Preschool Teachers' Epistemological Beliefs in Promoting Early Language and Literacy Skills

• In Event: 28.063 - Early Childhood Teacher Preparation and In-Service Professional Development

Abstract

The paper explores epistemological beliefs of 231 preschool teachers’ in promoting language and literacy skills. As there exist different strategies of language and literacy support in German preschools we investigate if the epistemological beliefs of teachers can be differentiated between applying additional programs (teacher-directed) or language education integrated into daily routines (child-oriented). The presented study is part of the evaluation of a governmental preschool initiative in Germany with a focus on fostering language-related process quality. Data collecting took place in spring 2015 using an online survey. Explorative factor analyses propose a three-factor structure of the epistemological beliefs: support of additional programs, teacher-centered orientations and child-centered orientations. Additionally, confirmatory factor analyses based on a different data set will be carried out.

Authors

• Nadine Wieduwilt, Freie Universität Berlin

• Simone Lehrl, University of Bamberg

• Yvonne Anders, Freie Universität Berlin