-
This article was downloaded by: [University of Malaya]On: 23
July 2015, At: 05:44Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in
England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: 5
Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG
Early Education andDevelopmentPublication details, including
instructions forauthors and subscription
information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/heed20
Early Childhood Teachers'Curriculum Beliefs: Are TheyConsistent
With ObservedClassroom Practices?Xiaoli Wen a , James G. Elicker b
& Mary B. McMullenc
a Department of Early Childhood Education ,National-Louis
Universityb Department of Human Development & FamilyStudies ,
Purdue Universityc Department of Curriculum and Instruction ,
IndianaUniversityPublished online: 12 Dec 2011.
To cite this article: Xiaoli Wen , James G. Elicker & Mary
B. McMullen (2011)Early Childhood Teachers' Curriculum Beliefs: Are
They Consistent With ObservedClassroom Practices?, Early Education
and Development, 22:6, 945-969,
DOI:10.1080/10409289.2010.507495
To link to this article:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2010.507495
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE
Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy
of all theinformation (the Content) contained in the publications
on our platform.However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our
licensors make norepresentations or warranties whatsoever as to the
accuracy, completeness,or suitability for any purpose of the
Content. Any opinions and viewsexpressed in this publication are
the opinions and views of the authors, andare not the views of or
endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the
-
Content should not be relied upon and should be independently
verified withprimary sources of information. Taylor and Francis
shall not be liable for anylosses, actions, claims, proceedings,
demands, costs, expenses, damages,and other liabilities whatsoever
or howsoever caused arising directly orindirectly in connection
with, in relation to or arising out of the use of theContent.
This article may be used for research, teaching, and private
study purposes.Any substantial or systematic reproduction,
redistribution, reselling, loan,sub-licensing, systematic supply,
or distribution in any form to anyone isexpressly forbidden. Terms
& Conditions of access and use can be found
athttp://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
Early Childhood Teachers CurriculumBeliefs: Are They Consistent
WithObserved Classroom Practices?
Xiaoli WenDepartment of Early Childhood Education,
National-Louis University
James G. ElickerDepartment of Human Development & Family
Studies, Purdue University
Mary B. McMullenDepartment of Curriculum and Instruction,
Indiana University
Research Findings: This study examined the consistency between
earlychildhood teachers self-reported curriculum beliefs and
observations of theiractual interactive behaviors with children in
classrooms. Also tested was thehypothesized moderation by teacher
and classroom characteristics of the associ-ation between beliefs
and practices. A total of 58 preschool teachers completed asurvey
describing their professional backgrounds and curriculum beliefs.
Theirclassroom practices were observed using a newly developed
instrument thatdocumented teacher interactions with children. Most
teachers in this samplestrongly endorsed child-initiated learning
beliefs, although their beliefs aboutteacher-directed learning
varied considerably. The most frequently observedteacher behaviors
in the classroom were giving directions to children, respond-ing to
childrens initiations, and engaging in non-interactive
classroommanage-ment activities. Overall, teachers curriculum
beliefs and observed classroompractices were weakly correlated.
However, there were moderation effects.Stronger congruence between
teacher-directed learning beliefs and observedteaching behaviors
was found among teachers who hadmore professional train-ing and
more years of teaching experience. Practice or Policy: These
results sup-port the importance of early childhood teacher
professional development. Theysuggest that teacher preparation and
professional development programs
Correspondence regarding this article should be addressed to
Xiaoli Wen, National-Louis
University, 122 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60603.
E-mail: [email protected]
EARLY EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT, 22(6), 945969
Copyright # 2011 Taylor & Francis Group, LLCISSN: 1040-9289
print=1556-6935 online
DOI: 10.1080/10409289.2010.507495
945
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
should focus on the intellectual transformation between teacher
knowledge andteacher practice, promoting both aspects of
development.
What beliefs do early childhood teachers hold about effective
teaching andlearning? How consistent are teachers teaching and
learning beliefs withtheir everyday practices? There has been
increased interest in the associationbetween teachers curriculum
beliefs and classroom practices (e.g., Fang,1996; McMullen, 1999;
Wilcox-Herzog, 2002). Teacher beliefs may serveas contextual
filters through which teachers screen their classroom experi-ences,
interpret them, and adapt their subsequent classroom practices
(Clark& Peterson, 1986). This view has been supported by a few
studies that sug-gest that teachers beliefs about how children
learn and how teaching affectslearning play a critical role in
their interactions with children (e.g., Maxwell,McWilliam,
Hemmeter, Ault, & Schuster, 2001).
From a professional development perspective, pre-service and
in-serviceteacher education programs spend considerable effort
attempting toshape teachers curriculum beliefs based on the
assumption that beliefsabout teaching and learning will impact
classroom practices. However,the empirical evidence to date does
not uniformly support a strong relation-ship between teacher
beliefs and practices. The purposes of the currentstudy were to
address limitations in previous research; examine the consist-ency
between preschool teachers curriculum beliefs and their
classroomteaching practices, as observed through a newly developed
observationinstrument; and explore how teacher and classroom
characteristics affectthe strength and direction of the
associations between teacher beliefs andpractices.
This study is important for three reasons. First, extensive
research sup-ports the significance of teaching quality in young
childrens development,especially in the early years of life (e.g.,
National Institute of Child Healthand Human Development Early Child
Care Research Network, 2002,2005; Smolensky & Gootman, 2003).
However, systematic investigations ofteachers underlying beliefs
and contextual explorations of their practiceshave been rare.
Second, a majority of research on teacher beliefs and prac-tices
has focused on kindergarten or elementary and secondary
schoolteachers rather than those who serve preschool-age children
(McCarty,Abbott-Shim, & Lambert, 2001). Given the recent
national policy focus onearly care and education, and given the
increased availability of preschoolprograms, including state-funded
pre-K programs and federally fundedHead Start programs, an
examination of the beliefs and practices of pre-school teachers has
important implications for improving the quality of edu-cation
offered by these programs. Third, the current study has the
potential
946 WEN, ELICKER, AND MCMULLEN
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
to provide insights into early childhood teacher preparation and
professionaldevelopment. With more systematic data about the
associations betweenteaching beliefs and practices, teacher
educators will be able to target specificbeliefs and behaviors that
are linked or perhaps develop other strategies forsupporting
desired teacher behaviors that are not associated with beliefs.
ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN TEACHER BELIEFS AND PRACTICES
Much research to date on early childhood teachers beliefs and
practiceshas focused on measuring teachers developmentally
appropriate orinappropriate beliefs and practices (e.g.,
Charlesworth, Hart, Burts, &Hernandez, 1991; Charlesworth et
al., 1993; Dunn & Kontos, 1997; Hyson,Hirsh-Pasek, &
Rescorla, 1996). These concepts were derived from early pos-ition
statements concerning developmentally appropriate practice
(DAP)published by the National Association for the Education of
Young Children(NAEYC; Bredekamp & Copple, 1997). Based on the
original DAP guide-lines, Charlesworth and colleagues (1991)
developed two scales (the TeacherBeliefs Scale [TBS] and
Instructional Activities Scale) to assess 113 kinder-garten
teachers self-reported curriculum beliefs and self-reported
teachingpractices. The results indicated that self-reported
developmentally appropri-ate beliefs and self-reported practices
were moderately correlated (r .63),and a somewhat stronger
correlation was found between self-reported devel-opmentally
inappropriate beliefs and practices (r .71). In a subsequentstudy
with a larger sample, Charlesworth et al. (1993) found a similar
levelof correlation. A subsample of teachers practices was also
assessed using aDAP-based global observation scale, and the result
demonstrated somecongruence between teachers self-reported beliefs
and observed practices.However, teachers seemed to value DAP as a
belief system to a greater extentthan they were actually observed
engaging in such practices.
Some consistency between early childhood teachers beliefs and
practiceshas been supported by other research. Stipek and Byler
(1997) conducted sur-veys and observations in classrooms with 60
preschool, kindergarten, andfirst-grade teachers and concluded that
for preschool and kindergarten tea-chers, but not for first-grade
teachers, beliefs espoused about appropriateand effective teaching
were significantly correlated with the practices the tea-chers
implemented in their classrooms (rs .49.85). Child-centered
teacherbeliefs were positively associated with an observed positive
social climate andnegatively associated with an observed emphasis
on basic skills in teacherinstructions. The correlations with these
observed behaviors were in theopposite direction for the basic
skills orientation teacher beliefs. Similarly,McMullen and
colleagues (2006) compared what preschool teachers said
ARE TEACHERS CURRICULUM BELIEFS CONSISTENT WITH PRACTICES?
947
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
about their beliefs to their actual practices as examined by
classroomobservations, curriculum materials, daily curriculum
plans, programartifacts, and other evidence collected from their
classroom environmentsand programs. Results indicated that when
child-directed free play, emergentliteracy, and language
development activities were observed, teachers self-reported
beliefs were more strongly aligned with DAP. When
consistentroutines, organized classrooms, preplanned curriculum,
and teacher-directedlearning were the observed practices, teachers
more strongly endorsedacademic-oriented teaching beliefs.
In contrast to studies suggesting congruence between early
childhood tea-chers beliefs and reportedor observedpractices, other
studies haverevealed an inconsistency between beliefs and
practices. Hatch and Freeman(1988) interviewed kindergarten
teachers, principals, and supervisors andfound that their
self-reported practices usually were not congruent withDAP
guidelines, although their beliefs were much more congruent withthe
guidelines. A similar finding was obtained in studies by Vartuli
(1999)and Charlesworth et al. (1993). Wilcox-Herzog (2002)
contrasted 47 pre-school teachers self-reported beliefs with their
observed interactions withchildren (e.g., sensitivity, involvement,
and play style) and did not findcorrelations between teachers
beliefs and actions.
Therefore, at present, the evidence about the linkage between
early child-hood teachers curriculum beliefs and practices is
mixed. There are severalpossible reasons for this lack of consensus
across studies. First, results ofstudies may depend on the specific
method of measuring beliefs and prac-tices. Some researchers have
investigated teachers self-reported beliefs andself-reported
behaviors, finding moderate associations between the two(e.g.,
Charlesworth et al., 1991), whereas other researchers have
assessedself-reported beliefs and observed classroom practices,
finding that they arenot consistent (e.g., Wilcox-Herzog, 2002).
There are apparently discrepan-cies between what teachers think
they should do (beliefs), what they actuallydo (observed
practices), and what teachers overtly represent that they havedone
(self-reported practices). In many cases, teachers may have clear
ideasabout what they should do because of well-publicized
professional guidelinessuch as the DAP principles promoted by the
NAEYC. However, there oftenseems to be a gap between teachers
observed and self-reported behaviors. Inaddition, during classroom
observations, outside observers may sometimesmisinterpret teachers
intentions behind certain interactions with childrenbecause of
their unfamiliarity with the teacher and the classroom
context.However, it is also possible that teachers may not be aware
of discrepanciesin self-reports between what they believe and what
they do. Yet observersmight be able to capture this beliefbehavior
inconsistency more objectively,if it typically occurs. This may
explain why self-reported beliefs and
948 WEN, ELICKER, AND MCMULLEN
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
self-reported behaviors are typically moderately correlated,
whereasself-reported beliefs and observed behaviors tend to be less
congruent.
The second possible reason for the mixed findings regarding
beliefpractice relationships is that the two constructs are
sometimes not measuredat the same level of generality or
specificity (Azjen, 1996). For example, tea-cher beliefs may be
assessed regarding broad issues (e.g., child learning
anddevelopment), whereas classroom practice observations may have a
muchmore specific focus (e.g., teachers play with children or
prevalence offree choice). The level of concept and analysis
mismatch could producemisleading results.
Third, how freely teachers are able to put their beliefs into
practice maybe constrained by contextual factors, such as school
philosophy, supervi-sors support or lack of support, parent
expectations, professional training,work experience, and the
teacherchild ratio in the classroom. Several tea-cher and program
characteristics have been examined in the literatureand have been
found to be related to teacher beliefs and practices (e.g.,McMullen
& Alat, 2002; Vartuli, 1999; Wilcox-Herzog, 2002).
TEACHER AND PROGRAM CHARACTERISTICS RELATED TOEARLY CHILDHOOD
TEACHER BELIEFS AND PRACTICES
Specialized professional training, as indicated by field of
study, certification,and in-service professional activity, has been
shown to be associated withteacher practices (Kontos &
Wilcox-Herzog, 2001; McMullen, 1999). Earlychildhood teachers who
were certified in early childhood education weremore likely to
report the frequent use of developmentally appropriate activi-ties
than those who were either not certified or certified in elementary
edu-cation (Buchanan, Burts, Bidner, White, & Charlesworth,
1998; McMullen& Alat, 2002; Vartuli, 1999). Teaching
certification was also found to beassociated with higher quality
observed practices, such as involvement withchildren and verbal
responsiveness (Wilcox-Herzog, 2002). Snider and Fu(1990) reported
that knowledge of appropriate practice is associated withacademic
training in child development and early education, as well as
thenumber of content areas covered in specialized courses.
In addition to specialized training, teachers general education
levels wereassociated with their knowledge of appropriate
practices, caregiving atti-tudes, and actual classroom practices in
a number of studies (e.g., Cassidy,Buell, Pugh-Hoese, &
Russell, 1995; McMullen & Alat, 2002). In a compari-son study
of Chinese and American preschool teachers curriculum
beliefs,teacher education level was found to predict both groups of
teacherschild-initiated learning beliefs (Wang, Elicker, McMullen,
& Mao, 2008).
ARE TEACHERS CURRICULUM BELIEFS CONSISTENT WITH PRACTICES?
949
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
Maxwell et al. (2001) found that teacher education significantly
contributedto observed teaching quality after they controlled for
classroomcharacteristics and teachers beliefs. One study
specifically examined theeffect of community college coursework on
early childhood teachers beliefsand practices (Cassidy et al.,
1995). Findings revealed that teachers whotook early childhood
education courses made significant gains on the mea-sure of
classroom quality and teacher beliefs between the pre- and
posttests,and their practices were more developmentally appropriate
than those of theteachers who did not take the courses.
Professional support is another factor associated with beliefs
and prac-tices. Stipek and Byler (1997) found that nearly all
teachers who reportednot being able to implement their
developmentally appropriate beliefs intopractice claimed that their
program was too basic skills oriented, and par-ents were the most
often cited sources of pressure. Ernest (1989) concurredby
asserting that pressures from parents, administrators, and
colleagues mayaffect teachers ability to enact their curriculum
beliefs.
Teachers work experience has also been frequently examined, but
thefindings about how it relates to beliefs and practices are
inconclusive.Wlicox-Herzog (2002) found that more experienced
teachers showed lowerlevels of sensitivity but higher levels of
involvement and verbalizations duringinteractions with children.
Vartuli (1999) found that teachers with fewer yearsof teaching
experience were more likely to believe in and use more DAP.However,
other studies did not demonstrate relationships between
workexperience and either teaching quality or beliefs (e.g.,
Buysse,Wesley, Bryant,& Gardner, 1999; Maxwell et al., 2001;
Snider & Fu, 1990). In addition, someclassroom features have
been examined in combination with teacher charac-teristics as they
are associated with teaching practices (e.g., Maxwell et al.,2001).
One often-studied classroom feature is teacherchild ratio, and
thishas been found to be associated with teachers interactional
quality withchildren (Burchinal, Howes, & Kontos, 2002; Vandell
& Wolfe, 2000).
In the literature, teacher and classroom characteristics have
been relatedto either teacher beliefs or practices but not the
strength of associationbetween the two. As this review has
suggested, the nature and strength ofthe relationship between
teacher curriculum beliefs and practices is stillunclear. One
important reason for this is that previous studies have
usuallyfailed to account for possible moderating factorsconditions
or contextsthat could potentially influence the strength of the
association betweenbeliefs and practices. When moderators are
considered, questions regardingthe consistency between beliefs and
practice become the following: Underwhat conditions do teachers
consistently practice what they believe? orWhat are the
characteristics of those teachers who practice their beliefs
con-sistently? The current study aims to contribute to the field by
addressing
950 WEN, ELICKER, AND MCMULLEN
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
the moderation effects of teacher and classroom characteristics
on therelationship between teacher beliefs and practices. Also,
this studys newmethod for observing teacher classroom practices
conceptually matchesthe teacher beliefs measure used in an attempt
to bring about a morerigorous and accurate test of the general
beliefs=practices hypothesis.
It is important to point out that other teacher behavior
observationaltools are available in the field, and each has its
specific focus, such as teacherchild interaction or relationship
quality (e.g., Arnett, 1989; Booth, Kelly,Spieker, & Zuckerman,
2003), instructional strategies, level of involvementwith children
(Howes & Stewart, 1987), or play styles (e.g.,
Wilcox-Herzog,2002). It is not our intention to compare the new
tool developed for the cur-rent study with the rest of available
assessments. Each measurement serves itsown purpose. Our main goal
was to test the relationship between teacherbeliefs and classroom
practices by using assessments that had a similar con-ceptual
framework and a similar level of specificity, which may help to
avoidconfusing results caused by a mismatch between constructs and
measures.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. Are preschool teachers curriculum beliefs consistent with
their class-room practices? We hypothesized a moderate correlation
betweenpreschool teachers curriculum beliefs and their classroom
practices.
2. How do teacher characteristics (education level, professional
training,program support, and work experience) and teacherchild
ratio moder-ate the association between teacher curriculum beliefs
and classroompractices? We hypothesized greater consistency between
teachers cur-riculum beliefs and classroom practices among teachers
who have moreeducation, have more professional training, have more
work experience,receive better program support, and have smaller
class sizes.
METHOD
Participants
A total of 58 head teachers from 30 early childhood education
programs intwo counties in a midwestern state participated in this
study. The participat-ing centers, although not randomly selected,
were representative of thediversity of programs available in these
two communities (e.g., 84% werepreschools or child care centers, 7%
Head Start programs, 3% Montessoripreschools, 3% parents day out
programs, and 2% church-affiliated child
ARE TEACHERS CURRICULUM BELIEFS CONSISTENT WITH PRACTICES?
951
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
care programs). No more than two classrooms were selected from
eachcenter. All teacher participants were working with 3- to
5-year-old childrenat the time of the study. The average
teacherchild ratio in these classroomswas 1:7 (SD 2, range
1:31:12). Half of teachers were in their early 20 s tolate 30 s.
Moreover, 14% of the teachers held high school diplomas or gen-eral
equivalency diplomas, 26% had Child Development Associate
creden-tials or associates degrees, 44% had bachelors degrees, and
16% hadhigher level graduate degrees. Teachers had a mean of 9
years of experienceas early childhood professionals (SD 7, range
125 years) and a mean of6 years of experience as head teachers (SD
6, range less than 1 year to 23years). About 60% of the teachers
were members of early childhoodprofessional organizations.
Procedures
Teachers were recruited via letters sent to licensed centers in
each county intwo targeted regions. Approximately half of the
centers listed in the phone-book were randomly selected and
contacted. If the directors agreed to par-ticipate and returned a
response postcard (about 80% of directorsresponded), consent
packages were sent to head teachers within those cen-ters. Each
package included an invitation letter, a consent form, a
teachercontact form, and a stamped return envelope. Once the
teacher consentforms were received, teachers were contacted by
trained graduate researchassistants to schedule observations.
Each teacher was observed by one graduate assistant for about 2
hr(M 1.89 hr, range 1.32.4 hr) on a typical school day, but the
assistantactually stayed in the classroom for a longer time (at
least 3 hr) to get fam-iliar with the classroom situation, warm up
with the children and teachers,position himself or herself well so
that teacherchild interactions and com-munications could be seen
and heard clearly, and complete a practice obser-vation for 15min
before the actual observation was documented. Theobservation
occurred during an active portion of the class day when thefocal
teacher implemented planned activities and was in charge of the
class-room. Teachers behaviors were observed across diverse
settings and activi-ties within the classroom (e.g., free play,
large-group activity, small-groupactivity, clean-up time, snack
time, and transition). The purpose of observ-ing across settings is
to vigorously capture the variation within teacher beha-viors that
might be impacted by the nature of the immediate settings
andactivities (e.g., during clean-up time, teachers might be more
likely to givedirections to children).
Extensive training was conducted with the graduate assistants
performingthe classroom observation. The training was based on both
videotaped
952 WEN, ELICKER, AND MCMULLEN
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
teacherchild interactions and live observations in classrooms
not in thesample. Required interrater reliability was attained when
the observersreached at least 80% exact agreement with the training
supervisor for allmeasured behaviors during three consecutive
30-min observations. Afterthe classroom observation, teachers were
asked to complete a paper-and-pencil survey about their curriculum
beliefs and professional background.
Measures
Self-reported curriculum beliefs were assessed using the TBS,
developed byCharlesworth and her colleagues (1993) based on the
NAEYC guidelinesfor DAP in early childhood education. this scale
has been widely used inearly childhood research, with well
established reliability and validity, withboth preschool teachers
(internal consistency .45.88 for a sample of U.S.teachers; Wang et
al., 2008) and kindergarten teachers (internal consistency.58.84;
Charlesworth et al., 1993). The scale consists of 36 items
designedto measure teachers curriculum beliefs related to
curriculum goals (e.g.,provide opportunities for children to
develop social skills), teaching strate-gies (teacher observation
as an evaluation technique), and guidance of childdevelopment in
domains (allow children to select their own activities from
avariety of learning areas). Teachers were asked to rate each item
on a5-point Likert-type scale from not important at all (1) to
extremely important(5). Each item is a statement that describes
either a child-initiated learningbelief (e.g., it is ___ for
classroom activities to be responsive to individualdifferences in
interest) or a didactic or teacher-directed learning belief(e.g.,
it is ___ for the teacher to talk to the whole group and make
sureeveryone participates in the same activity).
Based on a principal component analysis conducted in a previous
study(Wang et al., 2008), the TBS items were grouped into three
subscales: (a)teacher-directed learning beliefs, 14 items, a .92
for the current sample(e. g., routine group practice is important
for instructional purposes); (b)child-initiated learning beliefs,
17 items, a .85 for the current sample(e.g., activities should be
responsive to individual differences in interest);and (c) broad
curriculum beliefs, 5 items, a .42 for the current sample(e.g.,
expose children to multicultural activities). Only two subscales,
theteacher-directed learning beliefs and child-initiated learning
beliefs sub-scales, were used in analyses for this study, because
these two subscalesachieved high reliabilities and corresponded
most closely with the categoriesof observed classroom practices as
introduced below. The means of thesetwo beliefs subscales were used
for analyses.
Observed classroom practices were measured by Early Childhood
TeacherBehavior Observation (ECTBO). This observation instrument
was
ARE TEACHERS CURRICULUM BELIEFS CONSISTENT WITH PRACTICES?
953
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
developed by our research team based on the NAEYC DAP
guidelines, thestructure of the TBS (the belief assessment), and a
critical review of existingmeasures of classroom practices. The
instrument was pilot-tested in five pre-school classrooms that were
not part of the study sample, and the items wererefined to reflect
teacher behaviors in various classroom situations based onextensive
trial observations. A wide range of classroom activities and
inter-action settings (i.e., indoor free play, large group, small
group, transitiontime, snack time, and outdoor free play) were
considered in determiningthe specific behaviors to be observed.
The ECTBO comprises a total of 17 discrete teacher classroom
behaviors.A precise definition and concrete examples of each
behavior are providedin the Appendix. The 17 behaviors are grouped
conceptually into fourcategories:
1. Directive behaviors. These include the behavioral categories
of give direc-tions, ask closed question, demonstrate, give
information, praise=reward,punish, threaten, and do for. With these
eight behaviors, teachers directand exert control over childrens
behaviors or test children on specificknowledge. For example, give
directions is defined as the teacher givingchildren procedural
information or instruction (no model or choice pro-vided) about
specific things they want the children to do in a certain wayor
physically guiding the children to do or not to do something.
2. Non-directive behaviors. These include the behavioral
categories ofobserve children, ask open question, scaffold, play
with children, offerchoice, and encourage. This group of six
behaviors represents teachersencouragement of child-initiated
learning and self-exploration. Forexample, offer choice refers to
the behavior of the teacher facilitatingand supporting children to
choose their own activities or their own pro-jects from a number of
options, including asking a child whether he orshe wants
something.
3. Responses to child. These involve teachers positive or
negative responsesto a childs verbal or nonverbal requests,
questions, or statements.
4. Classroom management. This measures teachers engagement in
house-keeping chores or interactions with other adults in the
classroom thatdo not involve interactions with or direct attention
to children. (Class-room management is not related to, nor should
it be confused with,the management or guidance of childrens
behaviors.)
The ECTBO was designed to conceptually match the beliefs
assessmentin order to provide a more robust test of the
relationship between teacherbeliefs and practices. Specifically,
the categorization of the observed beha-viors was inspired by the
beliefs assessment and was framed in similar terms.
954 WEN, ELICKER, AND MCMULLEN
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
For example, the beliefs assessment (TBS) contains two main
subscales:teacher-directed learning beliefs and child-initiated
learning beliefs. Simi-larly, the teacher practices observational
tool (ECTBO) categorizes teacherbehaviors into two main domains:
directive behaviors (corresponding toteacher-directed learning
beliefs) and non-directive behaviors (correspond-ing to
child-initiated learning beliefs). Other behaviors included in
ECTBOdescribe teachers responses to childrens requests and
classroom manage-ment (housekeeping activities that do not involve
interactions with chil-dren). Thus, the teacher behaviors implied
by the teacher beliefsassessment were captured in ECTBO. For
example, in the beliefs assess-ment, teachers are asked about the
importance of using teacher authoritythrough punishments and=or
reprimands to encourage childrens appropri-ate behavior.
Correspondingly, three matched observable classroom prac-tice
categories, punish, threaten, and praise=reward, are assessed in
theECTBO. Similarly, the beliefs assessment includes a question on
the impor-tance of allowing children to select their own activities
from a variety oflearning areas. A corresponding practice, offer
choice, is captured in theobservation. Overall, the beliefs and
practices measures used in this studyhad similar levels of
conceptualization and specificity.
A time-sampling strategy was used to collect the observation
data. Ineach 30-s interval, teachers were observed for the first 10
s, and then theirbehaviors were coded and recorded for 20 s. After
coding, the next intervalof observation began. The mean total
observation intervals was 226, rangingfrom 146 to 270. One or more
behaviors could be recorded during eachobservation interval. The
ratio between the total frequency of each behaviorand the total
number of observation intervals was calculated to represent
theproportion of time each behavior appeared in teachers classroom
practicesduring the observation time. Therefore, the percentage
measure for eachbehavior is free of the impact of observation
duration.
An internal consistency analysis showed that directive behaviors
as agroup were distinctive and had low internal consistency (a
.18), whereasnon-directive behaviors tended to hold together (a
.70). Given the smallsample size, there was a need to reduce the
number of behavior variablesused in the analysis. Therefore, a
principal-component factor analysis wasperformed to seek ways of
combining observed behaviors. To avoid distrac-tions, five
behaviors were dropped from the factor analysis: positive
responseand negative response (these two behaviors represent
teachers responses tochild-initiated requests or behaviors),
classroom management (a behaviorthat does not involve interactions
with children), and punish and threaten(these two behaviors
occurred with very low frequency; see Figure 1). Thefactor analysis
identified three main factors based on the remaining 12observed
behavior variables (the eigenvalues were 3.12, 2.04, and 1.29,
ARE TEACHERS CURRICULUM BELIEFS CONSISTENT WITH PRACTICES?
955
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
respectively, and the cumulative variance explained by the three
factors was64%). Basically, the six non-directive behaviors and
give direction loaded onthe first factor. Most of the non-directive
behaviors loaded on the secondfactor. Although three behaviors were
correlated with a third factor, thesebehaviors could also be
potentially loaded on the first two factors basedon their factor
loadings. Therefore, supported by the factor analysis andguided by
the conceptual framework of the observed behaviors (two
maincategories logically corresponding to the two belief types), we
decided tocompute two behavior composites: a non-directive behavior
composite(total of the 6 non-directive behaviors plus the reversed
give directions)and a directive behavior composite (total of 5
directive behaviors: ask closedquestion, demonstrate, give
information, praise=reward, and do for). Thesetwo composite scores
were used in the analysis (see Table 1).
Teacher and classroom characteristics (or moderators) were
assessedusing the Early Childhood Professional Questionnaire, a
published measuredesigned to gather information about early
childhood teachers professionalexperiences, development, and
support (McMullen, Buldu, Lash, & Alat,2004). Four teacher
characteristics were examined: (a) teachers years ofexperience as
an early childhood professional; (b) general education level(six
levels, from 1 high school, to 3 associate degree, to 6
doctorate);
FIGURE 1 Frequencies (percentages) of observed classroom
practices. (Color figure available
online)
956 WEN, ELICKER, AND MCMULLEN
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
(c) professional training, measured by the frequency of teacher
participationin 12 types of professional activities on a 4-point
scale (e.g., 0 never to3 often; participating in professional
development trainings; attendinglocal, state, and national
conferences; reading professional books and jour-nals; and
consulting with supervisors, mentors, or fellow professionals;
thetotal score was calculated for analyses); and (d) professional
support, whichmeasured teachers day-to-day supportive relationships
with colleagues,supervisors, parents, and children (5-point scale,
very difficult to very good);how often teachers ran into barriers
that influenced their teaching (5-pointscale, almost never to very
often); and to what extent teachers work wasevaluated in a way that
was consistent with their beliefs (5-point scale, neverand highly
consistent). The total score of the items was computed. Inaddition,
the teacherchild ratio was calculated from the teachers reportsof
the typical number of teachers and children in their
classrooms.
RESULTS
Descriptive Statistics: The Nature of Self-Reported Beliefs
andObserved Classroom Practices
Most teachers strongly embraced child-initiated learning
beliefs. The overallmean for this belief subscale was 4.57 out of
possible 5.0 points, with a rangeof 3.47 to 5.0 and a standard
deviation of 0.36. The distribution of the vari-able was negatively
skewed (skewness.98). However, the other belief
TABLE 1
Factor Matrix of Observed Teacher Behaviors: Rotated Factor
Loadings
Behavior Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3
Give directions .61Give information .63 .47
Ask closed question .35
Demonstrate .57 .76Do for .43Praise=reward
Observe children .50 .34Encourage .73
Scaffold .65 .39Ask open question .59 .41
Offer choice .66
Play with children .37
Note. Component loadings below .30 were not included.
ARE TEACHERS CURRICULUM BELIEFS CONSISTENT WITH PRACTICES?
957
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
factor, teacher-directed learning beliefs, showed much more
variation. Thissubscale had a lower mean (2.23), a larger standard
deviation (0.80), and awider value range (1.04.86). The two beliefs
subscales had a weak andnonsignificant correlation, r(58) .19,
p> .05.
For classroom practices, the overall percentage frequencies of
the 17observed behaviors are presented in Figure 1. The three most
frequentlyobserved behaviors were give directions, classroom
management, and positiveresponse. Other often observed behaviors
included give information,ask closed question, and observe
children. Collectively, the most frequentlyoccurring behaviors were
teacher directive behaviors during teacherchildinteractions.
Research Question 1: Correlations Between Self-Reported Beliefs
andObserved Practices
Zero-order Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to examine
the cor-relation between the two teacher belief factors and the two
behavioral com-posites (see Table 2). Only one marginally
significant correlation was found,between teacher-directed learning
beliefs and the non-directive behaviorcomposite. The more teachers
endorsed teacher-directed learning beliefs,the less frequently they
encouraged childrens self-initiation and explorationin their
observed classroom interactions. The remaining three
correlationsbetween teacher beliefs and observed practice were weak
and not significant.Thus, overall we found weak or nonexistent
associations betweenteacher-reported beliefs and observed teacher
practices.
Research Question 2: Teacher and Classroom
CharacteristicsModerate the Association Between Beliefs and
Practices
As summarized above, the current study found weak associations
betweenteacher beliefs and practices. The moderation analysis
investigated whether
TABLE 2
Correlations Between Curriculum Beliefs and Observed Behaviors
(N 58)Variable 1 2 3 4
1. Teacher-directed learning beliefs .20 .03 .222.
Child-initiated learning beliefs .06 .053. Directive behavior
composite .04
4. Non-directive behavior composite
p< .10.
958 WEN, ELICKER, AND MCMULLEN
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
these associations would be stronger for certain subgroups of
teachers. Amoderator is a variable that affects the direction and
strength of the relationbetween two variables (Aiken & West,
1991). It specifies the condition orcontext in which the two
variables are associated with each other.
Before examining the moderating effects of the teacher and
classroomcharacteristics, we examined their direct correlations
with beliefs and class-room behaviors (see Table 3). Overall, there
were weak associations amongteacher characteristics, teacherchild
ratio, and teacher beliefs and practices.Therefore, there was
little concern about collinearity among predictorsin the multiple
regression analysis that was used to test for
moderationeffects.
In a regression model, one behavior composite was included as a
depen-dent variable; one belief factor, one moderator, and an
interaction term, theproduct of the belief factor and the
moderator, were entered as independentvariables. A total of 20
regression analyses were run to test the moderationeffects. If the
interaction term was shown to be significant (p< .05), we
con-clude that the moderator has a statistically significant effect
on the associ-ation between the belief and the behavior. In other
words, a significantinteraction term indicates that the moderator
interacts with the belief factorand impacts how it relates to the
observed behavior. To further examineobtained significant
moderation effects, we divided the sample into two sub-groups based
on a moderator median split, and the association between thebeliefs
factor and the observed teaching behavior was examined separatelyin
each of the two subgroups.
TABLE 3
Correlations Among Teacher and Classroom Characteristics,
Curriculum Beliefs, and
Observed Behaviors (N 58)
Variable Education
Professional
Training
Work
Experience
Professional
Support
Teacher
Child Ratio
Self-report: curriculum
beliefs
Teacher-directed
learning beliefs
.29 .09 .13 .20 .39
Child-initiated
learning beliefs
.02 .10 .09 .25 .05
Observation: directive
behaviors
Directive behaviors .18 .51 .27 .30 .21Non-directive
behaviors
.13 .12 .07 .12 .18
p< .05. p< .01.
ARE TEACHERS CURRICULUM BELIEFS CONSISTENT WITH PRACTICES?
959
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
Two significant moderation effects were detected. First, teacher
workexperience moderated the association between teacher-directed
learningbeliefs and the observed directive behavior composite (the
beta for the inter-action term between work experience and the
belief was .01, p .04). Asshown in Figure 2, a stronger association
between teachers endorsementof teacher-directed learning beliefs
and the frequency of their use of directivebehaviors with children
was seen in teachers who had more work experience(7 years, b .49).
This association was weaker among less experienced tea-chers
(b.31). Second, the association between teacher-directed
learningbeliefs and observed non-directive behaviors was moderated
by the level ofteachers professional training (the beta for the
interaction term betweenprofessional training and the belief was
.01, p .004). Among teacherswho had more professional training, if
they held stronger teacher-directedlearning beliefs, they were much
less likely to practice non-directive beha-viors with children
(b.42). In other words, teachers who had more pro-fessional
training were more likely to practice directive behaviors
duringinteractions with children when they endorsed
teacher-directed learningbeliefs. But for teachers who had less
professional training, this associationwas not observed (b.002; see
Figure 3). Overall, the moderation analysis
FIGURE 2 Teacher work experience moderates the association
between teacher-directed
learning beliefs and observed directive behaviors. p< .05.
(Color figure available online)
960 WEN, ELICKER, AND MCMULLEN
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
suggested that beliefs and observed practices were more likely
to be consist-ent for teachers with more professional experience or
training.
DISCUSSION
Do early childhood teachers always practice in a way that is
congruent withtheir beliefs about teaching and learning? The
current study found that vir-tually all of the participating
preschool teachers strongly espousedchild-initiated learning
beliefs. Yet at the same time, these teachers exhibiteda relatively
high frequency of directive behaviors during daily
teacherchildinteractions. The study found weak correlations between
teachers beliefsabout childrens optimal learning and their actual
teaching practices. So,the answer to the first research question is
no, not always. This replicatesprevious research findings that
self-reported teacher beliefs tend to reflectrecommended DAP more
strongly than do actual classroom practices(e.g., Charlesworth et
al., 1993; Vartuli, 1999).
Quite likely, all of the teachers in this study endorsed
child-initiatedlearning beliefs because this philosophy of child
learning and development
FIGURE 3 Teacher professional training moderates the association
between teacher-directed
learning beliefs and observed non-directive behaviors. p<
.05. (Color figure available online)
ARE TEACHERS CURRICULUM BELIEFS CONSISTENT WITH PRACTICES?
961
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
has been informed, advocated, and included in the standards of
the earlychildhood field in the United States for quite some time.
DAP andchild-initiated learning have certainly been widely promoted
during the timethat most of these relatively young teachers, most
in their 20s and 30s,received their training. Because most American
early childhood profes-sionals endorse child-initiated learning
beliefs, this belief variable had askewed and restricted range of
responses, limiting somewhat its psycho-metric utility and
statistical power in our analyses with observed teacherbehaviors.
Therefore, it was more difficult to detect relationships
betweenchild-initiated learning beliefs and observed classroom
behaviors. In con-trast, teacher-directed learning beliefs showed
considerable variability inthis sample, and the findings of study
were mainly found with this beliefsfactor.
The consistency between teacher beliefs and everyday practices
may beinfluenced by contextual factors. Links between teacher
beliefs and practicesmay be somewhat fragile or context bound.
Therefore, a simple examinationof the general or overall
consistency between early childhood teachersbeliefs and practices
might not be fruitful. A refined and more importantquestion to ask
might be when, how, for whom, and under what conditionsare teachers
beliefs and practices consistent?
The current study discovered that the teachers professional
training andyears of experience appeared to strengthen linkages
between their beliefsand practices, specifically the associations
between teacher-directed learningbeliefs and observed directive as
well as non-directive behaviors in the class-room. Teachers with
more professional training and more years of experi-ence were more
likely to carry out in their classroom practices what theysaid they
believed. When the more experienced group of teachers held astrong
belief supporting teacher-directed learning, they were more
likelyto show directive behaviors during their interactions with
children, suchas doing things for children, reinforcing specific
behaviors in children bypraising them or by making general
evaluative comments, and testing chil-drens specific knowledge by
asking close-ended questions. Conversely,when teachers did not
endorse teacher-directed learning, they were less likelyto enact
directive behaviors with children in the classroom. Similarly, if
tea-chers with more professional training endorsed teacher-directed
learningbeliefs, they were less likely to adopt non-directive
practices with children,such as observing childrens interests,
providing scaffolding when needed,and encouraging childrens
self-exploration through specific suggestions oropen-ended
questions. Again, compared to teachers with less experienceor
training, the more experienced and trained teachers held
curriculumbeliefs that were more consistent with their classroom
practices. Therefore,professional preparation and experience were
related to consistency between
962 WEN, ELICKER, AND MCMULLEN
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
what teachers said they believed and what they actually
practicedregardless of the nature of their beliefs.
One interpretation of these findings is that greater congruence
or consist-ency between teaching beliefs and practices may require
higher levels of skill,confidence, or a broader knowledge base. The
art of teaching requiresreconciling educational beliefs and goals
within real-life conditions inherentin a workplace, including
complexity, uncertainty, instability, uniqueness,and value-conflict
(Schon, 1983, p. 18). Higher levels of experience andprofessional
training may help teachers bridge the gap between beliefs
andpractices and implement their knowledge and beliefs more
consistently.
In future research, it will be important to explore other
potential moder-ating factors that may affect beliefpractice
congruence. In the meantime,advocates of specialized or increased
education and professional trainingfor early childhood teachers may
find support for their positions in thesefindings that teachers
with more training and experience may be better ableto put teaching
beliefs into concrete, observable classroom practices.
Several limitations of the study should be pointed out to guide
futureinvestigations. First, although participating teachers were
from diverse earlyeducation and care settings, the small sample
size of the study not only lim-ited our ability to generalize
findings but also limited the statistical power toconduct more
sophisticated multivariate analyses. For example, about
twoclassrooms (or teachers) from each center participated in the
study, but itwas impossible for us to perform multilevel analyses
that took into accounteffects of different types of early childhood
programs or other specificprogram contexts that relate to
nestedness of data.
Second, classroom observations emphasized teacher-initiated
interactionswith children rather than child-initiated interactions
with teachers. In otherwords, our observations focused on teachers
rather than children. Withmore differentiated behavioral categories
for teacher responses tochild-initiated interactions, we may have
uncovered additional associationsbetween the beliefs and
practices.
Third, constrained by sample size, we looked at teachers global
beha-viors in the analysis by summarizing behaviors observed across
differentclassroom activities (e.g., large group, free play,
transition, snack time,and outdoor play). Teachers behavior
patterns are at least somewhat influ-enced or constrained by the
immediate classroom activity context. Kontos,Burchinal, Howes,
Wisseh, and Galinsky (2002) found that classroomactivity (e.g.,
routine, creative play, didactic activities) moderated the
associ-ation between teacher involvement with children and the
level of complexityof childrens play. For example, at clean-up time
all teachers may naturallygive more directions. However, at
small-group time some may give childrenmore encouragement and
scaffolding, whereas others may emphasize
ARE TEACHERS CURRICULUM BELIEFS CONSISTENT WITH PRACTICES?
963
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
goal-oriented directions. A finer grained analysis accounting
for activitytypes and contexts within classrooms may produce
stronger or different tea-cher beliefbehavior associations and
could possibly show the moderatingeffects of classroom areas or
activity context.
Finally, the new ECTBO observation system, which is conceptually
tiedto curriculum beliefs, seems to be promising. However, our
assumptionsabout cohesive directive or non-directive behaviors may
not alwaysbe completely valid. Teachers may sometimes have
different understandingsand goals regarding their behaviors
compared with those assumed in ourdesignated directive versus
non-directive behavior categories. For example,when teachers
observe children, in some cases their purpose may be to sup-port
child-initiated activity, but in other cases it may be to figure
out moreeffective ways to direct or control childrens learning.
Therefore, teachersimmediate intentions guiding their behaviors
might not be fully capturedby an outside observer. Following this
logic, some teacher behaviors maynot be used exclusively for either
teacher-directed or child-initiated learninggoals. Teacher
behaviors may thus serve different functions in
differentsituations. Direction-giving by teachers may sometimes
accompany encour-aging, scaffolding, and observation. It may not be
wise to simply categorizethese behaviors separately, as was done in
our analyses. A more sophisti-cated approach in future research
with larger samples may include analysesof contingent teacher
behaviors in specific classroom activity contexts inrelation to
their beliefs, which could also be assessed in a manner that ismore
related to classroom context.
In spite of its limitations, this study provides insights for
future researchand also implications for professional development
for both in-service andpre-service teachers. Research has
increasingly identified the continuingdevelopment and learning of
early childhood teachers as one of the keysto improving the quality
of child care and early education. Substantialresources are spent
on early childhood teachers professional developmentat the local,
state, and federal levels. However, many professional develop-ment
activities tend to be content driven, with the focus tending to be
onteachers acquisition of specific knowledge and the specific skill
or strategyto teach it. Far less attention is placed on helping
teachers understand andreflect on their own beliefs and attitudes
and help them understand howthese dispositions impact teaching
practices and outcomes with the youngchildren with whom they
work.
The results of this research contribute to the idea that in
addition toprofessional development that involves the acquisition
of knowledge andpractical skills, the intellectual transmission
between teacher knowledgeand practice and the analytic skills of
reflecting on ones own behaviors ina specific context should be
emphasized. Therefore, teacher preparation
964 WEN, ELICKER, AND MCMULLEN
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
programs must simultaneously stress educational theory and
evidence-basedcontent and relate this in a meaningful way with
teacher attitudes andbeliefs. One implication of the current study
is that teacher professionaldevelopment should focus productively
on the linkages across all areasknowledge, skills, and
dispositions. Professional development that is respon-sive to each
teachers prior educational and work experiences, as well as hisor
her beliefs and attitudes, may be more efficient in fostering
DAPand positive and healthy learning and development outcomes for
youngchildren.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
In addition to all of the teachers who gave of their time, we
thank a numberof colleagues who at the time were affiliated with
Indiana University orPurdue University. Indiana University
collaborators were Kazim Alat,Zeynep Erdiller, Sun-Mi Lee, and
Heayoung Yang. Purdue University col-laborators were Hsin-Hui
Huang, Jingbo Liu, Xin Gao, Carrie Mathers,Giselle Goetze, and
Jianhong Wang.
REFERENCES
Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression:
Testing and interpreting interactions.
Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Arnett, J. (1989). Caregivers in day-care centers: Does training
matter? Journal of Applied
Developmental Psychology, 10, 541552.
Azjen, I. (1996). The directive influence of attitudes on
behavior. In P. M. Gollwitzer & J. A.
Bargh (Eds.), The psychology of action: Linking cognition and
motivation to behavior
(pp. 385403). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Booth, C. L., Kelly, J. F., Spieker, S. J., & Zuckerman, T.
G. (2003). Toddlers attachment
security to child-care providers: The Safe and Secure Scale.
Early Education &
Development, 14, 83100.
Bredekamp, S., & Copple, C. (1997). Developmentally
appropriate practice in early childhood
programs. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education
Young Children.
Buchanan, T. K., Burts, D. C., Bidner, J., White, F., &
Charlesworth, R. (1998). Predictors of
the developmentally appropriateness of the beliefs and practices
of first, second, and third
grade teachers. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 13,
459483.
Burchinal, M., Howes, C., & Kontos, S. (2002). Structural
predictors of child care quality in
child care homes. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 17,
87105.
Buysse, V., Wesley, P. W., Bryant, D., & Gardner, D. (1999).
Quality of early childhood
programs in inclusive and noninclusive settings. Exceptional
Children, 65, 301314.
Cassidy, D. J., Buell, M. J., Pugh-Hoese, S., & Russell, S.
(1995). The effect of education on
child care teachers beliefs and classroom quality: Year one
evaluation of the TEACH
Early Childhood Associate Degree Scholarship Program. Early
Childhood Research
Quarterly, 10, 171183.
ARE TEACHERS CURRICULUM BELIEFS CONSISTENT WITH PRACTICES?
965
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
Charlesworth, R., Hart, C., Burts, D., & Hernandez, S.
(1991). Kindergarten teachers beliefs
and practices. Early Child Development and Care, 70, 1735.
Charlesworth, R., Hart, C., Burts, D., Thomasson, R., Mosley,
J., & Fleege, P. (1993). Measur-
ing the developmental appropriateness of kindergarten teachers
beliefs and practices.
Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 8, 255276.
Clark, C. M., & Peterson, P. L. (1986). Teachers thought
process. In M. C. Wittrock (Ed.),
Handbook of research on teaching (pp. 255296). New York, NY:
Macmillan.
Dunn, L., & Kontos, S. (1997). What have we learned about
developmentally appropriate prac-
tice? Young Children, 52, 413.
Ernest, P. (1989). The knowledge, beliefs and attitudes of the
mathematics teachers: A model.
Journal of Education for Teaching, 15(1), 1333.
Fang, Z. (1996). A review of research on teacher beliefs and
practices. Educational Research,
38(1), 4765.
Hatch, J., & Freeman, E. (1988). Kindergarten philosophies
and practices: Perspectives of
teachers, principals, and supervisors. Early Childhood Research
Quarterly, 3, 151166.
Howes, C., & Stewart, P. (1987). Childs play with adults,
toys, and peers: An examination of
family and child-care influences. Developmental Psychology, 23,
423430.
Hyson, M. C., Hirsh-Pasek, K., & Rescorla, L. (1996). The
Classroom Practices Inventory:
An observation instrument based on NAEYCs guidelines for
developmentally appropri-
ate practices for 4- and 5-year-old children. Early Childhood
Research Quarterly, 5,
475494.
Kontos, S., Burchinal, M., Howes, C., Wisseh, S., &
Galinsky, E. (2002). An eco-behavioral
approach to examining the contextual effects of early childhood
classrooms. Early
Childhood Research Quarterly, 17, 239258.
Kontos, S., & Wilcox-Herzog, A. (2001). How do education and
experience affect teachers of
young children?. Young Children, 56(4), 8591.
Maxwell, K. L., McWilliam, R. A., Hemmeter, M. L., Ault, M. J.,
& Schuster, J. W. (2001).
Predictors of developmentally appropriate classroom practices in
kindergarten through
third grade. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 16, 431452.
McCarty, F., Abbott-Shim, M., & Lambert, R. (2001). The
relationships between teacher
beliefs and practice, and Head Start classroom quality. Early
Education & Development,
12(2), 225238.
McMullen, M. B. (1999). Characteristics of teachers who talk the
DAP talk and walk the DAP
walk. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 13(2),
216230.
McMullen, M. B., & Alat, K. (2002). Education matters in the
nurturing of the beliefs of
preschool caregivers and teachers. Early Childhood Research and
Practice, 4(2), 116.
McMullen, M. B., Buldu, M., Lash, M., & Alat, K. (2004). An
assessment tool for professional
development: Examining quality in our early childhood
professionals. Child Care
Information Exchange, 157, 3135.
McMullen, M. B., Elicker, J., Goetze, G., Huang, H., Lee, S.,
Mathers, C. . . ., Yang, H. (2006).
Using collaborative assessment to examine the relationship
between self-reported beliefs
and the documentable practices of preschool teachers. Early
Childhood Education Journal,
34, 8191.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early
Child Care Research
Network. (2002). Early child care and childrens development
prior to school entry:
Results from NICHD Study of Early Child Care. American
Educational Research Journal,
39, 133164.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early
Child Care Research
Network. (Eds.). (2005). Child care and child development:
Results from the NICHD
Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. New York, NY:
Guilford Press.
966 WEN, ELICKER, AND MCMULLEN
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
Schon, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals
think in action. London,
England: Temple Smith.
Smolensky, E., & Gootman, J. A. (Eds.). (2003). Working
families and growing kids: Caring for
children and adolescents. Washington, DC: National Academies
Press.
Snider, M. H., & Fu, V. R. (1990). The effects of
specialized education and job experience on
early childhood teachers knowledge of developmentally
appropriate practice. Early
Childhood Research Quarterly, 5, 6978.
Stipek, D. J., & Byler, P. (1997). Early childhood education
teachers: Do they practice what
they preach? Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 12, 305326.
Vandell, D. L., & Wolfe, B. (2000). Child care quality: Does
it matter and does it need to be
improved? (Special Report No. 78). Madison: University of
WisconsinMadison Institute
for Research on Poverty. Retrieved from
http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/sr/pdfs/
sr78.pdf
Vartuli, S. (1999). How early childhood teacher beliefs vary
across grade level. Early Childhood
Research Quarterly, 14, 489514.
Wang, J., Elicker, J., McMullen, M., & Mao, S. (2008).
Chinese and American preschool
teachers beliefs about early childhood curriculum. Early Child
Development & Care,
178(3), 227249.
Wilcox-Herzog, A. (2002). Is there a link between teachers
beliefs and behaviors? Early
Education & Development, 13, 81106.
APPENDIX
Early Childhood Teacher Behavior Observation (ECTBO)
Teacher InitiatesDirective Behaviors
1. Give directions (do what I tell you to do): Teacher gives
children pro-cedural information or instruction (no model or choice
provided) aboutspecific things the teacher wants the children to do
in a certain way orphysically guides the children to do or not to
do something. This includesthe teachers direction in question form
(e.g., Will you wait here forme?) and the teachers direct or
indirect reminder of rules (e.g., Whatshould you do after you
finish your snack?).
2. Ask closed question: Teacher asks children a question to get
specificinformation or to test whether children know a particular
answer (tea-chers usually know the answers), including a yes=no
question (e.g.,How do you spell your name? or Where do you go when
you getsick?).
3. Demonstrate (do what I do): Teacher provides a model for
childrento follow (e.g., teaches a new song, shows children how to
makesomething).
4. Give information (listen to=watch what I tell=show you):
Teacher pro-vides content information (factual information,
stories, or video that is
ARE TEACHERS CURRICULUM BELIEFS CONSISTENT WITH PRACTICES?
967
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
neither a rule nor a response to childrens questions) and
children listen(e.g., name objects, read a story, show
pictures).
5. Praise=reward (direct positive reinforcement): Teacher gives
rewards ormakes general positive evaluative comments about
children, childrensworks, or childrens behaviors (e.g., good, thats
right, thankyou or I like what you are doing).
6. Punish (direct negative evaluation): Teacher attempts to stop
childrenfrom doing something by hurting them or taking away
something thechildren want (e.g., expressing disapproval, I told
you to stop that;or withdrawing childrens privileges, You have to
sit here until you stopscreaming).
7. Threaten: Teacher expresses an intention to hurt the child or
take awaysomething the child wants in order to stop the child from
doing some-thing (e.g., You want to leave that area?, the teacher
expresses anintention to ask the child to leave if he refuses to
share the toys).
8. Do for: Teacher does something for or to the child without
askingpermission or giving a choice (e.g., putting away the childs
belongsor changing the childs diaper without interaction).
Teacher InitiatesNon-directive Behaviors
1. Observe children: Teacher observes or watches children as
they work orplay without interacting with the children for at least
5 s during theobservational interval.
2. Ask open question: Teacher asks children a question that
allows them tochoose from a variety of possible answers (no right
or wrong) and todecide how to answer it. Teacher expects children
to answer and expresstheir thinking, including asking for
information (e.g., What happened?How do you like to decorate your
Christmas tree? or What do youthink we can do about this
problem?).
3. Scaffold: Teacher provides a small amount of direction,
guidance, orassistance, yet at the same time allows children some
choice and controlin their activities. The idea is to add something
new to what children aredoing or to suggest new possibilities
(e.g., assist a child who cant find apuzzle piece by saying, What
is missing on the gorilla? Is his hand miss-ing?; or when a child
says, The paint looks like ice cream! the teacherreplies, And like
mud!).
4. Play with children: Teacher plays with children in a
non-directive way,assuming the role of a companion (e.g., plays
chess with a child, takesa role in a pretend play scene).
5. Offer choice: Teacher facilitates and supports children to
choose theirown activities or their own projects from among a
number of options,
968 WEN, ELICKER, AND MCMULLEN
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15
-
including asking the children whether they want something (e.g.,
Doyou want to play Legos or paint? Do you need help? or Wouldyou
like more milk?).
6. Encourage (indirect positive reinforcement): Teacher makes
specificcomments to give positive support for what the child is
doing withoutproviding guidance or assistance. This includes making
a descriptivecomment (e.g., You are driving in the mud! I see you
are makingthe tire pattern) and showing interest in the children,
the childrenswork, or the childrens behaviors (e.g., imitating
young children orrepeating what the child says).
Other Behaviors
1. Positive response: Teacher replies verbally or nonverbally to
the childsverbal or nonverbal statement=question=request with
certainty, accept-ance, or affirmation (e.g., teacher replies to a
childs question, Yes,the field trip is tomorrow; or a child asks
for a toy animal and the tea-cher hands it to him or her). This
does not include a simple response to achilds attention getting
(e.g., a child says Laura? and the teacherreplies Yes? or What?)
but does include the teacher comfortingwhen the child is
distressed. (If a behavior can be coded as encourageor
praise=reward, it should not be coded as positive response.)
2. Negative response: Teacher ignores the childs verbal or
nonverbalstatement=question=request or replies verbally or
nonverbally withnegation, refusal, denial, clarification, or
correction (e.g., a child showsthe teacher her picture and says,
Look! I draw a bird! and the teacherreplies, Thats not a bird! A
bird has two wings, not three.).
3. Classroom management: Teacher is not interacting with or
observingchild but instead is doing housekeeping activities (e.g.,
organizingmaterial, cleaning up) or interacting with other adults
(e.g., parents orother staff) for at least 5 s during the
observational interval.
ARE TEACHERS CURRICULUM BELIEFS CONSISTENT WITH PRACTICES?
969
Dow
nloa
ded
by [U
nivers
ity of
Mala
ya] a
t 05:4
4 23 J
uly 20
15