PARENTITEACHER VIEWS OF DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE
PRACTICES: A HUNGARIAN PERSPECTIVE
Judit Szente, King Center Charter School, Buffalo, NY
James Hoot, James Ernest, University at Buffalo
Abstract
The purpose ofthe study was to explore the beliefs ofHungarian teachers and parents of
children in preschool and Grade 1 as they relate to the construct ofdevelopmentally appropriate
practices (DAP) identified by the National Association for the Education of Young Children
(NAEYC,1987,1997). In order to overcome methodological problems inherent in many previous
DAP studies, Q-methodology and interviews were utilized to collect, analyze and interpret the
data. Fourteen teachers and 14 parents were included in the Q-methodology (7 teachers and 7
parents in each grade level). Follow-up interviews were conducted with 6 participants. Results
ofthe study suggest three major viewpoints regarding DAP beliefs ofthe Hungarian
participants. These included: (1) focusing on children's individual development and learning,
(2) focusing on teaching children according to the traditional teaching methods, and (3) focusing
on respecting diversity in schools, in children, and in families. Recommendations for further
research included: (1) teacher observations in addition to interviews, (2) exploring
administrators'vviews ofDAP along with that ofteachers and parents, and (3) extending the
study into higher grade levels.
Resumen
El proposito de este estudio fue explorar las creencias de maestras y padres Hungaros de
niiios en pre-escolar y Grado I que se relacionan con el constructo de Practicas Apropiadas
para el Desarrollo (DAP) identificadas por la Asociacion Nacional para la Educcion de los
Niiios Pequeiios (NAEYC, 1987, 1997). Afin de resolver los problemas metodologicos
inherentes a muchos estudios previos del DAP, se utilizaron la metodologia-Q y entrevistas para
recolectar, analizar e interpretar los datos. Se incluyeron catorce maestras y 14 padres en la
metodolgia-Q (7 maestras y 7 padres de cada grado). Se condujeron entrevistas de seguimiento
con 6 participantes. Los resultados del estudio sugieren tres principales puntos de vista con
respecto a las creencias DAP de los participantes Hungaros. Estos incluyen los siguientes: (1)
enfoque en el desarrollo individual y aprendizaje del niho, (2) enfoque en enseiiar a los niiios de
acuerdo a los metodos de enseiianza tradicionales, y (3) enfoque en respetar la diversidad en las
escuelas, los niiios y susfamilias. Las recomendaciones parafuturos estudios incluyeron: (1)
observaciones a las maestras ademas de las entrevistas, (2) explorar los puntos de vista de los
adminsitradores acerca del DAP ademas de los de las maestras y padres, y (3) extender el
estudio hacia grados superiores.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EARLY CHILDHOOD 34(1). ISSN 0020-7187
24
Resume
L 'opinion de parents et enseignants d'enfants en maternelle et cours preparatoire
hongrois a ete exploree quant ala notion de pratiques appropriees au developpement (DAP),
identifiees par I'Association Nationale pour I'Education des Jeunes Enfants (NAEYC, 1987,
1997). Afin d'eviter les problemes methodologiques presents dans de nombreuses etudes sur les
DAP, la methode Q et les interviews ont ete utilisees pour recueillir, analyser et interpreter les
donnees. Quatorze enseignants et quatorze parents ont participe la methode Q (7 enseignants
et 7 parents a chaque niveau d'enseignement). Des interviews de suivi ont ete conduites avec six
participants. II ressort de cette etude que les opinions des participants hongrois se centrent sur
trois points de vue principaux : (1) le developpement et l'apprentissage individuel des enfants ,.
(2) l'enseignement atravers des methodes traditionnelles ,. et (3) le respect de la diversite des
ecoles, des enfants et des familles. II est recommande qu 'en suivi de recherche soient explorees
(1) les observations des enseignants en sus des interviews, (2) les vues des administrateurs sur
les DAP, et (3) que l'etude soit etendue aux niveaux d'enseignement superieurs.
a
Introduction
In 1987, the 87,000-member organization of the National Association for the Education
of Young Children (NAEYC) published its first consensus position statement defining principles
for developmentally appropriate early childhood programs (Bredekamp, 1987). Since that time,
a number of studies have emerged to determine the relative effect of DAP upon a number of
variables. While research in general has been very supportive of positive outcomes of
developmentally appropriate programs (Burts et aI., 1990; Burts et aI., 1992; Charlesworth,
1989), a number of related issues remain inconclusive. One of the more salient unresolved issues
is the relationship between parent and teacher views toward this construct. It would appear that a
consistency in DAP beliefs/practices among parents and teachers would result in even more
positive research outcomes. It is for this reason that the revised 1997 NAEYC guidelines
advocate strongly for parent involvement in schools and collaboration between schools and
families. In addition, while a few studies of this relationship (albeit those which have used
questionnaires) are available in the United States, very little is known about this relationship
from a broader world perspective. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore the belief
systems of teachers and parents of pre-school and Grade 1 children from a nation in Central
Europe which has, for the most part, not been privy to the DAP viewpoint as proposed by
NAEYC.
Background
In 1989, shortly after the first NAEYC position statement was published, Hungary
experienced a major governmental change. For nearly 40 years the goal of Hungarian education
was "the formation of the communist ideal." In this system, children were brought up according
to the needs of the socialist state in the "spirit of the working class" (Horvath, 1990, p. 209).
Education conforming to the above purpose clearly emphasized the teacher-directed instructional
practices.
Since the introduction of the 1990 Hungarian Education Law, schools and teachers were
given greater opportunities to adopt more diverse forms of pedagogy (Soros Foundation, 1999).
These opportunities resulted in the establishment of increasing numbers of private and
foundation schools throughout Hungary (Kelemen, 2000). This legislation further required all
25
preschool teachers to possess a bachelor's degree in early childhood education (Petho, 1999). In
addition, this law required all 5-year-olds to attend preschools. In 1996, a national core
curriculum was prepared for these young children by the National Institute for Education under
the supervision of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs (Ministry of Cultural and Educational Affairs,
1996). This national curriculum required subjects such as play, health habits, physical education,
work, mathematics, mother tongue, literature, art and music. By September 1999, all early
childhood programs were required to be in compliance with the national core curriculum.
More than a decade after the political change, anecdotal information suggests that the
Hungarian education system appears to be moving toward a more child-centered, play-oriented
focus and away from the previous subject-centered curriculum designed solely to prepare
children for primary grades (Horvath, 1999; Soros Foundation, 1999). This changing focus
appears to align the Hungarian early education system more closely with major tenets of
NAEYC's DAP guidelines. Yet, little data are available concerning how this changing view of
educating very young children reflects the views of major stake-holders- that is, those of
parents and teachers.
Since 1987, the NAEYC DAP document has undergone a number of revisions. Besides
"age and individual appropriateness" as major determinants ofDAP, this guideline now also
focuses upon "cultural appropriateness." Part of the impetus for this focal adjustment has been
the interest expressed by other countries in exploring this construct in relation to their child care
system. Thus far, studies have been conducted primarily regarding teachers' beliefs and
practices relative to DAP in the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Korea, Greece, and Spain
(Charlesworth, 1998). Hoot et al. (1996) conducted a study with teachers, administrators, and
parents in the People's Republic of China, Ecuador, Finland, and the United States. In addition
to offering guidance to educational leaders in these countries, studies such as these also offer
direction to countries of immigrants such as the United States.
Methodological Problems with Traditional DAP Research
One of the often-mentioned methodological drawbacks ofDAP research to date has been
the use of a very few checklists and questionnaires to elicit data (e.g. Burts et al., 1990, 1992,
1993; Charlesworth et al., 1991, 1993; Doliopoulou, 1996; Hoot et al., 1996; Jones & Gullo,
1999; Vartuli, 1999). The major problem with data from such instruments is that they have been
shown to greatly limit personal (subjective) input from teachers and parents (Lubeck, 1998). In
one study using the Teachers Beliefs Scale (Charlesworth, et al. 1991), Jones and Gullo (1999)
rated teachers as DAP, Average, or DIP depending on the relative importance ofa number of
early childhood practices. Using this scale, a teacher would be considered more DAP if they
indicated it was "not at all important" for young children to read than if they thought it were
"somewhat important." In contrast, a subjective approach might ask the teacher why it is
"somewhat important" for young children to learn to read, or even under what circumstances
would it be "important" or "very important" for young children to learn to read. Whereas an
objective scale often serves a function of categorizing people into groups, asking a person to
express what they think about an issue from their point of view serves a different purpose. In the
Jones and Gullo article, personal input from the teachers might have led to discovering that
several of the teachers believed it very important to teach young children to read when they are
ready developmentally, and if they want to learn. To minimize problems relating to these
objective instruments, case studies and open-ended interviews have been recently recommended
26
to study teachers' and parents' beliefs (Ernest, 1999; Hoot et aI., 1996; Lubeck, 1998; Pajares,
1992).
To mitigate limitations of widely-used instruments such as those mentioned above, the
emergence of Q-methodological studies along with interviews in recent years appear to show
promise (Brown, 1998; Ernest, 1999). Q-methodology is designed to investigate participants'
subjective views by allowing them to indicate the relative appropriateness of an item according
to their personal point of view. A teacher with an ECE degree might interpret the DAP
document as advocating for a moratorium on all standardized testing and thus rate standardized
testing as relatively inappropriate. A parent who has not read the NAEYC's DAP document
might think that any form of assessment that indicates how well their child is doing is a good
thing. The parent might think standardized testing is appropriate, but in the context of rating all
assessment items as appropriate, the standardized testing item takes on a different meaning.
Given this information, an early childhood teacher may wish to engage the parent in a discussion
of appropriate uses of standardized tests (Hyson, 2002) rather than adamantly eschewing all
such tests.
Building upon these deeply-held beliefs, follow-up interviews can further elicit
participants' belief systems and help determine reasons behind their item sorting. In addition to
instrument limitations, most of the research on DAP has been conducted at the preschool and
kindergarten levels (Bryant et aI., 1991; Burts et aI., 1990, 1992; Charlesworth et aI., 1991;
Spodek, 1987; Wing, 1989). Few studies focus on the primary grades and the continuum of
DAP over the primary grade levels (Buchanan et aI., 1998; Burts et aI., 1993; Jones & Gullo,
1999; Vartu1i, 1999). This study is designed to extend DAP research into preschool and Grade 1
levels and to mitigate methodological problems of existing DAP research. Further, it initiates
research involving the DAP construct into Eastern Europe where such research has been offlimits to American researchers for nearly 40 years.
Research Questions
The following research questions guided this investigation:
1. Are there differences between Hungarian participants' beliefs regarding
developmentally appropriate/developmentally inappropriate practices for preschool
and Grade 1 children?
2. Which items are considered to be "most developmentally appropriate" and "most
developmentally inappropriate" within the unique and shared viewpoints of the
participants?
3. What might account for similar/different views about developmentally appropriate
practices?
Methods
The tenets ofQ-methodology were first recorded in a 1935 edition of Nature. Since then,
thousands of studies from a variety of disciplines have used Q-methodology to document
people's thoughts, feelings, and attitudes about a variety of topics (Smith, 2001). Recent studies
using Q-methodology in the journal Operant Subjectivity have investigated why some people
adopted online stock trading while others stuck with their full-service brokers, how attitudes
toward affirmative action programs varied, and interpreting racial attitudes toward health care.
27
In the process of using Q-methodology, a researcher asks participants to interact with a
representative selection of statements about an issue of interest to those people. The statements
are often written on cards and each person is asked to sort the cards along a continuum of
"important to me" to "unimportant to me" or "most like my point of view" to "least like my point
of view." The person may be asked to sort the cards from their point of view so that the
placement of the cards most accurately represents how they feel about the issue. Using Q, the
researcher does not intend to determine (qua factual) how appropriate a person is, or group of
people are, but seeks to discover (qua informative) how different views are similar or different
from each other.
Once a number of people sort their cards, complex statistical procedures such as Principal
Components Analysis (PCA) or Centroid Factor Analysis group participants together because of
the way they sorted their cards and not because they share similar demographic characteristics.
Whereas a traditional hypothesis may state the average teacher has beliefs about how to teach
young children that are considered more appropriate than the average parent; with Qmethodology, the assumption is that all people are different until the data show otherwise. This
allows the data to determine which people share similar beliefs. More importantly it allows the
researcher to investigate the structure of the shared belief by qualitatively searching for patterns
among the distribution of the statements. An early childhood practice such as using standardized
tests may be 'explained' as appropriate because a group of people value collecting a wide array
of data about a child's learning or development.
In this study, Q-methodology and interviews were used to collect the data. Follow-up
Interviews (one per participant) were conducted with six participants, one teacher and one parent
from each viewpoint who associated with the given component at the highest degree.
The two samples of the study were Q-sample (set of statements) and P-sample (sample of
participants) (see Appendix for set of statements). The Q-sample consisted of 30
developmentally appropriate and 30 developmentally inappropriate items based on the 1997
NAEYC guidelines (Ernest, 1999). Each item was printed on 3"x5" cards. The selection ofthe
60 items was validated by three nationally recognized experts in the early childhood field
(Ernest, 1999), and the items were translated into Hungarian. The translation of the items was
also validated by three experts.
The P-sample consisted of fourteen teachers and fourteen parents: seven teachers and
seven parents of children in preschool, and seven teachers and seven parents of children in first
grade. Participants were selected from Fejer and Pest counties in Hungary where nearly one
third of the population resides.
Teacher participants (all female) had a range of ages 27 to 50 with a mean age of 34. All
teacher participants possessed a bachelor's degree in either early childhood or elementary
education. The length ofteaching service ranged from 4 to 20 years with a mean of 12 years.
Ages of parent participants ranged from 27 to 40 with a mean age of 34 years. Ninety-three
percent (13 out of 14) were female. Forty-three percent (6 out of 14) had a bachelor's degree,
14% (2 out of 14) had a master's degree, and 43% (6 out of 14) were high school graduates.
Ninety-three percent (13 out of 14) of the parent participants were employed.
Each participant was asked to sort the cards along an a priory defined (forced, quasinormal) continuum according to the participants' personal viewpoint. The quasi-normal, forced
distribution represented the following order at both ends (most inappropriate and most
appropriate) of the distribution: -5 end: 3 cards, -4: 4 cards, -3: 4 cards, -2: 7 cards, -1: 7 cards, 0
28
(the middle of the distribution): 10 cards, +1: 7 cards, +2: 7 cards, +3: 4 cards, +4: 4 cards, and
+5 end: 3 cards. Data analysis was performed using PQMethod Version 2.09 (Schmolck, 1999),
and emerging themes from the interviews were supported with claims and evidence.
Results
The inspection of the principal component analysis suggested that there were three main
viewpoints regarding the beliefs of teachers and parents of children (preschool-Grade 1) in
Hungary as they relate to the construct of developmentally appropriate practices as identified by
NAEYC. The choice to retain the final number of components/viewpoints was made by using
the relevant factors having eigenvalues of 1.0 or larger, and by having at least 3 or 4 people with
a .40 or higher correlation with the factor. Twelve participants had component associations
greater than .40 with the first component and insignificant associations with the other
components (pure association). With the second component, 7 participants had pure
associations, and 3 participants had pure associations with the third component. These
participants did not cross load to a statistically significant degree with other components. Six
participants did not associate purely with any of the three components. However, of these six
participants, 3 associated with all three views, and 3 with two viewpoints to a statistically
significant degree. Thus, the three viewpoints are representative to all participants to a certain
degree.
In order to identify which items were considered to be developmentally appropriate and
inappropriate by each viewpoint, component weights were calculated for the group of people
who defined a single component viewpoint based on the person's level of association with the
component. These weights were used to calculate component scores (z-scores) and finally the
viewpoint arrays. Participants associating with the first component (Viewpoint A) considered
items addressing children's individual development and learning the most developmentally
appropriate. Participants associating with the second component (Viewpoint B) considered items
addressing the need for more academic-oriented practices the most developmentally appropriate.
Finally, participants associating with the third component (Viewpoint C) considered
items addressing family involvement and the appreciation of diversity the most appropriate. All
participants agreed with the importance of teachers and administrators possessing a college-level
education in child-development, participating in on-going professional development, and using
observations to assess children's learning.
The Q-sorts provided focus for the interviews indicating which of the various topics in
the Q-sample were the most worth further investigation. Two participants per viewpoint were
selected for the interviews. Throughout the interviews there were agreements, similarities and
clear differences among the views of the six participants. Despite of some of the similarities
among certain viewpoints, each viewpoint had some unique characteristics that made that
particular viewpoint different from the other sets of beliefs.
Four themes arose from the interviews with the two participants who represented a set of
beliefs that focused on children's individual development and learning (Viewpoint A). These
themes are: 1) Building a caring community, 2) Selecting and presenting learning activities in
ways that are sensitive to young children's needs, 3) Constructing a curriculum that reflects
differences in children's development and ability, and 4) Family involvement is dependent upon
teachers' decisions. The first three themes are considered to be mostly developmentally
appropriate, and the fourth theme is considered to be developmentally inappropriate by NAEYC
29
standards. Based on the interviews, this viewpoint is considered to be in the most agreement
with the NAEYC guidelines.
Four themes arose from the interviews with the two participants who represented the
viewpoint that focused on teaching children according to the traditional teaching methods
(Viewpoint B). These themes are: 1) Teaching children to assimilate into a group, 2) Providing
children with activities for meaningful learning and play, 3) Constructing a curriculum without
placing much attention on individual children's ability and interests, and 4) Providing parents
with opportunities to get involved. The first three themes are considered to be largely
developmentally inappropriate, and the fourth theme is considered to be developmentally
appropriate by NAEYC standards. Based on the interviews, this viewpoint is considered to be
the least developmentally appropriate by NAEYC guidelines.
Four themes arose from the interviews with the two participants who represented the
viewpoint focusing on respecting diversity in schools, in children and in families (Viewpoint C).
These themes are: 1) Respecting children's needs, 2) Facilitating children's learning, 3)
Designing a curriculum to help children achieve developmental and learning goals, and 4) Parent
involvement is based on mutual respect. During the interviews, participants associated with both
developmentally appropriate and inappropriate beliefs to about the same degree. Thus, this
viewpoint is represented by participants who subscribe to both developmentally appropriate and
inappropriate practices as identified by NAEYC.
Summary and Discussion
The three main belief sets among the participants were unique and independent from one
another. Each group of participants focused on their personal beliefs regarding what is best for
young children in their community. According to the postmodern perspective (Lubeck, 1998),
educators should focus on the needs of children within each community since each environment
has different needs and characteristics. Since the present study was conducted in Hungary, the
findings are important when considering the cultural appropriateness of developmentally
appropriate practices for young children.
In Viewpoint A, all the items in consideration were consistent with the NAEYC
guidelines. This finding suggests that the Hungarian participants who associated with Viewpoint
A, have a set of beliefs about early childhood education that is very much consistent with the
NAEYC guidelines (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997). Much emphasis was placed on children's
developmental characteristics such as experimenting, exploring, and learning through play. It
was also believed that children should be able to select from many interesting activities that are
closest to their interests. Setting an academic standard for the school year to follow was
considered to be appropriate, but it was believed that teachers need flexibility to change the
curriculum or teaching methods based on children's individual needs. In order to assess
children, observations were considered to be the best tools, so children's development can be
viewed over time. Advocates for the first viewpoint did not believe that children notice cultural
differences at an early age, and perhaps this was why they did not consider including teaching
about diversity into the everyday curriculum. It was further believed that children with
disabilities should only be included in a regular classroom, if an assistant is provided for the
child. Finally, collaboration among families and schools was viewed to be important, but
teachers were considered to be the educational experts whose opinion should receive more
attention and consideration. Based on the type of the most and least appropriate items, this
30
viewpoint represented participants who focused on children's individual development and
learning.
Based on the type of the most and least appropriate items, the second set of beliefs
(Viewpoint B) represented participants who focused on teaching children according to the
traditional teaching methods. In this view it was felt that all children should learn the same skills
at the same time, and all learning activities should be selected and presented by the teachers.
The curriculum should also be set for the school year, but it needs to be followed by all children.
The focus of instruction was viewed to be on teaching academic subjects. It was believed that in
order to learn effectively, children should spend most of their time at their seats and learn the
right posture. Participants believed that children need to assimilate into a bigger group of
children, and in Hungarian schools all children should be educated in Hungarian. Finally, it was
believed that families should receive opportunities to participate in schools, but teachers should
have the right to decide whether to take families' advice or comments into consideration.
The third group of participants (Viewpoint C) had a set of beliefs that were close to the
NAEYC standards regarding developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood education.
It was believed that each child's culture and background should be respected, and teachers
should teach diversity in schools in order for children to learn to respect and love each other.
Children with disabilities should not be included in regular classrooms, because they deserve the
right education in special schools. Children were further believed that they could be challenged
with new materials, but teachers should be sensitive not to require information that children are
not ready for. In this way, teachers can avoid causing children to fail. Advocates for this
viewpoint believed that the focus in the classroom should be on teaching academic subjects, and
that the teachers should select and present the right learning activities. Some parts of the
curriculum planned for the year could be left out due to necessary repetitions. Finally,
collaboration between schools and families was considered to be important because it was
viewed to be the only way schools and families could work together effectively. Based on the
type of the most and least appropriate items, this viewpoint represented participants who
respected diversity in schools, in children and in families.
These findings support the controversy regarding the universal appropriateness ofDAP
as proposed by NAEYC. The present study does not support Vartuli's (1999) research
suggesting that as grade level increases, teachers have less developmentally appropriate beliefs.
However, the findings support Stipek & Byler (1997) who found that first grade teachers
subscribed to both child-centered and traditional beliefs rather than perceiving one as better than
the other. The findings of this study also suggest that more preschool teachers associated with a
set of beliefs that reflected practices focusing on children's individual development. Further, the
findings of the present study challenge Stipek & Byler (1997) by suggesting that teachers and
parents of preschool and kindergarten children have a range of both similar and differing beliefs.
This inconsistency may be due to the methodologies used in prior studies. Vartuli averaged
across all the teachers within a certain grade, thus hiding any differences in beliefs between the
teachers within a grade. Likewise, Stipek and Byler grouped all the teachers in each of the grades
together for many of their analyses.
The 1997 NAEYC guidelines advocate for parent involvement in schools and
collaboration between schools and families. In order to meet these goals, parents' views
regarding developmentally appropriate practices need to be considered in addition to teachers'
beliefs. The findings of the present study are consistent with Knudsen-Lindauer et al. (1989),
31
Park (1996) and Stipek et al. (1992) regarding finding differences in parents' views. Thus,
educators need to consider these differences when inviting families into the schools.
As mentioned earlier, the country of Hungary experienced a major change in its
government in 1989. Since then, schools have been active in writing their pedagogical programs
and adopting alternative waves of educating young children. Although the NAEYC construct is
new to Hungarians, the present study suggests that Hungarian parents and teachers at both levels
(preschool and Grade 1) have a range of similar and different beliefs regarding developmentally
appropriate practices. The results of this study suggest that the developmentally appropriateness
or inappropriateness of an item should be based on the needs and characteristics of a specific
environment and culture.
In future studies, teachers besides being interviewed could also be observed in their
classrooms to explore their teaching practices in relation to their beliefs regarding
developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood education. More studies could be
conducted in Hungary and in other countries to further explore subjective beliefs regarding the
NAEYC construct from parents, teachers, and administrators' points of view in various grade
levels. Emerging differences in beliefs might lead to research regarding the appropriateness of
current educational practices in the world.
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Appendix
Q-Statements on Developmentally Appropriate Practices
1. Children's play should be limited so that the children can focus on their academic work.
2. Within an early childhood program (the classroom), the teachers should develop friendships,
so that all the children in the class care about each other.
3. How successful the early childhood program (the classroom) is should be based on how
many of the children are able to perform specific skills (such as recognizing the letters of the
alphabet, being able to count, etc.).
4. If older children can work at desks in large groups, younger children should be expected (and
trained) to work the same way.
5. Children's communication skills should be developed throughout the course of the day by
encouraging individual and group discussions.
6. Cultural and individual differences within the community should be respected by the
teachers.
7. Teachers should use observation of the children's progress to assess the child's work.
8. Teachers should ensure that activities are well matched to each child's development,
encouraging children in new tasks when the child is ready to learn.
9. Teachers should possess college-level preparation in child development and developmentally
appropriate practices to be qualified to work with young children.
10. The number of children in the class should be limited by professional standards to ensure that
each child receives the individual attention they require from the teacher.
11. The focus in the classroom should be in teaching academic subjects like reading, writing, and
arithmetic and these should be taught as separate subjects (e.g., math in the morning, science
in the afternoon, etc.).
12. Teachers should motivate the children using activities that children are naturally curious
about and interested in.
13. Teachers should be expected to engage in ongoing professional development activities (e.g.,
university study, attending workshops, etc.) to remain in their teaching positions.
14. Teachers should use their assessments of children's classroom behaviors, projects, etc., to
plan and adapt the activities that the children participate in.
15. The administrators of the programs that serve young children should have professional
knowledge of children's learning and development.
16. The curriculum design (what is to be taught in the program) should be based on the children's
prior experiences and should change based on the children's interests.
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17. How well the child is doing in the program should be measured by how well the children
perform on tests that compare the child to children from around the nation.
18. When selecting activities for the children, the teachers should be aware of, and responsive to,
individual differences in children's ability, developmental level, and approach to learning.
19. The administrators' job is managerial and therefore administrators should be more like
business people and don't need training in early childhood education.
20. Prior to entering the program, teachers should test the child using a 'readiness test' to
determine whether the child is ready for the year's work.
21. Teachers should make sure that the child's culture should not be allowed to interfere with the
goals of the class.
22. Children should learn concepts and skills using repetitive examples (doing the skill over and
over again) where there is only one correct response.
23. Teachers should frequently ask the children for different ways to solve a problem thereby
developing different strategies for problem solving.
24. The flow of information should be from the teacher to the family member so that the family
knows what to do to help their children learn.
24. Teachers should often use rewards (such as outdoor privileges) for good behavior and
punishments (such as "Time Out") for unacceptable behavior.
25. Examples of the child's work (over a period of time) from multiple activities should be used
to give the teacher a good idea of the child's development.
26. Children of the same ability should be kept together and children who do not keep up with
the other children should not be allowed to slow the pace of the class down.
27. Children should often work in their seats on teacher chosen activities and talking among
children should be kept to a minimum.
28. Assessments should be used to find out how much the child knows and not with how the
child comes to know the information (the process of learning).
29. Family members should always be welcome in the program and opportunities for the family
to participate in the program should be arranged to accommodate the family's schedule.
30. It should be acceptable for qualified teachers of older children to work with younger children.
31. An academic level reflecting what all children should know should be set for the whole class
and should be followed to make sure that all the material for the year is covered.
32. Teachers and family members should use workbooks for practice and discovering if a child
knows how to write letters, recognize numbers, etc.
33. Teachers should work with members of the child's family as a partnership to help the child's
learning and development.
34. Assessments should provide information concerning how the child solved the problem.
35. In learning to read, children should first be able to recognize all the letters of the alphabet,
and sound out all the letters' sounds before they start to look at books.
36. Teachers should maintain order in the classroom by restricting talking and separating friends
who talk all the time.
37. Teachers should bring each child's home culture and language into the classroom so children
can learn to respect and appreciate similarities and differences among people.
38. Teachers should move children from one class to another to make sure there aren't too many
children for a single teacher even if it means the children do not settle into a regular class
routine.
39. Children should use strategies including inventing their own spelling, talking informally,
listening to and reading stories and poems to develop language and literacy skills.
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40. Teachers should often provide a wide range of learning experiences so that children are able
to select activities they would like to do.
41. Teachers should not have to possess formal college-level preparation to be qualified to work
with young children. As long as adults care for the children this should qualify them as
suitable for the job.
42. To teach children toileting skills, teachers should let the children know that they should be
ashamed if there's an accident.
43. Teachers should encourage family members to make sure the child knows that adults are
always in charge and should not be questioned (e.g., children should only speak when spoken
to).
44. Family members should not interfere in the design of the activities in the classroom because
the teachers are the education experts.
45. Children with disabilities or special learning needs should be included in the class not only
physically but also intellectually and socially.
46. Teachers should create an environment where the child can take appropriate physical and
academic risks.
47. In the classroom, it is not important to consider cultural and other individual differences.
48. When problems between teachers and families arise, teachers should be respectful of the
families' wishes and both parties should work together to solve the problem.
49. Teachers should always listen to the family members of the children in the program,
respecting the goals that the family members have for their children.
50. Teachers should often use drill and practice in the classroom and the best way for children to
learn skills is to copy the teachers' example as closely as possible.
51. Teachers should integrate different content areas together (e.g., math/science/ art) such as
exploring patterns in math or counting blocks in the block center.
52. Teachers should be patient when there are occasional toileting accidents, spilled food at
lunch, or unfinished jobs such as putting the art supplies away.
53. The program should accept children regardless of the child's prior knowledge, ability, or
readiness.
54. In the classroom, the teacher should attempt to get all the children to learn the same skills at
the same time.
55. Children with disabilities or special learning needs should receive most of their instruction
outside of the regular class with a special education teacher.
56. Family members should be limited in how often they are allowed to visit the children to
minimize the disruption caused by the visit.
57. Teachers should help children learn how to establish positive constructive relationships with
adults and other children.
58. The teachers should follow a standard course of study reflecting the average Hungarian
(different cultures are not studied).
59. Strategies such as multiage grouping (children of lots of different ages in the same
classroom) are used so that children can develop a strong and lasting relationship with the
teacher.
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James Hoot