EFFECTS OF PLAY-GENERATED CURRICULUM VERSUS CURRICULUM-GENERATED PLAY INSTRUCTION ON EARLY CHILDHOOD PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ MATHEMATICS TEACHING EFFICACY

This research aimed to examine changes in mathematics teaching efficacy beliefs among early childhood pre-service teachers who utilized play-generated curriculum instruction and the ones who utilized curriculum-generated play instruction. Among the participants (N=72) were second-year college students from Early Childhood Education. This research was an experimental research utilizing the static-group pretest-posttest design supported with qualitative data. The results of the research demonstrated that both curriculum-generated play and play-generated curriculum instruction led to a statistically significant improvement in the pre-service teachers' mathematics teaching efficacy beliefs. The qualitative data showed that both groups of pre-service teachers learned linking play with instruction through teaching experiences, and gained knowledge about instruction design, pedagogy, and a variety of plays for educating young children. Moreover, both groups of pre-service teachers stated that their opinions regarding play activities changed in that they started to see incorporating playful activities as a useful and joyful teaching method.