Early Childhood Teacher Knowledge: Distinguishing Between Developmentally Appropriate Behavior and Maladaptive Behavior

This dissertation investigates the effectiveness of a professional development program aimed at enhancing early childhood education (ECE) teachers' abilities to identify and address developmentally appropriate versus maladaptive behaviors in young children. Utilizing an explanatory sequential mixed methods design, the study involves pre- and post-intervention surveys, a post-intervention focus group, and the implementation of four asynchronous learning modules. The participants, pre-service teachers from a large urban university, were evaluated on their knowledge and application of distinguishing between behaviors in early childhood settings. The literature review highlights the struggles ECE teachers face in identifying maladaptive behaviors and the need for targeted professional development. The professional development content was derived from Wakschlag and colleagues' work on behavior dimensions and included the use of Content Acquisition Podcasts (CAPs) as an innovative educational tool. The results indicate slight improvements in teachers' knowledge and their ability to apply this knowledge in practical settings. This study contributes to the field by providing evidence on the effectiveness of CAPs and other structured professional development frameworks in ECE. The findings suggest that improving teacher training can lead to better early interventions, thereby mitigating long-term negative outcomes associated with maladaptive behaviors in young children. The study also identifies areas for future research, including the need for ongoing support and training for ECE teachers in behavior management.