ED393838 SP036603
Title: The Social Context of Readiness.
Author(s): Nelson, Regena Fails
Pages: 22
Publication Date: April 1995
Notes: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational
Research Association (San Francisco, CA, April 18-22, 1995).
Available from: EDRS Price MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from
EDRS.
Language: English
Document Type: Reports--Research (143); Speeches/meeting papers (150)
Geographic Source: U.S.; Michigan
Journal Announcement: RIEAUG1996
This study
examined how kindergarten teachers' views of readiness (maturational,
learning, or school) are influenced by students from urban, suburban,
and rural areas; by minority and non-minority students; and by students
from lower and middle class backgrounds. The framework for the study
was the social constructivist theory, the theory that all knowledge
is socially constructed by actors involved in a given situation.
The study sample consisted of 1,339 kindergarten teachers from a
sample of 860 schools across the country who responded to the "Public
School Kindergarten Teachers' Views on Children's Readiness for
School" questionnaire. The results indicated that views of
readiness were influenced by social context. In urban, poor, and
minority contexts, teachers rejected the school readiness view and
the academic practices it advocates. Teachers in middle class, white,
suburban schools leaned toward maturational views of readiness.
The underlying commonality of these views is a rejection of the
academic curriculum in kindergarten. The inner city teachers' views
may lead to changing the curriculum to be more developmentally appropriate
while the suburban teachers' views can lead to changing children
by holding them back or placing them in a special readiness program.
Middle class parents prepare their children for academic programs
through challenging academic curricula, equating this with higher
quality education, while inner city students may in fact receive
better preschool education through programs such as Head Start.
The findings suggest that the significant social context factors
are the school building environments which determine whether kindergartens
are viewed as formal public education programs or early childhood
education programs. Based on the results, it is recommended that
to reach the readiness goal is to enhance the link between developmentally
appropriate preschool programs and public school kindergarten programs.
(ND)
Descriptors: Economically Disadvantaged; *Educational Environment;
Educational Theories; Kindergarten; Middle Class Students; Minority
Group Children; *Preschool Education; Preschool Teachers; Primary
Education; *School Readiness; *Social Environment; Suburban Schools;
*Teacher Attitudes; Urban Education
Identifiers: Project Head Start; Social Constructivism
