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Situating Teacher Beliefs

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Early Childhood Education and School Readiness in India

Abstract

This chapter explores teachers’ beliefs regarding good early childhood education (ECE) and the contextual factors pertaining to the school and school community that might influence their day-to-day beliefs and practices. It uses interviews with 380 teachers across different types of schools (preschool and primary) in the three states of Assam, Rajasthan, and Telangana. The data were collected as a part of the Indian Early Childhood Education Impact (IECEI) Study. The results indicate that even with lower rates of education and training, many of the preschool and primary school teachers had high ideals for themselves and their students. They also talked about the benefits of preschool education although their perceptions on the kind of instruction varied. In contextualizing their beliefs and exploring the challenges that they faced, the teachers highlighted questions about teacher autonomy and agency.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education Studies, Ambedkar University Delhi, New Delhi, India

    Sunita Singh & Aparajita Bhargarh Chaudhary

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  1. Sunita Singh
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  2. Aparajita Bhargarh Chaudhary
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Correspondence to Sunita Singh .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. CECED, Ambedkar University Delhi, New Delhi, India

    Venita Kaul

  2. ASER Centre, New Delhi, India

    Suman Bhattacharjea

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Singh, S., Chaudhary, A.B. (2019). Situating Teacher Beliefs. In: Kaul, V., Bhattacharjea, S. (eds) Early Childhood Education and School Readiness in India. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7006-9_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7006-9_9

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