The Strategies Preschool Teachers Use When Confronted with Children’s Undesired Behaviors

Abstract

This is a qualitative study carried out to investigate the strategies that preschool teachers use when facing with undesired behaviors. The study was conducted in a private nursery school in Ankara, affiliated with the Ministry of National Education. Two teachers and the children between 5 and 6 took part in the study. To ensure validity and reliability of the results, the researchers read the observation notes with teachers at the end of the data collection process to ensure triangulation. The results show that, in both age groups, the most frequently used strategies by teachers are “verbal warning”, “non-verbal warning” and “first type punishment”. The observations demonstrated that both of the teachers preferred reactive model when they faced with undesired behaviors. During the co-reading the interview notes, the teachers further commented that the most frequently used strategy they used was the “second-type punishment”. The findings are discussed in line with the literature. Further suggestions are also provided.