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Meanings about the child embodied within kindergarten teachers’ report card slogans

University of British Columbia

The purpose of this study was to identify the slogans used by kindergarten teachers when reporting student progress to parents. The meaning of these slogans was defined in terms of the teachers' assumptions about the child. The major question addressed was: What meanings about the child are embodied within the social-emotional slogans used by kindergarten teachers on report cards? A secondary problem arising from the first was: What are the implications for inservice education and for reporting to parents? Social-emotional slogans were identified and interpreted through analysis of fifty report cards collected from twenty-five kindergarten teachers within one large metro school district. Assumptions about the child clustered under three headings: personal attributes, interpersonal relationships, and work habits, yielding six slogan clusters in total. Six teachers were individually interviewed to clarify and refine the researcher's initial meanings. Five additional teachers participated in the final validation of the slogans and meanings. Implications were drawn for inservice education from the teachers' interview experience; and for reporting to parents from the teachers' reflective comments on reporting.

Text

2010-03-30

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/23092

Curriculum Studies

University of British Columbia

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