Investigation of perceptions and practices of kindergarten and first grade primary school teachers concerning their cooperation for the enhancement of literacy

ZOI APOSTOLOU, GERASIMOS KOUSTOURAKIS, NEKTARIOS STELLAKIS, KONSTANTINOS LAVIDAS

Abstract

The present work concerns the investigation of the perceptions of kindergarten and first grade primary school teachers of their cooperation in terms of enhancing the literacy of their students. The data were collected by administering an electronic questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to teachers of Greek public schools in the prefectures of Achaia and Ilia. The main findings of this study indicate that in contrast to the existing reality, first grade primary school teachers as well as kindergarten teachers recognize the need to develop cooperation between them, recognizing that this will contribute to the smoother transition of students from kindergarten to primary school. They also seemed to want to create a balanced language curriculum that would ensure continuity in implemented teaching literacy practices between the two specific types of schools. Furthermore, the first grade primary school teachers and kindergarten teachers who participated in the research want to implement a common training framework on issues of modern teaching in order to facilitate the cooperation between them, which according to the teachers is hindered by the factors of co-location of school units and lack of time due to pressure experienced by teachers to cover the "course material" according to the modern curriculum of the language course.

Keywords

Literacy, kindergarten, primary school, teachers’ perceptions and practices, co-operation, transition

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References

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.26220/mje.3401

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