Teachers’ perspectives of children’s social behaviours in preschool: Does gender matter?

Abstract

The article will explore early childhood teachers’ perspectives about social behaviours and gender in young children, in particular the way in which children’s gender related to teachers’ reports of the prevalence and interpretations of children’s social behaviours. The specific social behaviours examined were prosocial behaviours, social leadership, social dominance, and aggressive behaviours. This study used a mixed methods online survey to gather teachers’ perspectives. Findings showed that teachers reported little difference in the display of social behaviours across boys and girls. Moreover, teachers’ views of different social behaviours were similar across boys and girls; however, findings suggested that gender might play a limited, but potentially influential role in teachers’ perspectives of prosocial and aggressive behaviours in girls and boys. Findings from the present study are discussed in connection with previous research.