Multidimensional Self-Concepts of Children and Teacher Beliefs About Developmentally Appropriate Practices

Abstract

Relationships between children's multidimensional self-concepts (SC) and teachers' beliefs were explored. Twenty-three boys and 28 girls were given the Self-Description Questionnaire-I (SDQ-I) near the beginning of the school year and again 6 months later to measure multidimensional SC; their teachers were given the Primary Teacher Questionnaire to measure beliefs about traditional (TRAD) versus developmentally appropriate practices (DAP). Multiple-regression analyses to predict the later SC from the earlier SDQ scores and teacher beliefs showed that TRAD predicted academic SC and general school SC for boys, but DAP was not a predictor of any dimension of SC. Neither DAP nor TRAD predicted any dimension of SC for girls. Findings are discussed in relation to the literature on developmentally appropriate practice and child outcomes.