Kindergarten teachers’ knowledge level of developmentally appropriate practice in Jordan

Abstract

ABSTRACT The researchers conducting this study explored kindergarten teachers’ knowledge level of developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) in early years settings in Jordan. Data were collected from 180 kindergarten teachers working in Amman Governorate. A 37-item questionnaire was designed to reflect the concepts of DAP as presented in the National Association for the Education of Young Children guidelines. Results indicated that participating kindergarten teachers reported high knowledge level of DAP. Moreover, the results revealed statistically significant differences among kindergarten teachers based on some study variables; kindergarten teachers with specialisation related to early childhood education and with high academic qualification demonstrated a higher level of DAP than their counterparts without. Implications are also offered: they include developing early childhood teacher education programmes to emphasise DAP in pre-and in-service teacher education programmes.