To Each Their Own: Examining Individualized Teacher Responses to Kindergartners' Mistakes

• In Event: Instructional Approaches in Early Childhood Education

Abstract

This study explores how teacher responses to mistakes vary for the individual children within one Kindergarten classroom. Utilizing data from intensive, ethnographic-type observations in a master teacher’s classroom, instances of mistake-related, child-teacher interactions were coded at the child level (n=20) to discern any trends in child actions and teacher responses observed during instruction. Analysis revealed that the teacher demonstrated five distinct mistake-response patterns, thereby individualizing her instruction to the children’s needs and behaviors. Implications for future research and practitioner professional development are discussed.

Author

• Maleka Donaldson, Smith College