Head Start Pedagogy in an Era of Accountability
Keywords:
Head Start; preschool; accountability; pedagogyAbstract
Head Start teachers were interviewed to determine their
approaches to teaching in the current early childhood education climate
where there is an increased emphasis on academic instruction to meet
learning standards. The grounded theory approach to data collection
and analysis was used for this study. The core category and basic social
psychological process that emerged from the data was ―facilitating
learning‖ and was carried out by teachers in four ways: free choice play,
incidental teaching opportunities, play-like activities, and direct
instruction. The process included three other categories: ―choosing a
setting,‖ ―deciding content,‖ and ―addressing other viewpoints‖ and
explains the pedagogical approaches Head Start preschool teachers use
to meet increasingly rigorous curriculum requirements and higher
expectations for student learning. The findings and their educational
implications are discussed.
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Copyright (c) 2015 Reva M. Fish, Laura Klenk, Julie Mazur, Adena Sexton
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