Abstract
Teachers frequently use government mandated assessment tools and checklists to gauge children’s skills and abilities. These tools are designed by the dominant culture to reflect their values and priorities, which may, or may not, reflect or match the values, or learning styles of children in the classroom. With the goal of gathering information to answer the research question “How do kindergarten teachers’ perceive and understand the concept of learning readiness and school readiness,” this study focuses on exploring kindergarten teachers’ perceptions, assumptions and understanding of what, and how, learning readiness and school readiness presents in kindergarten children. To collect qualitative data this study was conducted within a social constructivist framework using an Interpretive Phenomenology Approach (IPA) to explore the lived experiences of kindergarten teachers, with regards to both learning and school readiness. Information will be collected in three phases. Phase one consists of a blend of qualitative and quantitative data collection. Phases two and three consist of two in depth interviews, which are to be treated as case studies. The researcher is keeping a reflective journal throughout the project to explore their own biases, preconceptions, and experiences of the phenomenon being studied. This paper reports on the progress of this research project to date, and what have been advantages and pitfalls in the study.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
School Readiness, Learning Readiness, Kindergarten, Teacher Perceptions
