Comparing early childhood educators' teaching beliefs and intentions between the U.S. and Taiwan.

摘要

The purpose of this research was to examine (1) early childhood educators' teaching beliefs and intentions across two countries, the United States and Taiwan, and (2) the relationship between teaching beliefs and intentions. Fifty early childhood teachers and teaching aides working in child development laboratories affiliated with child development or related programs at universities or colleges from the U.S. (N = 24) and Taiwan (N = 26) participated in this study. The participants completed a demographic survey, two open-ended questions, and a self-report Briefs and Intentions Questionnaire (Wilcox-Herzog & Ward, 2004). Descriptive statistics, Independent-Samples T Test, and Pearson Correlation were conducted for data analyses. The results of this study indicate that early childhood educators' teaching beliefs differed in the two countries, the U.S. and Taiwan, whereas intentions do not. The results also indicate that early childhood educators' teaching beliefs are related to their teaching intentions.