The Influence of Early Childhood Teachers' Educational Philosophies on their Classroom Practices in Preschools

As teachers, studying the history of education and pedagogy helps to understand the principles of education, various approaches and child development. With the gained knowledge and experiences over time, teachers develop their own set of beliefs, views and perspectives, which consequently and significantly reflect and influence their daily teaching practices. In other words, a holistic and quality education is achievable and supported by the philosophies on how teachers approach instruction and student engagement. It is important to align the philosophies with the current and best teaching practices. However, whether theoretical beliefs influence and impact day-to-day teaching, needs a deeper understanding and clarity. Thus, this paper will determine if preschool teachers' educational philosophies have an impact on their teaching practices in terms of teaching styles, approaches and environment setup. The qualitative data was collected through interviews with 15 preschool teachers who were selected based on their experience and qualifications in early childhood education. The data was then analysed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that theatrically teachers hold strong knowledge of child-centered teaching philosophies. However, in practice, the teachers applied teacher-centered strategies together with child-centered practices. This is due to curriculum demand, lack of resources and overload of non-teaching obligations in their workplace. Comparatively previous research showed a contradiction to the findings where curriculum understanding and ECE knowledge impacted the implementation of the curriculum. The findings implicate school organisations and governing bodies to provide educators with institutional and professional support. Finally, the study recommends further research regarding this issue to enhance the quality of early childhood education.