Preservice teachers’ perceptions of the importance of children’s early approaches to learning

Abstract

This study explores preservice teachers’ perceptions of the importance of children’s early approaches to learning. The study was conducted at a local university in the western region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study sample consisted of 180 preservice teachers who were college students majoring in early childhood education (ECE). The participants completed a survey comprising fifteen items from the current Saudi Early Learning Standards (SELS) that assessed their perceptions of the following three categories of approaches to learning: (a) children’s curiosity and initiative (5 items); (b) children’s attention, engagement, and persistence (5 items); and (c) children’s logic, reasoning, and problem solving (5 items). Overall, the participants agreed on the importance of the practices categorised in the SELS as children’s active learning approaches. The analysis revealed significant positive correlations between the participants’ perceptions of children’s curiosity and initiative, logic, reasoning, and problem-solving and their academic level and training enrolment. The findings also indicated that preservice teachers enrolled in pregraduation practical training perceived the importance of supporting the three categories of learning approaches better than those not yet enrolled in practical training. The findings, conclusions, limitations, and recommendations for future research are discussed.