Stories from Kindergarten: A Study of Teachers of Young Children in Public School Kindergarten Classroom Under the Standards Based Accountability Design
Open Access
- Author:
- Pyles , Jennifer Le-Ann Chestnut
- Graduate Program:
- Curriculum and Instruction
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- September 17, 2010
- Committee Members:
- James Ewald Johnson, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
James Ewald Johnson, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
James F Nolan Jr., Committee Member
Kimberly Anne Powell, Committee Member
Richard Fiene, Committee Member - Keywords:
- teacher stories
accountability
assessment
kindergarten
teacher autonomy - Abstract:
- Using case study design with a narrative stance, this dissertation attempts to share insight into the work and lives of kindergarten teachers and to share the stories that they tell about their work and daily lives. Data were collected from November 2009 to March 2010. Multiple data sources were employed, including formal and informal interviews, field observations, and document analysis in order to gain an in-depth portrayal of the lives of kindergarten teachers as they worked in the same contexts and negotiated the pressures to lean toward a more academic achievement model of education. With the focus on the education in kindergarten classrooms and the teachers who work with young children, several research questions guided the study: (1) What are the stories that are told by kindergarten teachers, working in an era when accountability and academic achievement are the focus? ; (2) How do teachers deliver developmentally appropriate instruction and make learning meaningful and engaging in kindergarten classrooms today?; and (3) How do teachers consider play in the educational processes of kindergarten children under the standards based design? The stories of the participants were varied and comprehensive in personal ways as each one’s life history contributed to the teacher that they had become. It appeared that family background, life events, teaching experiences, personality traits, as well as pre-service and in-service education contributed to the development of these teachers. In general, each teacher shared different stories of life events and personal goals that brought them to the point in their careers at which this study occurred. A significant story was told by the teachers in this current study. The burden of accountability weighed heavily on their work every day and occupied much of their time with children. This focus of assessment did not allow teachers to work with young children in ways that teachers felt more appropriate and meaningful. They each discussed the significant amount of time allotted to testing and the preparation for that aspect of their day. Each teacher reflected on the trust and freedom that their principal showed them as professionals. He told them collectively that they were to teach the way they wanted to teach, but they just needed to “get the job done.” The teachers showed great respect for their building leader and felt that they had autonomy in their work; however, they were tied to scripted curriculum and the heavy weight of assessments. This present study showed that although feeling autonomous, teachers were controlled in their practice through mandates of curriculum and accountability. In these three cases, instruction was found to be mainly teacher centered. There was limited time for social interaction. Other than answering questions in group settings and infrequent play time, children were focused on the teacher and the activities that were planned. During observations, Vygotsky’s ideas of scaffolding and social construction were absent. Instead, children were focused on academic instruction based in teacher directed practices. This was due in part to the looming assessment component that weighed on the teachers schedule and planning processes. The stories revealed the complexity that is involved in teaching young children in kindergarten under an academic model with the accountability factor. Teaching in these kindergarten classrooms was a multifaceted process. Through observational data, it was evident that as teachers worked with young children in the daily routine of kindergarten, there was a complexity to the interactions, practices, and events that was not always obvious to those outside the educational environment. Teachers developed and maintained relationships with young children that were built in trust and nurtured through mutual respect. The teachers successfully managed data collection and reporting with current technology. Planning for instruction was a complex process. Teachers utilized the essential curriculum and standards developed by the county to plan for instruction in their classrooms. They also managed to incorporate the necessary assessment tools within that instructional plan and adjust the schedule according to needs of the children. Teachers were attentive to the needs of children. They were aware of joys and tears of some children as they attended to the worries and concerns of others. Assessment was a major theme of the teacher’s stories. In today’s climate of accountability and academic achievement, assessment dominated everyone’s attention in the school setting. These teachers commented regularly on the pressures they felt to conduct, complete, record and send data from standardized assessments. Teachers accommodated to the testing ethos without surrendering their teaching ideals and love of their practice; however, the teachers faced the assessment cage in which they worked and highly prioritized that aspect of their work. While they shared their frustrations with the process of accountability, they did not seem to manifest interest in or show the ability to push back or effect change in the school, district, state, and national educational policies responsible for the creation of such an assessment burden. As evidenced through the stories, the influence of teacher preparation programs has lessened during the course of these teacher’s careers as they developed a working model of teaching based on experience and administrative pressures with less consideration of child developmental theories and applications. Observations of classroom practices and interviews with the teachers revealed a disconnect in their practices and theoretical base. During interviews, the teachers did not state any association of their practices and philosophy with DAP or child developmental theories. When I attempted to probe further into the grounding of their philosophy, each teacher replied with a working theory of teaching in which the use of developmentally appropriate practices has largely been replaced by skill based academic models of instruction that are highly didactic and teacher directed with play materials present in their classrooms but utilized on a limited basis if at all.