Parent Play Beliefs, Play as a Teaching Technique, and Teachers’ Pedagogical Knowledge, and Children’s Early Numeracy and Literacy Skills: Evidence from Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

This study examined the associations between parent play beliefs, play as a teaching technique, teachers’ pedagogical knowledge, and early numeracy and literacy skills in six-year-old children who attend preschool education. A correlation study design, under a quantitative approach, was used. Participants included 216 children (106 male and 110 female), 215 teachers (99 male and 116 female), and 210 parents (135 male and 75 female). The Parent Play Beliefs Scale, preschool teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge scale, and literacy and numeracy test were used. Hierarchical linear modeling results showed that the parent play beliefs, play as a teaching technique, and teachers’ pedagogical knowledge of ΔR2 value of 0.020 revealed a 0.2% change in the variance of models 1, 2 and 3 with ΔF (1, 213) = 17.679, p 0.001. Analyses revealed that the combined effects of the independent variables explained a 76.4% variance in children’s early literacy and numeracy. These findings indicate that the variables significantly and positively predicted children’s literacy and numeracy skills. Eventually, in conclusion, areas of further research and implications for policy and practice were forwarded based on the major findings.