Abstract
The study examined relationships between Kindergarten Teachers’ Self-efficacy and their Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) beliefs in selected pubic basic schools in two Districts in the Central Region, Ghana. The study was underpinned by Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory. The cross-sectional survey design was adopted for the study. Simple Random and Purposive sampling techniques were used in selecting the districts and kindergarten teachers. The sample size for the study was 274 kindergarten teachers, data analysis was however based on responses from 264 of them. An adaption of the long version of Tschannen Moran and Hoy Self-efficacy scale and self developed items from the 12 principles of DAP were used to gather data. Means, Pearsons Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and Standard Multiple Regression were used in analyzing data. The findings revealed that kindergarten teachers’ beliefs in employing DAP in kindergarten settings was high. There was a small but positive statistically significant correlation between kindergarten teachers’ self-efficacy and their developmentally appropriate practice beliefs. It also came to light that, of the three self-efficacy sub-variables, kindergarten teachers’ self-efficacy in instructional strategies was the strongest predictor of their developmentally appropriate practice beliefs. It was recommended that stakeholders should organize workshops, seminars, for kindergarten teachers to enable them become abreast with current trends that would increase their self-efficacy and also their belief in their ability to use DAP. Keywords: kindergarten, self-efficacy, developmentally appropriate practice, beliefs DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-14-06 Publication date: May 31 st 2020
Highlights
Childhood Education plays an essential role in fostering children’s development and prepares them for success for the rest of their academic years and beyond
The corresponding p-value implies that the correlation observed between the variables is not due to chance since it is significant (p≤.003), and there exist a relationship between self-efficacy and developmentally appropriate practice beliefs
Findings and Discussion It may be gleaned from the foregoing that, KG teachers in Central Region strongly agreed that they have the ability to use developmentally appropriate practices in kindergarten classrooms and there is a positive correlation between KG teachers’ self-efficacy and their developmentally appropriate practices beliefs in kindergarten learning settings
Summary
Childhood Education plays an essential role in fostering children’s development and prepares them for success for the rest of their academic years and beyond. To make kindergarten education effective and relevant there is the need to employ teachers with the requisite skills and in-depth understanding of how the child develops and learns using developmentally appropriate practices. Appropriate classrooms set up by teachers can meet the needs of an individual child, promote self-esteem and positive feelings of children towards school Such practices are considered ideal and critical to the effective implementation of any kindergarten curriculum. In Ghana, there are many untrained kindergarten teachers, inequitable allocation of educational resources to urban and rural schools coupled with a high number of children in the kindergartens due to social interventions such as the Free School Feeding Programme These conditions require kindergarten teachers with an appreciable level of self-efficacy who belief they can use developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood settings. The framework below illustrates the interaction among the teacher self-efficacy sub-variables and developmentally appropriate practice beliefs
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
