Indergarten teachers’ perceptions of intervention strategies for young children with mild learning and behavior problems

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify intervention strategies that kindergarten teachers in Greece consider acceptable and actually use in the classroom when dealing with children with mild learning and behavior problems, as well as to examine whether teachers’ years of experience affected their perceptions for acceptability and frequency of use for those strategies. One hundred fifty four (154) kindergarten teachers rated forty (40) intervention strategies using α 4-point Likert scale in two ways: first, according to how reasonable they thought each strategy was, and second, how often they used it in their classroom during the academic year. Principal component analysis showed that specialist consultation/data collection, teacher positive intervention, parent/teacher consultation and teacher negative intervention were the four factors for acceptability while teacher positive intervention/data collection, specialists consultation, and teacher negative intervention were the three factors for use. Additionally, thirty-eight (38) of the kindergarten teachers who filled the questionnaires volunteered to give an interview. In those interviews, the reasons why kindergarten teachers do not use certain strategies in the classroom were explored. A comparison of Greek teachers’ perceptions with those of their USA colleagues is discussed.