What they believe and what they do

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate Turkish kindergarten teachers' beliefs toward learning and teaching and their current instructional practices in kindergarten classrooms. To this end, teacher interviews and classroom observations were conducted with 28 kindergarten teachers. The interview results showed that teachers did not realize the critical role of hands-on materials, peers, colleagues, teacher education programs, and professional development programs on young children's learning. In addition, the observation results showed that students spent almost one third of their time for waiting in line, moving from one activity to another, and so on. Also, limited time is spent on mathematics, science, and social studies. Thus, the study has critical implications for future research in terms of teacher education programs as well as professional development programs for in-service kindergarten teachers.