A qualitative study of literacy instruction in kindergarten

The study was a descriptive study of literacy instruction in kindergarten and the influences on teachers' planning and implementation of literacy instruction. Passive participant observation, interviewing, and unobtrusive data collection were the data gathering methods used in the study. Data for the study were collected over a three month period and included field notes of the literacy instruction in 12 kindergarten classrooms and transcripts of 14 interviews with kindergarten teachers. The goal of the study was to provide a description of the literacy instruction of one group of kindergarten teachers and the influences on their planning and implementation of literacy instruction. Findings from data collected on literacy instruction were reported as descriptions of reading instruction and writing instruction. Data analysis revealed three areas of influence on teachers' planning and implementation of literacy instruction: (a) curriculum influences, (b) personal philosophy influences, and (c) time influences. The following general conclusions were drawn from the findings: (a) Literacy instruction in kindergarten is alphabet driven; (b) Literacy activities utilized by the teachers reflected both reading readiness practice and emergent literacy practice; (c) Teachers based literacy instruction on curriculum influences, personal philosophy influences, and time influences rather than on a particular formal philosophy; (d) Developing a personal teaching style is an idiosyncratic, dynamic process.