Kindergarten Teacher’s Pedagogical Knowledge and Its Relationship with Teaching Experience

Abstract

Pedagogical knowledge is closely linked to effective teaching and learning process. Teachers with good pedagogical knowledge can make a connection between theories and practice in the classroom. This research aimed to examine Malaysian kindergarten teachers’ pedagogical knowledge and its relationship with teaching experience. The survey research design and quantitative approach were used in this research. A simple random sampling technique was employed in the sample selection process, and a total of 300 teachers from a private kindergarten participated in this research. The data were collected using an adapted questionnaire from previous research. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed to analyze the data. The data analysis shows that kindergarten teachers have an excellent pedagogical knowledge with M = 4.32 and SD = 0.54. Pearson correlation test shows that there is a weak, but positive relationship between teachers’ teaching experience and pedagogical knowledge. This finding suggests that longer teaching experience contributes to higher pedagogical knowledge. The result of this study shows that private kindergarten teachers have good pedagogical knowledge, and they have received excellent in-house training courses throughout the service period.