Eufimia Tafa

Literacy Activities in Half- and Whole-Day Greek Kindergarten Classrooms.

The purpose of the study discussed in this article was: to record the types of literacy activities in whole-day and half-day kindergarten classrooms, initiated either by teachers during the instructional time or by children during the free-choice center time; to examine the amount of time spent on teacher-initiated literacy activities; and to determine the effect of whole-day and half-day kindergarten programs on children’s literacy achievement. To record the types of literacy activities, two whole-day and two half-day kindergarten classrooms were observed for five continuous days (a week). Accordingly, five children from each classroom (a total of20) were selected randomly as subjects for the examination of literacy activities that engaged them during the free-choice center time activities and for the analysis of their literacy achievement. The results showed that: (a) teachers in both programs initiated literacy activities related to: knowledge about print; phonological awareness; writing and storybook reading; (b) the percentage of instructional time per day on teachers’ initiated literacy activities in half-day kindergarten classrooms was higher than in whole-day classrooms; (c) children in both programs did not engage in several literacy activities during the free-choice center time, and (d) children in half-day kindergarten classrooms made better progress in literacy development than children in whole-day classrooms.

Indergarten teachers’ perceptions of intervention strategies for young children with mild learning and behavior problems

The aim of this study was to identify intervention strategies that kindergarten teachers in Greece consider acceptable and actually use in the classroom when dealing with children with mild learning and behavior problems, as well as to examine whether teachers’ years of experience affected their perceptions for acceptability and frequency of use for those strategies. One hundred fifty four (154) kindergarten teachers rated forty (40) intervention strategies using α 4-point Likert scale in two ways: first, according to how reasonable they thought each strategy was, and second, how often they used it in their classroom during the academic year. Principal component analysis showed that specialist consultation/data collection, teacher positive intervention, parent/teacher consultation and teacher negative intervention were the four factors for acceptability while teacher positive intervention/data collection, specialists consultation, and teacher negative intervention were the three factors for use. Additionally, thirty-eight (38) of the kindergarten teachers who filled the questionnaires volunteered to give an interview. In those interviews, the reasons why kindergarten teachers do not use certain strategies in the classroom were explored. A comparison of Greek teachers’ perceptions with those of their USA colleagues is discussed.RésuméCette étude vise à identifier les stratégies d’intervention que les instituteurs d’écoles maternelles grecques estiment valables et, de fait, utilisent en classe lors de leurs interactions avec des enfants connaissant de légers problèmes d’apprentissage et de comportement. Elle examine également l’influence de l’expérience que possèdent ces instituteurs sur leur perception de la validité et de la fréquence d’utilisation de ces stratégies. Cent cinquante quatre (154) instituteurs d’écoles maternelles ont évalué quarante (40) stratégies d’intervention en utilisant une échelle Likert de 4 points, d’une part selon leur estimation de la validité de chaque stratégie, et d’autre part selon la fréquence de leur utilisation sur une année académique. L’analyse factorielle a montré que les quatre facteurs de validité correspondaient au recours à l’opinion de spécialistes/la collecte de données, l’intervention positive de l’instituteur, la conférence parent/instituteur et l’intervention négative de l’instituteur, alors que l’intervention positive de l’instituteur/ la collecte de données, le recours à l’opinion de spécialistes et l’intervention négative de l’instituteur en déterminaient la pratique. De plus, trente huit (38) des instituteurs d’écoles maternelles qui ont rempli le questionnaire ont accepté d’être interviewés. Grâce à ces entrevues, les raisons pour lesquelles les instituteurs d’écoles maternelles n’utilisent pas certaines stratégies ont été explorées. Une comparaison des instituteurs greces avec celles de leurs collégues des Etats-Unis s’ensuit.ResumenEl propósito de este estudio fué el de identificar estrategias de intervención que los profesores de párvulos en Grecia consideran aceptable y que utilizan en sus aulas al tratar con niños con problemas de aprendizaje leves y de comportamiento, así como examinar si los años de experiencia de los profesores afectaron sus opiniones para aceptar estas estrategias y la frecuencia en que se utilizan. Ciento cincuenta cuatro (154) profesores de párvulos clasificaron cuarenta (40) estrategias de intervención usando una escala de 4-puntos “Likert” en dos maneras: primero, cuan razonable ellos pensaron que estaba cade estrategia, y segundo, con que frequencia lo utilizan en sus aulas durante el año académio. El análisis del componente principal mostró que la colección de datos/consultas del especialista, la intervención positiva del profesor, la consulta de padres/maestros y la intervención negativa del profesor fueron los cuatro factores para aceptabilidad, mientras que la colección positiva del profesor de datos/intervención, consulta de especialistas, e intervención negativa del profesor fueron los tres factores para el uso. Además, treinta y ocho (38) de los profesores de párvulos que llenaron los cuestionarios se ofrecieron voluntariamente a dar una entrevista. En esas entrevistas, lasrazones por las que los profesores de párvulos no utilizan ciertas estrategias en el aula fueron exploradas. Una comparación de las percepciones de los profesores griegos con los de sus colegas de los E.E.U.U. se discute.