Knowledge, Belief and Understanding of Attending Program by Teachers

One of the themes that emerged from interviews is related to the knowledge, beliefs, and understanding of teachers that resulted from attending the kindergarten training program. In this regard, the study found that the training programmes positively impacted on their knowledge, beliefs, and understanding. This is illustrated during interviews where the findings clearly indicated that provision of training programmes significantly impacted on teachers’ knowledge as the factors which were mostly highlighted for maximum training output included the length of training programmes and type of trainers On the other hand, the beliefs of teachers on training programmes are maximized by the qualification of trainers which are available to carry out these

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training programmes. The skills of the trainer in the available training programmes also affect the professional knowledge and understanding of teachers regarding the fact that teachers with less experience in training skills means that teachers gain less knowledge from the training.

Therefore, programme content and the experience of trainers were influential in modifying the knowledge and beliefs of teachers, who believed they were continually learning and gaining more experience. Amal noted that:

“My belief and knowledge have changed, and it was improving from one course to another. I think that I am utilizing this development in my working life. For instance, I used to think that any play (game) is appropriate for children, but now my knowledge has changed, not any play is suitable for children. The play should have an objective. And not any teacher is suitable to be a teacher of children”

The results showed that learning is an important part of teaching for young children therefore teachers, and mentors should take good care of the fact that they emphasize children’s learning in education and training. The results also showed that teachers are ready for the future and to create awareness of different cultures and attitudes. However, they also relate to understanding and knowledge of children through these training programmes. It is evaluated after analysing the results that the majority of teachers in kindergarten sensed that they used at least some of the workouts they attended. Not only this, the teachers repeatedly showed respect to a particular trainer or positive perspective of a particular training centre. Their positive behaviour towards the training facilities is evidence of positive impact of these programmes on their understanding, belief, as well as knowledge, either professional or for personal development. On the other hand, existing training plans also affect their professional development based on training materials.

During the interviews, Sana was asked how the training course impacts on her teaching methods, or whether she has changed her way of teaching children. In her response, she stated

“‘Sure’. It had an impact on changing my teaching skills"

This response can be interpreted with respect to the objectives which are provided in the introductory chapter of the research. This finding implies that

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provision of training courses to teachers impacted on their teaching methods which are supported by their changing way to teach kindergarten teachers. From the analysis of this response it can be stated that particularly for Sana training sessions have contributed in terms of enhancing her efficiency. By modifying the way of teaching, the teachers believe that efficiency and effectiveness can be increased. In addition to this, the findings indicate that when teachers attend training, it helps to improve their knowledge of how to handle kindergarten children in ways that could improve their effectiveness due to how they change their approaches to teaching these children. On the other hand, Mona was asked as for why she prefers attending these training sessions where she answered:

“I want to benefit from Abeer Alsalem courses Honestly, I've heard so many good opinions about managing and changing a child's behaviour, she is giving you information that we needed.”

In this response, it is understood that provision of in-service early childhood training centres allows teachers to improve their understanding of how they can manage and even change the behaviour of the child. The training facilities which are attended by teachers provide them with sufficient, relevant, and important information which they mostly need for their professional development and that helps them to improve their knowledge and understanding. From the overall analysis of this question it can be stated that the majority of the respondents have stated similar responses. On the other hand, Mona was additionally asked about why not she depended on her experience as a mother to manage child’s behaviour where she added that:

“We relied on our experiences. But all the teachers who attended the courses benefited us a lot, but we would like benefit personally by our own selves.”

As can be seen from Mona’s response above, the teachers also rely on their experiences as mothers. However, those teachers who attend these training centres tend to get the increased benefit as these training centres allowed them to grow professionally and personally. For personal development, the training centres allow them to grow their belief towards successful managing and changing the behaviour of children. However, pertaining to their professional development, this training centre allows them to gain knowledge through which

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they move ahead in their career ladder. The evidence of this claim can be determined from the responses which are obtained from the teachers who have participated in this research.

On the other hand, one of the teachers namely Nadia who participated to share her experience in this study responded that:

“I did not attend for her but this is from the words of our colleagues, they were really benefited God bless, it has some benefits, from the topics that she choose for the of interest of the child, the most important thing is the child, the child's interest, but they always say: The most important thing is the child's interest but in reality, they don’t care about the child, the most important thing is the attendance of the teacher, the teacher should do so.”

The response above highlighted two perspectives, the pros, and cons of these training facilities or why teachers attend these training facilities. From the statement above, it is found that most of the teachers have positive word-of- mouth opinions towards the provision of these training facilities as they tend to get benefit from these facilities. The benefit comes from the choice of topics that interests the children as the most significant thing in kindergarten studies is to engage the child in studies by means of interesting activities and topics.

However, the statement also reflected the importance of child’s interest, but the reality is that teachers report that they are not concerned about the child when they attend these facilities, but they just take care of their attendance in these facilities. The findings of this research that most of the attendants, especially those having less experience, in these types of training facilities which are important to attend by the organisation do not take sufficient interest to develop these ideas in their practice. Instead, the attendants are more concerned about their attendance in the training program so as to meet organisational policy or criteria. In this manner, it is also evident from the primary research which is carried out for this study with the help of interviews that some teachers in KSA who attend these kindergarten early childhood education training facilities held by the government do not consider it as important from the point of view of their own development, either professionally or personally. Therefore, the response of Nadia shows that for her, training facilities do not necessarily improve

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teacher’s knowledge, belief, and understanding which is opposite to what was discussed before.

However, when Asma was asked about if she had attended any training courses during the past three years, she responded that:

“I had attended the new course, of optimizing environments; it was a month ago, to improve education places”.

She further added about the thing which leads her to attend these courses:

“To improve myself, because I work as a teacher and classes supervisor, I have to keep up with them, I have to know what is new and improve myself.”

The response, it becomes clear that teachers also attend these training programs to improve themselves as they are keener about what is required to improve themselves for their personal and professional development and that can allow them to reap increased benefits from these programmes. This is in accordance to what was discussed previously which confirms that the provision of in-service early childhood training programmes can allow teachers to further improve themselves which enhances their belief about attending these training courses in the future. When asked about whether she really felt to attend the training program, Asma stated that:

“We have to search for short courses, what is the latest trend, because it is our curriculum the self-education, but we had changed it as teachers, we had improved it, because the new generation is cleverer, so you have to keep up with them, so we add classes each year, we should change because children are intelligent, and they learn quickly, and they are opened to the international cultures, so we have to be up to date, we need to be much improved”.

The response revealed a significant finding where Asma linked these training facilities for teachers with changing the environment that requires both teacher and children to learn quickly. In this regard, the findings suggest that teachers are more concerned about how they can keep up with the changing environment where children are cleverer and teachers need to learn quickly to meet their growing education demands. This is the reason why teachers today are more open to international cultures as their knowledge has improved which is considered as one of the positive impacts of these training facilities. It was

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also reported by teachers that their knowledge has improved from undergoing different in-service training programs.

When asked Abeer about the reason why she attended the training program, she added that:

“For improving myself, for improving my work performance, for practical development in my career, or developing my children, for solving problems that I have faced with children, etc.”

Another respondent stated in this regard:

“When I attended the course, I benefited from the experience of my colleagues”

The responses clearly show that training facilities improve teacher’s knowledge, belief, and understanding as it allows them to improve their work performance while leading them ahead in their future careers. In addition to this, one of the critical things is whether teachers attend the course before or after getting practical experience. This is important because the extent of teacher’s experience also impacts on their how they gain knowledge and understanding of these training facilities. Therefore, Areej stated that:

“When I attended the course, I benefited from the experience of my colleagues”

The response above shows that teachers also get experiences from their colleagues about the training program benefits which allow them to improve their knowledge as well. Learning from peers who are more experienced or knowledgeable is an integral part of the in-service training course. So, it is not just the quality of the trainers but the opportunities to interact with others who have different levels of knowledge and experience.