Preschool Teachers’ Work with Curriculum Content Areas in Relation to Their Professional Competence and Group Size in Preschool: A Mixed-methods Analysis

Abstract

This study explores preschool teachers' considerations regarding their work with curriculum content areas and examines possible relationships with their professional competence and group size. Drawing on Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory and mixed-methods analytical procedure, this study analyzes 698 preschool teachers' considerations on a set of 12 curriculum content areas. The results revealed reading and writing as the two least emphasized content areas. No significant relationship was found among preschool teachers' ratings of these content areas, their professional background, and group size. Prominent in preschool teachers' reasoning for rating reading and writing as least emphasized, is a child-directed approach implying that these content areas are not involved in their professional assignment and therefore included merely as a response to children's specific displayed interest. Implications for the content of early education programs and continuing professional development models are discussed.