How Essential is Teaching Narrative Skills to Young Children? Profiles of Beliefs About Narrative Instruction Among Early Childhood Teachers

Research studies and national education standards support the importance of young children acquiring narrative skills for early language and literacy development. Less is known, however, about teachers’ beliefs about how essential it is to provide young children with narrative instruction. Using a person-centered approach, the current study investigated whether there were distinct profiles or patterns of teachers’ beliefs about narrative instruction. The study also examined the extent to which teachers’ background characteristics predicted profile membership and the implications of profile membership for classroom practices related to language and literacy. Results revealed four distinct profiles: (1) Narrative Naysayers; (2) Story Element Promoters; (3) Average Endorsers; and (4) Narrative Enthusiasts, indicating that not all teachers equally endorse the importance of narrative instruction for young children. Furthermore, associations between profiles and the time teachers allocated to various language and literacy supportive practices suggested implications of beliefs for children’s access to learning opportunities. There were also distinctions among some profiles in teachers’ educational level, teaching experience and grade level taught. Implications for future research and professional development are discussed.