Journal of Education and Human Development

The Preschool Children Control Ideology Scale: Greek Prospective Kindergarten Teachers' Beliefs about Classroom Management
Penderi Efthymia, Rekalidou Galini

Abstract
The educational literature provides a consensus over two basic ideological systems about student behavior control. The custodial orientation is related to the traditional scope of education delivering to the teacher the responsibility of students’ control. The humanistic orientation emphasizes on children’s self-regulation and participation in classroom management processes. Accordingly, Willower and his associates (1967) developed a rating system, Pupils Control Ideology (PCI). With reference to preschool education, there is a gap in the literature concerning teachers’ personal ideologies about classroom management and behavior control. Of great importance is future teachers’ idea concerning discipline, as they seem to determine the practices during their teaching carriers. The purpose of the study is to examine the psychometric properties of the Preschool Children Control Ideology (PCCI), developed by modifying the 20 items of the original scale and adding six more concerning rules setting. It was tested with a sample of 294 future kindergarten students. The scale had high internal consistency. Student teachers had more or less balanced ideas over the continuum of custodial and humanistic control ideologies, with a shift to a more humanistic orientation. Senior students to have more humanistic believes than juniors. Teaching efficacy beliefs were positively related with the humanistic beliefs.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jehd.v4n2_1a24