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Beliefs and behaviours of kindergarten teachersDona M. Kagan a & Kenneth E. Smith ba Associate Professor of Teacher Education, College of Education , California StateUniversity , San Bernardino, 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA 92407‐2397b Assistant Professor of Teacher Education , University of Nebraska , OmahaPublished online: 09 Jul 2006.

To cite this article: Dona M. Kagan & Kenneth E. Smith (1988) Beliefs and behaviours of kindergarten teachers, EducationalResearch, 30:1, 26-35, DOI: 10.1080/0013188880300104

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26 Educational Research Volume 30 Number 1 February 1988

Beliefs and behaviours ofkindergarten teachers

Dona M. Kagan, Associate Professor of Teacher Education, College of Education, CaliforniaState University, San Bernardino, 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA 92407-2397 andKenneth E. Smith, Assistant Professor of Teacher Education, University of Nebraska at Omaha

SummaryThis study examines relationships betweenthe cognitive styles of kindergarten teachersand their tendency to endorse or manifesta child-centred vs a teacher-structuredapproach to kindergarten. Subjects were 51kindergarten teachers who completed self-report instruments assessing cognitive style,teaching ideology, classroom behaviour, andoccupational stress. An outside raterobserved each classroom for two hours,recording the frequencies of two kinds ofteacher behaviour: verbal interactions, and'mapping' data indicating the positions ofteacher and students within the classroom.Teachers' self-reported beliefs and behav-iours were strongly consistent with outsideraters' observations. In addition, a cluster ofobserved classroom behaviours was associ-ated with a child:centred ideology: workingand communicating with individuals or withsmall groups of children rather than withlarge groups; and using few negative com-ments. Teachers who endorsed and exhibitedthese child-centred behaviours tended to beidealistic in cognitive style and to rely uponfeelings and intuitions rather than upos;analytic thought processes to evaluate situa-tions.

Beliefs and behaviours of kindergartenteachersFor many years the prevailing ideology

guiding the teaching of kindergarten waschild-centred curriculum: the belief that eachchild's own predilections are the best gaugefor selecting the most appropriate instruc-tional activities. In recent years, however, thekindergarten curriculum has grown markedlymore academic and teacher-centred, partiallyin response to pressures from parents anxiousto see their children obtain a competitiveacademic 'edge' at an early age (Zimiles,1986).

The dichotomy between teacher-structuredvs child-centred curriculum is a commontheme in American education. Though newlabels may be coined, ideologies can easily betraced back to one of two historic positions.One, most clearly voiced by the ConantReport of 1959, emphasizes the need todevelop students' cognitive and analyticpowers. The other position maintains that thepriority of education should be developmentof the whole child, and that instructionshould be child-centred and spontaneous.Dewey (1902) and Piaget and Inhelder (1969),though distinctly different in terms of thesource and scope of their respective philo-sophies, represent the 'whole-child' position.Curricular trends in secondary as well as inelementary education can, in part, be seen interms of fluctuations in the relative ascen-dancy of each of these positions. Thus shifts inthe prevailing focus of kindergarten curri-culum can be viewed as part of a pattern ofcyclic change that appears to be characteristicof American education during this century.

EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH is the termly journal of the NFER

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Beliefs and behaviours of kindergarten teachers 27

The purpose of this study was to examinerelationships between the philosophic beliefsand behaviours of kindergarten teachers, interms of being child-centred vs teacher-structured, and teachers' cognitive style.Cognitive style can be understood in generalterms as the characteristic ways individualsperceive, organize and evaluate information,often including aspects of personality. TheMyers-Briggs Type Indicator (Myers andMcCaulley, 1985) represents one definition ofcognitive style that has been significantlyrelated to teachers' behaviours with a varietyof empirical research. The Myers-Briggs in-ventory is a set of eight sub-scales based onJungian personality theory and frequentlyused as a counselling tool. According toJungian theory, differences in the way indi-viduals behave can be attributed to idio-syncratic preferences in modes of perceptionand judgement: i.e. the procedures andcriteria used to perceive and to evaluatepeople and events. If people differ syste-matically in the way they interpret infor-mation, it is logical to infer that they will alsodiffer in their values and motivations. Thenotion of value system provides the theoret-ical link between teachers' cognitive stylesand their classroom behaviours. According toattribution theory, teachers will interpret andrespond differentially to students' perform-ance, depending upon the values they hold.That is, teachers will interpret and respond tostudents in terms of their own belief systems.Thus the instructional methods and tenor ofpersonal interaction that a teacher adopts canbe seen to be direct results of the teacher'sown cognitive proclivities. For instance, onewould expect that teachers who value andprefer analytic reasoning as a perceptualmode would possess superior analytic abilitiesand that they would stress the development ofthese among students by employing instruc-tional strategies that could be characterizedas analytical.

In fact empirical research has supportedthis logical inference, by revealing consistentrelationships between scores on the Myers-Briggs scales and a variety of teachingattitudes and behaviours. In general, resultsof this research have indicatedthat relatively analytic teachers (high scoreson the Thinking or Judging sub-scales of the

inventory) preferred to teach in structured,teacher-controlled formats, while moreaffectively oriented teachers (high scores onthe Intuition or Feeling sub-scales) preferredflexible and spontaneous teaching styles withmore personal affiliation with students(Carlyn, 1976; Jonassen, 1981; Rudisill,1973).

A second definition of cognitive style thathad not been examined in relation to teachingis represented by the Inquiry Mode Question-naire (Harrison and Bramson, 1977,1982). Itmeasures five different thinking styles basedon the work of Churchman (1971), whoidentified five proto-typical traditions inWestern philosophy: Synthesist, Idealist,Analyst, Realist and Pragmatist. Mitroff andPondy (1974) later labelled these 'inquirymodes' and suggested that they are usedpreferentially by individuals in renderingdecisions.

Research questionsThe present study was designed to includemeasures of both the philosophic beliefs andthe actual classroom behaviours of teachers.Would the same kinds of relationship foundbetween the Myers-Briggs dimensions andteaching style be visible in kindergarten class-rooms? If so, then one would logically expectthat more affectively oriented teachers wouldendorse and manifest child-centredbehaviours.

Another variable of interest was occupa-tional stress. Though stress has been the focusof much recent research (e.g. Harris, Halpinand Halpin, 1985; Kaiser and Polczynski,1982), teachers' feelings of on-the-job stresshad yet to be examined in relation to measuresof cognitive style or actual classroombehaviours. Since perception plays aprominent role in the definition of both stressand cognitive style, we expected to findsignificant intercorrelations.

MethodSubjectsSubjects were 51 kindergarten teachersemployed in one of three public schooldistricts in Metropolitan Omaha. All but onewere female, and their professional exper-ience ranged from one to 20 years.

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28 Educational Research Volume 30 Number 1 February 1988

InstrumentsCognitive style. The two inventories citedearlier were used to measure teachers'cognitive styles.

(a) Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Four pairsof sub-scales, denned as follows, (i) Sensingvs Intuition: Sensing types prefer to workwith known facts and to employ standardways of solving problems. Intuitive types relymore on inspiration than on direct experienceand enjoy looking for new ways to solveproblems, (ii) Thinking vs Feeling: Thinkingtypes make decisions through logical analysisof a situation and tend not to show emotionreadily. Feeling types tend to base judge-ments on subjective values and are hyper-sensitive to the feelings of others, (iii)Judging vs Perceiving: individuals who areprimarily judging types prefer a planned,orderly way of life and like to come to closureby rendering decisions. Those who tend to beperceivers are more interested in weighingdata than in coming to closure. They areuncomfortable with fixed patterns and valuethe freedom to respond to impulse, (iv)Introvert vs Extrovert: Introverts relate bestto the inner world of ideas rather than topeople, are careful in detailed work andprefer quiet for concentration. Extrovertsrelate more easily to the outer world ofpeople, prefer variety and action, and mayact impulsively. Scores on each of these sub-scales were handled as separate, continuousmeasures rather than being used to 'type'subjects. Using a dichotomous typing pro-cedure, 16 different 'personality types' can beidentified, which though useful in a coun-selling context, can make the results ofempirical research virtually impossible tointerpret.

(b) Inquiry Mode Questionnaire Asdescribed earlier, each of five prototypicalstyles of thinking are assessed: the Synthesist,who tends to focus on underlying assumptionsand abstract concepts; the Idealist, focusingon process, values and aspirations; theAnalyst, who concentrates on method andplan and seeks predictability throughordering data; the Realist, evaluating avail-able resources and apprehendable facts; andthe Pragmatist, who looks for the immediate

pay-off and tends to use incremental thinking.Test-retest reliability was reported to rangefrom 0.61 to 0.75 for the set ofscales (Bruvold et al, 1983).Occupational stress Stress was assessed withthe Teacher Occupational Stress FactorQuestionnaire (Clark, 1980). Moracco,Danford and D'Arienzo (1982) derived fiveseparate sub-scales via factor analysis, eachfocusing on a specific source of stress amongteachers: Lack of Administrative Support,the feeling that one's principal lacks anappreciation of class problems; Working withStudents, feeling unable to motivate or tocontrol students; Relationships with Teachers,feeling that responsibilities are not borneequally and there is a lack of friendlyrelations; Task Overload, feeling the amountof work expected is too great; and FinancialInsecurity, feeling that salaries are inadequateand not commensurate with responsibilities.Teaching attitudes Subjects' attitudestowards structuring a kindergarten class wereassessed with the Teacher Belief Rating Scale(Verma and Peters, 1975), a self-report-instrument designed to evaluate the beliefs ofearly childhood teachers in terms of twodevelopmental theories: Piagetian vs Operant.Piaget's theory suggests that young childrenlearn primarily by spontaneous interactionwith their environment. In this sense, childrentake an active part in structuring their owneducation. The motivation to learn consists ofthe intrinsic joy of discovery and experimen-tation; a teacher does not direct education,but facilitates it by providing a rich environ-ment. Opposing this is the Operant model,that suggests that children learn via specificprogrammed learning episodes structured bya teacher. The motivation to learn consists ofextrinsic rewards provided by the teacher(praise, privileges, candy, etc.). The primaryconcern is product rather than process, andthe product consists largely of childrenbehaving in adult-sanctioned ways (Vermaand Peters, 1975). Items are usually summedto yield two separate sub-scales (a = 0.56and 0.66 for Piagetian vs Operant scales(Cohen, Peters and Willis, 1977). In thepresent study the scoring of operant itemswas reversed, yielding one total score, andhigher scores indicating greater endorsementof Piagetian beliefs.

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Beliefs and behaviours of kindergarten teachers 29

Classroom behaviour Teachers' classroombehaviours were evaluated with the TeacherStructure Checklist (Webster, 1972), a tooldesigned to report the actual climate of akindergarten or pre-school class in terms ofthe degree of teacher control visible. It wasoriginally used to dichotomize classes interms of high vs low teacher control. In thepresent study the format was modified to afive-point Likert scale, and the scoring ofitems related to high teacher structure wasreversed, so that one total score could becomputed. High scores indicated less teacherstructure visible in the class.

ProcedureTeachers completed the instrumentsdescribed above and returned them throughthe mail. Five university students and facultywere trained as outside raters. A raterobserved a kindergarten class for a two-hourperiod, completing the Teacher StructureChecklist twice, once at the end of each hour.In addition to the checklist, raters keptfrequency counts of six kinds of verbalbehaviour: the number of times a teacher (i)used criticism or negative remarks; (ii) usedpraise or encouraging remarks; (iii)addressed a comment or question to anindividual student; (iv) addressed a commentor question to the entire class; (v) used positivequestioning behaviours; and (vi) used negativequestioning behaviours. Positive questioningbehaviours consisted of praising studentresponses, asking follow-up questions,pausing 3-5 seconds after asking a question orinviting student-initiated questions. Negativequestioning behaviours consisted of: repeat-ing a question, reacting negatively to astudent's response, repeating an answer oranswering one's own question.

Raters also completed a 'map' of eachclassroom, indicating the position of theteacher and the students at 10-minute intervalsthroughout the two-hour observationalperiod. A running frequency count was keptfor each of the following positions: whether ateacher and students were (i) working as aclass, in (ii) large, (iii) medium or (iv) smallgroups, or whether they were (v) Workingindividually.

Data analysisThe two Teacher Structure Checklistscompleted for each teacher by an outsiderater were averaged in an effort to arrive at ameasure representative of a teacher's typicalbehaviour. The other observational datarecorded by the raters (verbal behaviours,classroom map) were transformed into per-centages by dividing the frequency withineach category of behaviour by the totalnumber of all verbal (or all mapping)behaviours noted during a two-hour obser-vation.

Inter-rater reliability for observationalmeasures was evaluated as follows: 15 percent of the classrooms were observed simul-taneously by two raters who completed eachtool independently. The correlation betweenratings and frequency counts assigned by eachmember of a rating pair was evaluated viaPearson correlations. These correlationcoefficients were then averaged across all pairsof raters who viewed classes simultaneously:0.65 to 0.89.

Bivariate relationships among all variableswere evaluated with Pearson correlations. Inaddition, six multiple-regression analyseswere conducted, each predicting the fre7quency of one of the six categories of verbalbehaviour. Predictors in each equation weremeasures of cognitive style, teacher beliefand occupational stress. Variables wereentered stepwise, and only those contributingsignificantly new proportions of variance(p<0.05) were retained in an equation.

ResultsCorrelations between teachers' self-reportedattitudes and behaviours and those reportedby outside raters are listed in Table 1. Scoreson the Teacher Belief Questionnaire, thechecklist measuring teachers' perceptions oftheir own classroom behaviour, and theiractual behaviour as perceived by an outsiderater, were all highly interrelated. Teacherswho endorsed child-centred attitudes actuallydid use less teacher structure and more childfocus in their classes. They also appeared tohave quite accurate perceptions of their class-room behaviours. Endorsement of child-centred beliefs was also related to a numberof observational measures: use of relativelylittle criticism, the tendency to work and to

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30 Educational Research Volume 30 Number 1 February 1988

Table 1: Correlations between teachers' attitudes and teachers' behaviours(n = 51)

Teacher belief(high scores = morechild-centied)

Classroom behaviour:teacher's view

Classroom behaviour:outside rater's view

Discrepancy betweenteacher's vs rater'sview of class

Teacher's verbal behaviour:

Praise, encouraging remark

Criticism, negative remark

Directs comment orquestion to one student

Directs comment orquestion to whole class

Positive questioningbehaviour

Negative questioningbehaviour

Classroom map:

Teacher's position:in front of whole classworking with one childwith small groupwith mid-size groupwith large group

Students' position:working as a whole classworking in large groupsin medium or small

groupsworking in pairsworking individually

0.53"

0.33"

-0.10

0.00

- 0 . 3 6 "

0.19

-0.07

0.00

0.00

-0.23-0.01

0.30'-0.09-0.04

-0.26*0.00

-0.010.47"0.01

Classroom behaviour:teacher's view(high scores = morechild-centred)

0.50"

-0.04

0.14

- 0 . 2 7 "

0.27*

-0.28'

0.17

-0.17

- 0 . 4 2 "-0.01

0.49"0.13

-0.01

- 0 . 3 7 "-0.10

0.180.45"0.04

*p<0.05."p<0.01.

communicate with individual children or withsmall groups rather than with the entire class.Thus a confluence of self-report, third-partyand observational data appeared to define thechild-centred kindergarten.

No significant correlations were obtainedbetween measures of occupational stress andother variables, with the following exception:stress was positively correlated with the

amount of verbal behaviour teachersaddressed to individual students, and it wasnegatively correlated with verbal behaviouraddressed to the entire class.

Correlations between scores on the InquiryMode Questionnaire and measures of teacherattitude or behaviour appear in Table 2. Highscores on the Idealist scale were consistentlyassociated with behaviours and attitudes

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Beliefs and behaviours of kindergarten teachers 31

Table 2: Correlations between inquiry mode and teacher attitude orbehaviour (n = 51)

Teacher belief (highscores = more child-centred)

Classroom behaviour:teacher's view (highscores = more child-centred)

Classroom behaviour:rater's view

Teacher's verbalbehaviour;

Praise orencouragingremark

Criticism ornegative remark

Asks question ofone student

Makes comment orasks question ofentire class

Positivequestioningbehaviour

Negativequestioningbehaviour

Classroom map:

Teacher's position:in front of wholeclasswith one studentwith small groupwith mid-sizegroupwith large group

Students' position:working as wholeclassin large groupsin medium orsmall groupsworking in pairsworkingindividually

Synthesist

-0.28*

0.00

-0.04

0.06

0.16

0.12

-0.20

0.08

-0.08

0.120.060.07

0.10- 0 . 3 4 "

0.24*- 0 . 3 5 "

0.22-0.02

-0.21

'Inquiry modeIdealist

0.28*

0.32"

0.35"

0.10

-0.29*

0.36"

- 0 . 3 2 "

0.20

-0.20

-0.210.010.48"

-0.07-0.28*

-0.10-0.23*

0 .43"0 .45"

-0.25*

Pragmatist

-0.02

-0.16

-0.21

-0.18

0.22

- 0 . 3 3 "

0.37"

-0.11

0.11

0.35"-0.23*-0.28*

-0.120.13

0.210.20

- 0 . 4 0 "-0.14

0.00

Analyst

0.02

-0.05

0.01

0.18

0.03

-0.24*

0.10

0.03

-0.03

-0.030.04

-0.06

-0.020.15

-0.030.06

-0.08-0.20

0.12

Realist

0.01

-0.10

-0.08

-0.16

-0.12

0.06

0.09

-0.19

0.19

-0.210.10

-0.21

0.090.34"

0.29*0.32"

-0.18-0.11

0.33"

•p<0.05."p<0.01.•Inquiry modes defined as follows:

Synthesist, focuses on underlying assumptions and abstract concepts;Idealist, focuses on process, values and aspirations;Pragmatist, looks for the immediate pay-off, uses incremental thinking;Analyst, focuses on method and plan, seeks predictability by ordering data,attends to concrete detail;Realist, looks for available resources, focuses on viability and immediatelyapprehendable facts.

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32 Educational Research Volume 30 Number 1 February 1988

Table 3: Correlations between Myers-Briggs scales and attitude or behaviour (n = 51)

Teacher belief(high scores =more child-centred)

Class behaviour:teacher's view (highscores = child-centred)

Class behaviours:rater's view

Teacher's verbalbehaviour:

Praise,encouragingremark

Criticism,negativeremarkAsks questionof one student

Makes commentor asks questionof whole classPositivequestioningbehaviours

Negativequestioningbehaviours

Classroom map:

Teacher'sposition:

in front ofclass

working withone studentwith smallgroup

with mid-sizegroup

with largegroup

3

ring

0.27*

0.27*

0.05

0.03

-0.19

0.23*

-0.18

0.14

-0.14

-0.08

0.29*

0.03

-0.13

-0.26*

{

-0.26*

-0.26*

-0.05

-0.03

0.21

-0.24*

0.19

-0.16

0.16

0.08

-0.30**

-0.03

0.12

0.24*

1

0.27*

0.23*

-0.14

0.05

0.19

0.02

-0.06

0.06

-0.06

-0.05

-0.13

0.04

-0.27*

0.35**

zing

-0.36**

-0.27*

0.02

-0.05

-0.21

0.12

-0.02

-0.06

0.06

0.10

0.14

-0.05

0.23

-0.33**

Intuition

0.22*

0.40"

0.17

0.10

-0.09

0.23*

-0.26*

0.27*

-0.27*

-0.20

0.07

0.22

-0.05

-0.17

Sensiing-0.30**

-0.38**

-0.17

-0.10

0.09

-0.20

0.23*

-0.30**

0.30**

0.16

-0.07

- 0 . 3 0 "

0.10

0.22

Introvert

-0.19

-0.11

0.07

0.02

0.02

0.09

-0.11

-0.01

-0.01

-0.23

0.13

0.04

0.10

-0.22

Extro

vert

0.18

0.13

-0.06

0.01

0.01

-0.08

0.07

0.01

0.01

0.21

-0.16

-0.03

-0.11

0.05

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Beliefs and behaviours of kindergarten teachers 33

Percei ving

Table 3: continued

£ 19 8 do

Intuit ion

Sens ing

Introvert

3veil

Students'position:

working aswhole class -0.17

working inlarge groups -0.17

in medium orsmall groups 0.11 —

working inpairs 0.27 —

workingindividually 0.09 -

0.18 0.07 -0.03 -0.18 0.12 -0.22 0.19

0.15 0.32** -0.31** -0.10 0.16 -0.02 0.04

0.09 -0.35** 0.30** 0.31** -0.26* 0.08 -0.07

0.25* 0.15 -0.19 0.33** -0.42** -0.05 0.06

0.09 -0.01 -0.01 -0.08 0.17 0.43** -0.41**

*p<0.05.**p<0.01.

characteristic of a child-centred approach tokindergarten. In contrast, scores on thePragmatist and Realist scales tended to bepositively related to behaviours characteristicof a teacher-centred approach (i.e. workingwith large groups, interacting with the class asa whole rather than with small groups or withindividuals). One might infer that the use ofmore teacher structure in class was regardedby teachers as a more immediately pragmaticmethod of classroom management.

Correlations between scores on the Myers-Briggs scales and teacher attitudes orbehaviours appear in Table 3. The Judging,Thinking and Sensing scales were eachnegatively related to child-centred behavioursor attitudes, while the Feeling, Perceivingand Intuition scales were positively related tochild-centred variables and one-to-one inter-action with children. This pattern of inter-relationships was totally consistent with priorempirical research reported by Carlyn (1976),Jonassen (1981) and Roberts (1977), whofound that teachers' scores on the Perceiving,Intuition and Feeling scales were related to apreference for a flexible and spontaneousteaching style with more personal affiliationwith students.

Results of the multiple-regression analysespredicting each kind of verbal behaviourobserved in classrooms are listed in Table 4.Nearly 50 per cent of the variance in the

amount of dialogue directed to individualstudents was accounted for by two InquiryMode scales (Idealist, Realist) and two stressscales (Task Overload, Working withTeachers). Conversely, the amount of verbalbehaviour directed at the entire class waspredicted by a lack of Idealism. Teachers whotended to be Pragmatists also used moregroup-oriented behaviour, suggesting that itmay have been perceived as an efficient,rather than an idealistically desirable, methodof class management. Finally, the amount ofnegative comments observed could also bepredicted by a lack of Idealism and Realism,perhaps indicating that negative communica-tion was viewed as undesirable from both anidealistic and a pragmatic standpoint. Signifi-cant equations could not be derived for pre-dicting the amount of praise, positive ornegative questioning.

DiscussionThe high positive correlations among teachers'beliefs, self-reported classroom behavioursand outside raters' reports of classroombehaviours suggested two generalizations.First, kindergarten teachers did appear tooperationalize their beliefs about the best wayto teach young children. Secondly, teacherswere quite accurate in their own perceptionsof the classroom environment they created.

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34 Educational Research Volume 30 Number 1 February 1988

Table 4: Multiple regression: predicting teachers' verbal behaviour (n = 51)

Dependent variable R Significant predictors Beta weights Cumulative R2

Questions or commentsdirected to individualstudents

Negative commentsor criticism

Questions or commentsdirected to the classas a whole

0.68 Idealist (Inquiry Mode)Task overload (teacher stress)Realist (Inquiry Mode)Working with teachers (teacher stress)

0.48 Idealist (Inquiry Mode)Realist (Inquiry Mode)

0.68 Idealist (Inquiry Mode)Introvert (Myers-Briggs)Financial insecurity (teacher stress)Pragmatist (Inquiry Mode)

0.6180.2790.3490.258

-0.565-0.394

-0.470-0.426-0.283

0.279

0.170.330.410.47

0.120.23

0.180.320.390.46

Note: 'Idealist' defined as: prefers to focus on process, values and aspirations; 'Realist': prefers to consideravailable resources and viability of plans; and 'Pragmatist': tends to look for immediate pay-offs and uses step-by-step thinking.

The Idealist sub-scale emerged as a keycorrelate of both attitudes and behaviours,relating positively to child-centred beliefs, thetendency to address questions to one studentrather than to the entire class and the ten-dency to work with pairs or with small groupsof children. The prototypical Idealist focuseson processes and relationships and prefersunstructured, value-laden situations - aportrait quite compatible with the tenetsunderlying the child-centred curriculum.Teacher-centred beliefs and behaviours wereconsistently associated with high scores onthe Pragmatist scale. A similar dichotomywas revealed in terms of the Myers-Briggsscales, i.e. child-centred variables wereassociated with the Perceiving, Feeling andIntuition scales, all in some respects similar tothe Idealist prototype. Teacher-structuredcurriculum was associated with the Judging,Thinking and Sensing scales, all of which aresimilar to aspects of the Pragmatist. In thissense, dimensions of cognitive style andpersonality divided neatly into affective/idealistic vs judgemental/pragmatic cate-gories, the former associated with child-centred beliefs and behaviours and the latterwith teacher-structured beliefs andbehaviours.

ConclusionA child-centred approach to teaching kinder-garten emerged as a consistent set of beliefsand behaviours. Although professional litera-

ture of early childhood education has oftenstressed the importance of a child-centredapproach, there has been relatively little todescribe the behaviours of child-centredteachers (Braun and Edwards, 1972; Kohlbergand Mayer, 1972). For example, Piagetiantheory has been translated into actual class-room practice in very different ways (Kuhn,1979). Therefore, it was particularly signifi-cant that kindergarten teachers in this study,who identified themselves as child-centred,actually shared a common set of observablebehaviours. Perhaps the most significantresult was the striking similarity between theprofile of child-centred teachers in this studyand that of the effective early childhoodteacher, as synthesized from the body ofempirical research reviewed by Phyfe-Perkins(1981). On the basis of results documented bythis research, one can conclude that an effec-tive early childhood teacher encouragesindependent activity, co-ordinates a numberof different activities simultaneously, doesnot overtly direct children and maintains ahigh level of verbal interaction with students.Identical or highly similar behaviours wereobserved in classrooms conducted by teachersin the present study who clearly identifiedthemselves as child-centred in ideology.

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