Articles

Epistemic foundations of the attitudes requested on the part of preschool teachers working with low socioeconomic status children and their families

Authors

  • Francois Larose University of Sherbrooke
  • Johanne Bédard University of Montreal
  • Bernard Terrisse University of Quebec, Montreal
  • Yves Couturier University of Sherbrooke

Keywords:

preschool teachers, epistemology, curriculum, school-society interactions

Abstract

Within the present curriculum reform taking place in Québec (Canada), a special emphasis is placed on two topics. First, its epistemic basis is proclaimed to be constructivist or socioconstructivist. Second, the restructured curriculum is supposed to consider the parents as partners, and knowledgeable ones, within the educational process. These two topics are supposed to characterize the whole educational system, including the preschool levels (pre-kindergarten and kindergarten). In this paper, we will first briefly present the history of preschool education in Québec and the major epistemic differences between the previous and actual pre-K and K education in the province. We therefore will present some results from a granted research recently finished, identifying the level of coherence between teachers' attitudes towards parents' knowledge and competencies and the attitudes requested within the department of education discourse and curriculum. We will conclude by an analysis of the implications of the distances described between teachers' attitudes and curricular requirements, especially in terms of continuous education needs for the ones working with the low SES child and his family.

Author Biography

Francois Larose, University of Sherbrooke

University of Sherbrooke, Faculty of Education, Research Center on Educational Interventions, Québec, Canada.

Published

2004-12-01

Issue

Section

Articles