A Multi-Case Study of Instructional Decision-Making Processes of Teachers in Kindergarten Classrooms in the Cape Coast Metropolis

Abstract

The study contributes to the on-going debate regarding the significance of early childhood teachers‟ instructional decision-making that takes into consideration their theoretical knowledge (explicit theories) and practical experiences (implicit theories) and how they impact their instructional decision-making processes in diverse sociocultural contexts of children. To address this gap in the literature, a qualitative multi-case study into the perceptions and classroom practices of four kindergarten teachers in two Ghanaian schools, Tata and Kariba, was carried out over a six-month period. One research question that sought to explore factors and beliefs influencing teachers‟ instructional decision-making in a kindergarten classroom guided the study. Data sources used were semi-structured individual interviews and pair-based interviews and field notes of classroom observations. Both within and across case interpretative analysis was outlined. The study‟s findings revealed that these teachers‟ explicit theories and implicit theories of teaching influenced their instructional decision-making processes in kinder garten classrooms. Keywords: Explicit theory; Implicit theory; Decision-making; Early childhood; Kindergarten.