korir, 2010; Suk Lee et al., 2006).

Generally, it could be argued that the review of literature on teachers’ beliefs aboutand practices of DAP reveals that teachers in ECE endorse DAP more in their philos-ophy than in their classroom practices (Hedge & Cassidy, 2009a, 2009b; Israsena,2007; Lara-Cinisomo et al., 2009; Liu, 2007; McMullen, 1999; Parker & Neuharth-Pritchett, 2006).

There maybe several reasons why teachers might state a belief in DAP, yet notpractise it in their own classrooms. DAP is the ‘politically correct’ philosophy of theday (i.e. it is widely supported by professional organisations and leaders in the field),and it may be very hard for some teachers to admit that they do not accept the‘conventional wisdom’ when asked to state their beliefs. Among those teachers whoinsist that they really do believe in DAP, the discrepancy between beliefs and practicesis attributed to a number of environmental or work-related stresses. Most commonamong these complaints are feelings of being unsupported by parents, colleagues and


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administrators, and teachers’ perception that they must emphasise skill developmentand prepare students for standardised tests (McMullen, 1999).

Thus, according to Wang et al. (2008) discrepancies between beliefs and practicesmay reflect a gap between knowledge and application of developmentally appropriatecurriculum or existence of certain contextual constraints (Stipek & Byler, 1997). It isalso possible that some teachers, especially novices, may not be conscious enough oftheir beliefs while teaching to enact them.

Further, analysis on the beliefs and instructional activities categories has indicatedthe following. When it comes to pre-service teachers’ beliefs they reported higherscores on the ‘programme policies’ (M = 4.47) and the ‘creating a caring communityof learners’ (M = 4.13) subcategories, whereas the lower score has been attributed onthe ‘constructing an appropriate curriculum’ (M = 3.29) category. On the other hand,on the IAS, participants reported that favour activities falling in the category ‘teachingto enhance development and learning’ (M = 3.64), whereas less emphasis is given onactivities falling in the category ‘reciprocal relationships with parents’ (M = 2.60).

Interpreting our results, we could argue that Greek pre-service kindergarten teach-ers’ beliefs of our sample are closer to the more child-centred – developmentally appro-priate side of the developmentally appropriate versus developmentally inappropriatecontinuum considering the main points of DAP curriculum such as active, hands-onlearning, dramatic play and activities related to children’s needs and interests. Erdillerand McMallen (2003) have reported the same results with a Turkish sample.

Turning to the factors which according to pre-service teachers’ reports affect theway they organise and implement instruction, findings were in the expected direction.Since participants are pre-service teachers they reported that they are affected mainlyby state regulations (M = 4.15) and other teachers (4.87), whereas they, as students,have limited influence in their instruction (M = 2.35).

Finally, correlation analyses indicated a high correlation between DAP beliefs andDAP practices of participants. Also a high correlation was evident between DIPbeliefs and DIP practices. Thus, negative correlation was evident between DIP andDAP beliefs and practices. Yet, beliefs have not been found to predict pre-servicekindergarten teachers’ self-reported practices.

Our research results substantiate partially previous results. Faour (2003) foundcorrelations between DAP beliefs and practices and DIP beliefs and practices. With aGreek sample, Doliopoulou (1996) also found correlations between DAP beliefsand practices and DIP beliefs and practices. Correlations among DIP practices andbeliefs and DAP practices and beliefs have been reported by other researchers, too(Charlesworth et al., 1993; Erdiller & McMallen, 2003; File & Gullo, 2002; Hedge &Cassidy, 2009a, 2009b; Kim, 2005; Kim et al., 2005; Lara-Cinisomo et al., 2009; Liu,2007; Maxwell et al., 2001; McMullen & Alat, 2002; McMullen et al., 2005; Parker& Neuharth-Pritchett, 2006; Stipek & Byler, 1997; Suk Lee et al., 2006; Vartuli, 1999;Wang et al., 2008).

Although we do not clearly understand the mechanism involved in the adoptionand then the transmission of beliefs about practices into actual classroom behaviours(McMullen & Alat, 2002), an examination of the beliefs of pre-service teachersprovides a window to questions about how programmes prepare students to makedecisions about what and how to teach.

Richardson (1996) has postulated that personal beliefs are said to be modifiedduring pre-service teacher education and continue to shift during the early in-service


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years, particularly the first year, and as teachers’ personal experience and efficacygrow throughout their career. Based on the above argument, it is suggested futureresearch to compare beliefs among first-year pre-service teachers, four-year pre-service teachers, and teachers who work for two and for more years.

Furthermore, OECD (2009) reports suggest that in order to gain an understandingof the prevalence of certain beliefs and practices, it is important to examine how theyrelate to the characteristics of teachers and classrooms. OECD therefore suggests anextensive framework for the analysis of teaching beliefs and practices.

Moreover, research suggests that there are contextual factors (self-efficacy,teacher’s control over the classroom, grade level, class size, pressure from administra-tors, unrealistic expectations of parents, achievement tests and the school or statecurriculum) that may affect classroom practices and these factors contribute to thediscrepancy between beliefs and practices that should be considered when usingbeliefs to infer what is going on in the classroom (Buchanan et al., 1998; Erdiller &McMallen, 2003; Hedge & Cassidy, 2009b; Liu, 2007; Maxwell et al., 2001;McMullen, 1999; Parker & Neuharth-Pritchett, 2006; Vartuli, 1999). Future researchexamining pre-service teachers’ beliefs and practices should also explore othercontextual factors which have been found to affect practices and beliefs. More in-depth research into external factors affecting teacher practices would enhance theliterature and best inform educators working towards implementing developmentallyappropriate classrooms.

Finally, this particular study relied solely on pre-service kindergarten teachers’ self-reported beliefs and practices. Although research literature has indicated that observedpractices support what teachers report as their beliefs and practices (Buchanan et al.,1998; Charlesworth et al., 1993; Faour, 2003; Hedge & Cassidy, 2009a; Kim, 2005;Vartuli, 1999), measures cannot totally replace observations of interactions. Thisargument is substantiated by previous research designs according to which teachers’beliefs and practices may not be a perfect reflection of each other (Charlesworth et al.,1993; Dunn & Kontos, 1997; McMullen, 1999; McCarty et al., 2001; Parker &Neuharth-Pritchett, 2006; Raymond, 1997; Smith, 1997). Therefore, while the sampledescribed their instructional beliefs and practices, this may not be an accurate portrayalof what actually happens in the classroom. Observations of the teachers would provideadditional contextual data to support this research.

Further caveats about the present study include the following: first, the examina-tion of beliefs without direct comparison to either teaching practice or child outcomesis necessarily limited. Pajares (1992) asserted, however, that understanding the beliefsof pre-service teachers is essential to teacher education. An examination of the beliefsof students provides a window to questions about how programmes prepare studentsto make decisions about what and how to teach. Second, the study was cross-sectional,rather than longitudinal. Finally, because only pre-service teachers within a singleinstitution were examined these results should be considered preliminary untilextended.

To conclude, the present study aimed at examining pre-service kindergartenstudents’ beliefs and practices of DAP, a topic of interest limitedly research in Greece.Substantiating research results from other countries, the data from the present studysuggest that there is a discrepancy between participants’ beliefs and practices withtheir beliefs being more developmentally appropriate than their reported practices.Furthermore, analysis indicated correlations among DAP beliefs and practices andDIP beliefs and practices. Yet, beliefs have not been found to predict practices.


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Further research should be conducted in Greece over the topic in order to produce datathat can be generalised and which can lead to suggestions about how universityprogrammes should be organised in order to shape pre-service teachers’ beliefstowards a more developmentally appropriate approach which will be also imple-mented in practice.

Notes on contributorsKonstantina Rentzou is a PhD candidate at the Department of Early Childhood Education,University of Ioannina, Greece. Her PhD thesis aims to evaluate quality in Greek preschoolsettings from researchers’, parents’ and early childhood educators’ perspectives. She has grad-uated from the Department of Early Childhood Education and Care, TEI of Epirus, in 2002 andin 2004 she finished her masters of arts in early childhood education at the Brunel University,West London. From 2005 to 2008, she has been working as a casual teacher at the Departmentof Early Childhood Education and Care, TEI of Epirus, Ioannina. She is currently teaching inthe secondary education at the Department of Early Childhood Education and Care. Her teachingand research objectives are related to preschool education. Her interests are mainly about issuesconcerning parental involvement in preschools settings, involvement of males in early childhoodeducation, burn out syndrome and provision of quality early childhood education.

Maria Sakellariou is an epicure at the Department of Early Childhood Education, University ofIoannina, Greece. Her research interests focalise on issues concerning early childhood education,parental involvement in the school setting, gender stereotypes and early childhood education,multicultural education and assessment in early childhood education. She has attended a widerange of seminars, participated in research designs and contributed in a wide range of papers.She has also published several books and contributed in collective volumes.

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Documents

Greek pre-service kindergarten teachers’ beliefs about and practices of developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood education