What You Can Accomplish in a Year: Head Start Teachers' Decisions about Teaching

Abstract

This ethnographic study of teacher decision making in an Appalachian Head Start program suggests that teachers use personal and practical knowledge to inform their daily teaching while professional experiences appear less influential. Teachers are also influenced by their relationships in the community as they make use of community funds of knowledge to inform how and what they teach. Finally, external influences including administrative decisions and the social, economic and political circumstances in their community and in society influenced how they make instructional decisions. The importance of a deep understanding of how teachers make decisions about classroom practice is apparent. Findings from the study are discussed as they relate to Head Start policies and practice and how curriculum change may occur.