This questionnaire study examined the level of knowledge of first aid of 138 educators in private and state preschools in Turkey. Questionnaires were completed by educators between May and July 1997. The findings indicated that about 17 percent of the educators thought that they had sufficient first aid knowledge, with 62 percent indicating that…

Children are capable of handling the subject of death but the preschooler has more difficulty than others, and requires more time to resolve a loss. A teacher can help by responding in a supportive way. The teacher's difficulty is that a death almost always comes as a surprise which means that the teacher must work through the crisis for herself…

The purpose of this study was to describe preschool teachers' interventions during children's free play. A Weberian sociological framework was used to examine (1) what happens when teachers intervene into children's play, (2) teachers' beliefs and thus their decisions about play, and (3) the relationship between these issues. Three preschool…

This study investigated the ways in which: (1) gender affects the balance of home and school life among teachers of young children; and (2) the balance of home and school life affects teachers' notion of professional commitment. Data were gathered through the observation of three experienced kindergarten teachers, one male and two female.…

The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between spatial division of the early childhood classroom and teachers' perceptions of changes in this division. Eighty-four teachers were given photographs of a classroom which was presented in low, moderate, and high levels of spatial division. As they viewed each photograph, subjects…

This paper reports case study investigations of themes in three kindergarten teachers' curriculum construct systems. Curriculum, in this instance, is viewed as involving people, space, time, and things that become endowed with meaning as a classroom culture is established. Three classrooms in one school district, each constituting a separate case,…

This study investigated the relationships between teacher facilitative or directive verbal behavior in nursery school classrooms and seven aspects of child language change. Twenty-eight nursery teachers and 95 children from these classrooms were selected for this study. The teacher verbal behavior was measured by the Withall Social Climate Index,…

This study examined the response latencies of 19 reticent kindergarten children, 19 peer controls, and their teachers during three "show and tell" sessions. Findings indicated that both groups of children took longer to respond to product questions than to choice questions or comments. Similarly, teachers waited longer for responses to…

The two-year Early Childhood Training Course for Bedouin Educators is designed to provide Bedouin teachers for Bedouin kindergarten children. The course was developed to alleviate problems arising from a situation in which Bedouin kindergarten children were taught by non-Bedouins who did not understand Bedouin dialect, who were unfamiliar with…

A qualitative approach was used to explore the challenges and dilemmas faced by kindergarten teachers in Mexico as a result of recent K-9 curriculum reform. Influenced by the United States, the new curriculum emphasizes the development of academic skills and stresses the values of individualism and assertiveness. In addition, there is increasing…

This study examined the teaching methods of two Icelandic preschool teachers, their beliefs about early childhood curriculum, and the goals of their programs, emphasizing the connection between the context of the preschool teachers and their pedagogical work. Participating in the qualitative study were two preschool teachers from the city of…

Many parents find that the daily stress of coping with the demanding realities of their work lives leaves them with little personal and family time; playing with their children may therefore fall to the bottom of the "to-do list." One of the tasks of early childhood professionals thus becomes helping parents understand the nature and…

This paper examines the content and teaching methods in a 4-year decentralized preschool teacher education program using a combination of direct and distance learning at Stavanger College in Norway. The content of preschool education and the knowledge skills, communication skills, and the general professional competencies required for professional…

Data were collected from elementary school principals and kindergarten teachers in Texas and Louisiana in an effort to identify qualities that are thought to be important for kindergarten teachers. A questionnaire listing 462 qualities of early childhood teachers was compiled from literature reviews. Subjects were asked to check a maximum of 50…

Examples are provided in this discussion to indicate the nature of professional judgment in a teaching situation likely to be encountered by most child care workers or preschool teachers. Specifically, this predicament involves a problem in turn taking among 4-year-olds. As used here, the term "professional judgment" refers to cognitive…