Abstract

CARMIOL BARBOZA, Ana María; CRUZ CORDERO, Tania  and  MOLINARI ULATE, Mauricio. Promoting conceptual development in preschool classrooms: A systematic review of research findings. Rev. Actual. Investig. Educ [online]. 2014, vol.14, n.1, pp.21-50. ISSN 1409-4703.

This article discusses findings concerning the way preschool teachers promote conceptual development in the classroom. We reviewed final graduation projects conducted by psychology and preschool education majors in Costa Rican public universities, between 2007 and 2011. Thirty-six of the 347 final projects produced during this period dealt with conceptual development in the preschool age. One project was conducted by a psychology major while the rest were executed by preschool education majors. We found that the majority of projects developed in preschool education programs used qualitative methodologies rarely based on empirical facts. Findings from these projects indicate the presence of some teacher practices that promote conceptual development in the classroom, such as games and experiments. The projects examined also pointed out a series of deficits in the teachers’ promotion of conceptual development. A quarter of the projects indicated that teachers 1) do not promote children’s active participation, 2) seldom develop activities that are engaging for the children, 3) and do not consider the developmental and individual differences within the class in their lesson planning.

Keywords : Cognitive development; conceptual development; preschool; teacher education; early education; teaching practices; Costa Rica.

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