Abstract:
Even though previous research points to the significance of kindergarten teachers’ practices which
consider the nature of children and how they learn, there is still limited research regarding how learning
activities impact children’s development. To address this gap in literature, a qualitative multi-case study
into teachers’ perceptions of classrooms practices of four kindergarten teachers’ in two Ghanaian
schools, Tata and Kariba, were carried out over a six-months period. One research question guided the
study, namely, ‘what kinds of learning activities do teachers engage kindergarten children. The sources
of data comprised transcripts of audiotaped semi-structured individual interviews, pair-based
interviews and field notes of classroom observations. Both within the case and across case interpretive
analyses were constructed. The study revealed that teachers in both rural and urban settings described
child-initiated and teacher-initiated activities they believed impacted children’s development in diverse
ways.
Key words: Learning activities, cognitive constructivist theory, development, children, Piaget, spirituality.
